M. Didron, in his " Annales Archeologiques," pre-

sents us with an engraving, copied from the painted glass of a window in the cathedral of Chartres, in France. The painting was executed in the thirteenth century, and represents a number of operative masons at work. Three of them are adorned with laurel crowns. May not these be intended to represent the three officers of a lodge? All of the Masons wear gloves. M. Didron remarks that in the old documents which he has examined, mention is often made of gloves which are intended to be pre- sented to masons and stone-cutters. In a subsequent number of the u Annales," he gives the following three examples of this fact : —
In the year 1331, the Chatelan of Villaines, in Due- mois, bought a considerable quantity of gloves, to be given to the workmen, in order, as it is said, " to shield their hands from the stone and lime."
In October, 1383, as he learns from a document of that period, three dozen pairs of gloves were bought and dis- tributed to the masons when they commenced the build- ings at the Chartreuse of Dijon.
And, lastly, in 1486 or 1487, twenty-two pair of gloves were given to the masons and stone-cutters who were engaged in work at the city of Amiens.
THE SYMBOLISM OF THE GLOVES. 14!
It is thus evident that the builders — the operative masons — of the middle ages wore gloves to protect their hands from the effects of their work. It is equally evi- dent that the speculative masons have received from their operative predecessors the gloves as well as the apron, both of which, being used by the latter for practical uses, have been, in the spirit of symbolism, appropriated by the former to " a more noble and glorious purpose."
XXL
THE RITE OF CIRCUMAMBULATION.
HE rite of circumambulation will supply us with another ritualistic symbol, in which we may again trace the identity of the origin of Free- masonry with that of the religious and mystical cere- monies of the ancients.
" Circumambulation" is the name given by sacred archae- ologists to that religious rite in the ancient initiations which consisted in a formal procession around the altar, or other holy and consecrated object.
The prevalence of this rite among the ancients appears to have been universal, and it originally (as I shall have occasion to show) alluded to the apparent course of the sun in the firmament, which is from east to west by the way of the south.
In ancient Greece, when the priests were engaged in the rites of sacrifice, they and the people always walked three times around the altar while chanting a sacred hymn or ode. Sometimes, while the people stood around the altar, the rite of circumambulation was performed by the priest alone, who, turning towards the right hand,
THE RITE OF CIRCUMAMBULATION. 143
went around it, and sprinkled it with meal and holy water. In making this circumambulation, it was considered abso- lutely necessary that the right side should always be next to the altar, and consequently, that the procession should move from the east to the south, then to the west, next to the north, and afterwards to the east again. It was in this way that the apparent revolution was represented.
This ceremony the Greeks called moving ex de%ta sv deZux, from the right to the right, which was the direction of the motion, and the Romans applied to it the term dex- trovorsum, or dextrorsum, which signifies the same thing. Thus Plautus makes Palinurus, a character in his comedy of " Curculio," say, " If you would do reverence to the gods, you must turn to the right hand." Gronovius, in commenting on this passage of Plautus, says, " In wor- shipping and praying to the gods they were accustomed to turn to the right hand."
A hymn of Callimachus has been preserved, which is said to have been chanted by the priests of Apollo at Delos, while performing this ceremony of circumambula- tion, the substance of which is, " We imitate the example of the sun, and follow his benevolent course."
It will be observed that this circumambulation around the altar was accompanied by the singing or chanting of a sacred ode. Of the three parts of the ode, the strophe* the antistrophe, and the epode, each was to be sung at a particular part of the procession. The analogy between this chanting of an ode by the ancients and the recitation of a passage of Scripture in the masonic circumambula- tion, will be at once apparent.
Among the Romans, the ceremony of circumambula- tion was always used in the rites of sacrifice, of expiation
144 THE RITE OF CIRCUMAMBULATION.
or purification. Thus Virgil describes Corynaeus as pu rifying his companions, at the funeral of Misenus, by pass- ing three times around them while aspersing them with the lustral waters ; and to do so conveniently, it was neces- sary that he should have moved with his right hand towards them.
" Idem ter socios pura circumtulit unda, Spargens rore levi et ramo felicis olivse."
^En. vi. 229.
" Thrice with pure water compassed he the crew, Sprinkling, with olive branch, the gentle dew."
In fact, so common was it to unite the ceremony of circumambulation with that of expiation or purification, .or, in other words, to make a circuitous procession in per- forming the latter rite, that the term lustrare, whose primitive meaning is " to purify," came at last to be synonymous with circuire, to walk round anything ; and hence a purification and a circumambulation were often expressed by the same word.
Among the Hindoos, the same rite of circumambulation has always been practised. As an instance, we may cite the ceremonies which are to be performed by a Brahmin upon first rising from bed in the morning, an accurate account of which has been given by Mr. Colebrooke in the "Asiatic Researches." The priest, having first adored the sun while directing his face to the east, then walks towards the west by the way of the south, saying, at the same time, " I follow the course of the sun," which he thus explains : uAs the sun in his course moves round the world by the way of the south, so do I follow that
THE RITE OF CIRCUMAMBULATION. 145
luminary, to obtain the benefit arising from a journey round the earth by the way of the south." *
Lastly, I may refer to the preservation of this rite among the Druids, whose " mystical dance " around the cairn, or sacred stones, was nothing more nor less than the rite of circumambulation. On these occasions the priest always made three circuits, from east to west, by the right hand, around the altar or cairn, accompanied by all the worshippers. And so sacred was the rite once considered, that we learn from Toland f that in the Scot- tish Isles, once a principal seat of the Druidical religion, the people " never come to the ancient sacrificing and fire- hallowing cairns, but they walk three times around them, from east to west, according to the course of the sun." This sanctified tour, or round by the south, he observes, is called Deiseal, as the contrary, or unhallowed one by the north, is called Tuapholl. And he further remarks, that this word Deisealvt&s derived " from Deas, the right (understanding hand) and soil, one of the ancient names of the sun, the right hand in this round being ever next the heap."
I might pursue these researches still further, and trace this rite of circumambulation to other nations of antiquity ; but I conceive that enough has been said to show its universality, as well as the tenacity with wThich the essen- tial ceremony of performing the motion a mystical num- ber of times, and always by the right hand, from the east, through the south, to the west, was preserved. And I
* See a paper " on the religious ceremonies of the Hindus," by H. T. Colebrooke, Esq., in the Asiatic Researches, vol. vi. p. 357.
f A Specimen of the Critical History of the Celtic Religion and Learning, Letter ii. § xvii.
10
146 THE RITE OF CIRCUMAMBULATION.
think that this singular analogy to the same rite in Free- masonry must lead us to the legitimate conclusion, that the common source of all these rites is to be found in the identical origin of the Spurious Freemasonry or pagan mysteries, and the pure, Primitive Freemasonry, from which the former seceded only to be deteriorated.
In reviewing what has been said on this subject, it will at once be perceived that the essence of the ancient rite consisted in making the circumambulation around the altar, from the east to the south, from the south to the west, thence to the north, and to the east again.
Now, in this the masonic rite of circumambulation strictly agrees with the ancient one.
But this circuit by the right hand, it is admitted, was done as a representation of the sun's motion. It was a symbol of the sun's apparent course around the earth.
And so, then, here again we have in Masonry that old and often-repeated allusion to sun-worship, which has already been seen in the officers of a lodge, and in the point within a circle. And as the circumambulation is made around the lodge, just as the sun was supposed to move around the earth, we are brought back to the origi- nal symbolism with which we commenced — that the lodge is a symbol of the world.
XXII.
THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT.
'HE rite of intrusting, to which we are now to direct our attention, will supply us with many important and interesting symbols. There is an important period in the ceremony of masonic initiation, when the candidate is about to receive a full communication of the mysteries through which he has passed, and to which the trials and labors which he has undergone can only entitle him. This ceremony is technically called the u rite of intrusting" because it is then that the aspirant begins to be intrusted with that for the possession of which he was seeking.* It is equivalent to what, in the ancient Mysteries, was called the u au- topsy ,"f or the seeing of what only the initiated were per- mitted to behold.
* Dr. Oliver, referring to the " twelve grand points in Masonry," which formed a part of the old English lectures, says, " When the candidate was intrusted, he represented Asher, for he was then presented with the glorious fruit of masonic knowledge, as Asher was represented by fatness and royal dainties." — Hist. Landm., vol. i. lect. xi. p. 313.
f From the Greek atiTOtyla, signifying a seeing ivith one's own eyes. The candidate, who had previously been called a mystes, or a
147
148 THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND
This rite of intrusting is, of course, divided into sev- eral parts or periods ; for the aporreta, or secret things of Masonry, are not to be given at once, but in gradual progression, It begins, however, with the communica- tion of LIGHT, which, although but a preparation for the development of the mysteries which are to follow, must be considered as one of the most important symbols in the whole science of masonic symbolism. So important, indeed, is it, and so much does it pervade with its influ- ence and its relations the. wrhole masonic system, that Freemasonry itself anciently received, among other ap- pellations, that of Lux, or Light, to signify that it is to be regarded as that sublime doctrine of Divine Truth by which the path of him who has attained it is to be illumi- nated in his pilgrimage of life.
The Hebrew cosmogonist commences his description of the creation by the declaration that " God said, Let there be light, and there was light" — a phrase which, in the more emphatic form that it has received in the original language of " Be light, and light was,"* is said to have won the praise, for its sublimity, of the greatest of Gre- cian critics. u The singularly emphatic summons," says a profound modern writer,f " by which light is called into existence, is probably owing to the preeminent utility and glory of that element, together with its mysterious nature, which made it seem as
' The God of this new world,' and won for it the earliest adoration of mankind."
blind man, from ^/t>w, to shut the eyes, began at this point to change his title to that of an epopt, or an eye-witness.
* '"fifc* TPI ")"!& hrp Yehi aur va yehi aur.
t Robert William Mackay, Progress of the Intellect, vol. i. p. 93.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT. 149
Light was, in accordance with this old religious sen- timent, the great object of attainment in all the ancient religious Mysteries. It was there, as it is now, in Ma- sonry, made the symbol of truth and knowledge. This was always its ancient symbolism, and we must never lose sight of this emblematic meaning, when we are considering the nature and signification of masonic light. When the candidate makes a demand for light, it is not merely for that material light which is to remove a phys- ical darkness ; that is only the outward form, which con- ceals the inward symbolism. He craves an intellectual illumination which wrill dispel the darkness of mental and moral ignorance, and bring to his view, as an eye- witness, the sublime truths of religion, philosophy, and science, which it is the great design of Freemasonry to teach.
In all the ancient systems this reverence for light, as the symbol of truth, was predominant. In the Mysteries of every nation, the candidate was made to pass, during his initiation, through scenes of utter darkness, and at length terminated his trials by an admission to the splen- didly-illuminated sacellum, or sanctuar}^, where he was said to have attained pure and perfect light, and where he received the necessary instructions which were to invest him with that knowledge of the divine truth which it had been the object of all his labors to gain, and the design of the institution, into which he had been initiated, to bestow.
Light, therefore, became synonymous with truth and knowledge, and darkness with falsehood and ignorance. We shall find this symbolism pervading not only the in- stitutions, but the yery languages, of antiquity.
I5O THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND
Thus, among the Hebrews, the word AUR, in the sin- gular, signified light, but in the plural, AURIM, it denoted the revelation of the divine will ; and the aurim and thummim, literally the lights and truths, constituted a part of the breastplate whence the high priest ob- tained oracular responses to the questions which he pro- posed.*
There is a peculiarity about the word " light," in the old Egyptian language, which is well worth considera- tion in this connection. Among the Egyptians, the hare was the hieroglyphic of eyes that are open; and it was adopted because that timid animal was supposed never to close his organs of vision, being always on the watch for his enemies. The hare was afterwards adopted by the priests as a symbol of the mental illumination or mystic light which was revealed to the neophytes, in the contemplation of divine truth, during the progress of their initiation ; and hence, according to Champollion, the hare was also the symbol of Osiris, their chief god; thus showing the intimate connection which they believed to exist between the process of initiation into their sacred rites and the contemplation of the divine nature. But the Hebrew word for hare is ARNaBeT. Now, this is com- pounded of the two words AUR, light, and NaBaT, to behold, and therefore the word which in the Egyptian denoted initiation, in the Hebrew signified to behold the
* " And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim." — Exod. xxviii. 30. — The Egyptian judges also wore breastplates, on which was represented the figure of Ra, the sun, and Thme, the goddess of Truth, represent- ing, says Gliddon, " Ra, or the sun, in a double capacity — physi- cal and intellectual light; and Thme, in a double capacity — justice and truth." — Ancient Egypt, p. 33.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT. 151
light. In two nations so intimately connected in history as the Hebrew and the Egyptian, such a coincidence could not have been accidental. It shows the preva- lence of the sentiment, at that period, that the communi- cation of light was the prominent design of the Mysteries — so prominent that the one was made the synonyme of the other.*
The worship of light, either in its pure essence or in the forms of sun-worship and fire-worship, because the sun and the fire were causes of light, was among the earliest and most universal superstitions of the world. Light was considered as the primordial source of all that was holy and intelligent ; and darkness, as its opposite, was viewed as but another name for evil and ignorance. Dr. Beard, in an article on this subject, in Kitto's Cyclo- paedia of Biblical Literature, attributes this view of the divine nature of light, which was entertained by the nations of the East, to the fact that, in that part of the world, light u has a clearness and brilliancy, is accompa- nied by an intensity of heat, and is followed in its influence by a largeness of good, of which the inhabitants of less genial climates have no conception. Light easily and naturally became, in consequence, with Orientals, a rep- resentative of the highest human good. All the more joyous emotions of the mind, all the pleasing sensations of the frame, all the happy hours of domestic intercourse,
* We owe this interesting discovery to F. Portal, who has given it in his elaborate work on Egyptian symbols as compared with those of the Hebrews. To those who cannot consult the original work in French, I can safely recommend the excellent translation by my esteemed friend, Bro. John W. Simons, of New York, and which will be found in the thirtieth volume of the " Universal Masonic Library."
152 THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND
were described under imagery derived from light. The transition was natural — from earthly to heavenly, from corporeal to spiritual things ; and so light came to typify true religion and the felicity which it imparts. But as light not only came from God, but also makes man's way clear before him, so it was employed to signify moral truth, and preeminently that divine system of truth which is set forth in the Bible, from its earliest gleam ings on- ward to the perfect day of the Great Sun of Righteous- ness."
Iain inclined to believe that in this passage the learned author has erred, not in the definition of the symbol, but in his deduction of its origin. Light became the object of religious veneration, not because of the brilliancy and clearness of a particular sky, nor the warmth and genial influence of a particular climate, — for the worship was universal, in Scandinavia as in India, — but because it was the natural and inevitable result of the worship of the sun, the chief deity of Sabianism — a faith which pervaded to an extraordinary extent the whole religious sentiment of antiquity.*
Light was venerated because it was an emanation from the sun, and, in the materialism of the ancient faith, light and darkness were both personified as positive existences, the one being the enemy of the other. Two principles were thus supposed to reign over the world, antagonistic to each other, and each alternately presiding over the destinies of mankind. f
* "The most early defection to Idolatry," says Bryant, ''con- sisted in the adoration of the sun and the worship of demons, styled Baalim." — Analysis of Anc. Mythol. vol. iii. p. 431.
t The remarks of Mr. Duncan on this subject are well worth perusal. " Light has always formed one of the primary objects
THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT. 153
The contests between the good and evil principle, sym- bolized by light and darkness, composed a very large part of the ancient mythology in all countries.
Among the Egyptians, Osiris was light, or the sun ; and his arch-enemy, Typhon, who ultimately destroyed him, was the representative of darkness.
Zoroaster, the father of the ancient Persian religion, taught the same doctrine, and called the principle of light, or good, Ormuzd, and the principle of darkness, or evil,
of heathen adoration. The glorious spectacle of animated nature would lose all its interest if man were deprived of vision, and light extinguished; for that which is unseen and unknown becomes, for all practical purposes, as valueless as if it were non-existent. Light is a source of positive happiness; without it, man could barely exist; and since all religious opinion is based on the ideas of pleasure and pain, and the corresponding sensations of hope and fear, it is not to be wondered if the heathen reverenced light. Darkness, on the contrary, by replunging nature, as it were, into a state of nothingness, and depriving man of the pleasurable emotions conveyed through the organ of sight, was ever held in abhorrence, as a source of misery and fear. The two opposite con- ditions in which man thus found himself placed, occasioned by the enjoyment or the banishment of light, induced him to imagine the existence of two antagonist principles in nature, to whose dominion he was alternately subject. Light multiplied his enjoy- ments, and darkness diminished them. The former, accordingly, became his friend, and the latter his enemy. The words ' light' and ' good,' and * darkness ' and * evil,' conveyed similar ideas, and became, in sacred language, synonymous terms. But as good and evil were not supposed to flow from one and the same source, no more than light and darkness were supposed to have a com- mon origin, two distinct and independent principles were estab- lished, totally different in their nature, of opposite characters, pursuing a conflicting line of action, and creating antagonistic effects. Such was the origin of this famous dogma, recognized by all the heathens, and incorporated with all the sacred fables, cosmogonies, and mysteries of antiquity." — The Religions of Profane Antiquity, p. 186.
154 THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND
Ahriman. The former, born of the purest light, and the latter, sprung from utter darkness, are, in this mythology, continually making war on each other.
Manes, or Manichseus, the founder of the sect of Mani- chees, in the third century, taught that there are two principles from which all things proceed ; the one is a pure and subtile matter, called Light, and the other a gross and corrupt substance, called Darkness. Each of these is subject to the dominion of a superintending being, whose existence is from all eternity. The being who presides over the light is called God; he that rules over the darkness is called Hyle, or Demon. The ruler of the light is supremely happy, good, and benevolent, while the ruler over darkness is unhappy, evil, and malignant.
Pythagoras also maintained this doctrine of two antag- onistic principles. He called the one, unity, light, the right hand, equality, stability, and a straight line ; the other he named binary, darkness, the left hand, inequality, instability, and a curved line. Of the colors, he attributed white to the good principle, and black to the evil one.
The Cabalists gave a prominent place to light in their system of cosmogony. They taught that, before the creation of the world, all space was filled with what they called Aur en soph, or the Eternal Light, and that when the Divine Mind determined or willed the produc- tion of Nature, the Eternal Light withdrew to a central point, leaving around it an empty space, in which the process of creation went on by means of emanations from the central mass of light, It is unnecessary to enter into the Cabalistic account of creation ; it is sufficient here to remark that all was done through the mediate influence
THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT. 155
of the Aur en soph, or eternal light, which produces coarse matter, but one degree above nonentity, only when it becomes so attenuated as to be lost in darkness.
The Brahminical doctrine was, that " light and dark- ness are esteemed the world's eternal ways ; he who walketh in the former rettirneth not ; that is to say, he goeth to eternal bliss ; whilst he who walketh in the latter cometh back again upon earth," and is thus destined to pass through further transmigrations, until his soul is perfectly purified by light*
In all the ancient systems of initiation the candidate was shrouded in darkness, as a preparation for the recep- tion of light. The duration varied in the different rites. In the Celtic Mysteries of Druidism, the period in which the aspirant was immersed in darkness was nine days and nights ; among the Greeks, at Eleusis, it was three times as long ; and in the still severer rites of Mithras, in Persia, fifty days of darkness, solitude, and fasting were imposed upon the adventurous neophyte, who, by these excessive trials, was at length entitled to the full commu- nication of the light of knowledge.
Thus it will be perceived that the religious sentiment of a good and an evil principle gave to darkness, in the
* See the "Bhagvat Geeta," one of the religious books of Brah- minism. A writer in Blackwood, in an article on the " Castes and Creeds of India," vol. Ixxxi. p. 316, thus accounts for the adoration of light by the early nations of the world : " Can we wonder at the worship of light by those early nations? Carry our thoughts back to their remote times, and our only wonder would be if they did not so adore it. The sun is life as well as light to all that is on the earth — as we of the present day know even better than they of old. Moving in dazzling radiance or brilliant- hued pageantry through the sky, scanning in calm royalty all that passes below, it seems the very god of this fair world, which lives and blooms but in his smile."
I $5 THE RITE OF INTRUSTING, AND
ancient symbolism, a place equally as prominent as that of light.
The same religious sentiment of the ancients, modified, however, in its details, by our better knowledge of divine things, has supplied Freemasonry with a double symbol- ism — that of Light and Darkness.
Darkness is the symbol of initiation. It is intended to remind the candidate of his ignorance, which Masonry is to enlighten ; of his evil nature, which Masonry is to puri- fy ; of the world, in whose obscurity he has been wander- ing, and from which Masonry is to rescue him.
Light, on the other hand, is the symbol of the autopsy, the sight of the mysteries, the intrusting, the full fruition of masonic truth and knowledge.
Initiation precedes the communication of knowledge in Masonry, as darkness preceded light in the old cosmogo- nies. Thus, in Genesis, we see that in the beginning u the world was without form, and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep." The Chaldean cosmogony taught that in the beginning " all was darkness and water." The Phoenicians supposed that " the beginning of all things was a wind of black air, and a chaos dark as Erebus." *
* The Institutes of Menu, which are the acknowledged code of the Brahmins, inform us that " the world was all darkness, un- discernible, undistinguishable altogether, as in a profound sleep, till the self-existent, invisible God, making it manifest with five elements and other glorious forms, perfectly dispelled the gloom." — Sir WILLIAM JONES, On the Gods of Greece. Asiatic Researches, i. 244.
Among the Rosicrucians, who have, by some, been improperly confounded with the Freemasons, the word lux was used to signify a knowledge of the philosopher's stone, or the great desideratum of a universal elixir and a universal menstruum. This was their truth.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LIGHT. 157
But out of all this darkness sprang forth light, at the divine command, and the sublime phrase, " Let there be light," is repeated, in some substantially identical form, in all the ancient histories of creation.
So, too, out of the mysterious darkness of Masonry comes the full blaze of masonic light. One must precede the other, as the evening preceded the morning. " So the evening and the morning were the first day."
This thought is preserved in the great motto of the Order, " Lux e tenebris" — Light out of darkness. It is equivalent to this other sentence : Truth out of initiation. Lux, or light, is truth ; tenebrce, or darkness, is initiation.
It is a beautiful and instructive portion of our symbol- ism, this connection of darkness and light, and well de- serves a further investigation.
" Genesis and the cosmogonies," says Portal, " mention the antagonism of light and darkness. The form of this fable varies accprding to each nation, but the foundation is everywhere the same. Under the symbol of the crea- tion of the world it presents the picture of regeneration and initiation." *
Plutarch says that to die is to be initiated into the greater Mysteries ; and the Greek word TE Afivn/v, which signifies to die, means also to be initiated. But black, which is the symbolic color of darkness, is also the sym- bol of death. And hence, again, darkness, like death, is the symbol of initiation. It was for this reason that all the ancient initiations were performed at night. The celebration of the Mysteries was always nocturnal. . The same custom prevails in Freemasonry, and the explana- tion is the same. Death and the resurrection were taught
* On Symbolic Colors, p. 23, Inman's translation.
158 THE RITE OF INTRUSTING.
in the Mysteries, as they are in Freemasonry. The ini- tiation was the lesson of death. The full fruition or autopsy, the reception of light, was the lesson of regener- ation or resurrection.
Light is, therefore, a fundamental symbol in Freema- sonry. It is, in fact, the first important symbol that is presented to the neophyte in his instructions, and contains within itself the very essence of Speculative Masonry, which is nothing more than the contemplation of intellec- tual light or truth.*
* Freemasonry having received the name of lux, or light, its dis- ciples have, very appropriately, been called " the Sons of Light." Thus Burns, in his celebrated Farewell : —
" Oft have I met your social band,
And spent the cheerful, festive night; Oft, honored with supreme command, Presided o'er the sons of light"
XXIIL
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
come next, in a due order of precedence, to the consideration of the symbolism connected with an important ceremony in the ritual of the first degree of Masonry, which refers to the north-east corner of the lodge. In this ceremony the candidate be- comes the representative of a spiritual corner-stone. And hence, to thoroughly comprehend the true meaning of the emblematic ceremony, it is essential that we should inves- tigate the symbolism of the corner-stone.
The corner-stone,* as the foundation on which the entire building is supposed to rest, is, of course, the most important stone in the whole edifice. It is, at least, so considered by operative masons. It is laid with impres- sive ceremonies ; the assistance of speculative masons is often, and always ought to be, invited, to give dignity to
* Thus defined: "The stone which lies at the corner of two walls, and unites them ; the principal stone, and especially the stone which forms the corner of the foundation of an edifice." — WEBSTER.
l6o SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
the occasion ; and the event is viewed by the workmen as an important era in the construction of the edifice.*
In the rich imagery of Orientalism, the corner-stone is frequently referred to as the appropriate symbol of a chief or prince who is the defence and bulwark of his people, and more particularly in Scripture, as denoting that prom- ised Messiah who was to be the sure prop and support of all who should put their trust in his divine mission.^
To the various properties that are necessary to consti- tute a true corner-stone, — its firmness and durability, its perfect form, and its peculiar position as the connecting
* Among the ancients the corner-stone of important edifices was laid with impressive ceremonies. These are well described by Tacitus, in his history of the rebuilding of the Capitol. After detailing the preliminary ceremonies which consisted in a pro- cession of vestals, who with chaplets of flowers encompassed the ground and consecrated it by libations of living water, he adds that, after solemn prayer, Helvidius, to whom the care of rebuild- ing the Capitol had been committed, " laid his hand upon the fillets that adorned the foundation stone, and also the cords by which it was to be drawn to its place. In that instant the magistrates, the priests, the senators, the Roman knights, and a number of citizens, all acting with one effort and general demonstrations of joy, laid hold of the ropes and dragged the ponderous load to its destined spot. They then threw in ingots of gold and silver, and other metals, which had never been melted in the furnace, but still retained, untouched by human art, their first formation in the bowels of the earth." — Tac. Hist., 1. iv. c. 53, Murphy's transl.
f As, for instance, in Psalm cxviii. 22, "The stone which the builders refused is become the head-stone of the corner," which, Clarke says, " seems to have been originally spoken of David, who was at first rejected by the Jewish rulers, but was afterwards chosen by the Lord to be the great ruler of his people in Israel ; " and in Isaiah xxviii. 16, " Behold, I lay in Zion, for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner-stone, a sure foundation," which clearly refers to the promised Messiah.
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. l6l
link between the walls, — we must attribute the important character that it has assumed in the language of symbol- ism. Freemasonry, which alone, of all existing institu- tions, has preserved this ancient and universal language, could not, as it may well be supposed, have neglected to adopt the corner-stone among its most cherished and im- pressive symbols ; and hence it has referred to it many of its most significant lessons of morality and truth.
I have already alluded to that peculiar mode of masonic symbolism by which the speculative mason is supposed to be engaged in the construction of a spiritual temple, in imitation of, or, rather, in reference to, that material one which was erected by his operative predecessors at Jeru- salem. Let us again, for a few moments, direct our atten- tion to this important fact, and revert to the connection which originally existed between the operative and specu- lative divisions of Freemasonry. This is an essential introduction to any inquiry into the symbolism of the corner-stone.
The difference between operative and speculative Ma- sonry is simply this — that w7hile the former was engaged in the construction of a material temple, formed, it is true, of the most magnificent materials which the quarries of Palestine, the mountains of Lebanon, and the golden shores of Ophir could contribute, the latter occupies itself in the erection of a spiritual house, — a house not made with hands, — in which, for stones and cedar, and gold and precious stones, are substituted the virtues of the heart, the pure emotions of the soul, the warm affec- tions gushing forth from the hidden fountains of the spirit, so that the very presence of Jehovah, our Father and our God, shall be enshrined within us as his Shekinah ii
1 62 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
was in the holy of holies of the material temple at Jeru- salem.
The Speculative Mason, then, if he rightly comprehends the scope and design of his profession, is occupied, from his very first admission into the order until the close of his labors and his life, — and the true mason's labor ends only with his life, — in the construction, the adornment, and the completion of this spiritual temple of his body. He lays its foundation in a firm belief and an unshaken confidence in the wisdom, power, and goodness of God. This is his first step. Unless his trust is in God, and in him only, he can advance no further than the threshold of initiation. And then he prepares his materials with the gauge and gavel of Truth, raises the walls by the plumb- line of Rectitude, squares his work with the square of Virtue, connects the whole with the cement of Brotherly Love, and thus skilfully erects the living edifice of thoughts, and words, and deeds, in accordance with the designs laid down by the Master Architect of the uni- verse in the great Book of Revelation.
The aspirant for masonic light — the Neophyte — on his first entrance within our sacred porch, prepares him- self for this consecrated labor of erecting within his own bosom a fit dwelling-place for the Divine Spirit, and thus commences the noble work by becoming himself the corner-stone on which this spiritual edifice is to be erected.
Here, then, is the beginning of the symbolism of the corner-stone ; and it is singularly curious to observe how every portion of the archetype has been made to perform its appropriate duty in thoroughly carrying out the em- blematic allusions.
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 163
As, for example, this symbolic reference of the corner- stone of a material edifice to a mason, when, at his first initiation, he commences the intellectual task of erecting a spiritual temple in his heart, is beautifully sustained in the allusions to all the various parts and qualities which are to be found in a u well-formed, true and trusty " corner- stone.* Its form and substance are both seized by the comprehensive grasp of the symbolic science.
Let us trace this symbolism in its minute details. And, first, as to the form of the corner-stone.
The corner-stone of an edifice must be perfectly square on its surfaces, lest, by a violation of this true geometric figure, the walls to be erected upon it should deviate from the required line of perpendicularity which can alone give strength and proportion to the building.
Perfectly square on its surfaces, it is, in its form and solid contents, a cube. Now, the square and the cube are both important and significant symbols.
The square is an emblem of morality, or the strict per- formance of every duty.| Among the Greeks, who were a highly poetical and imaginative people, the square was
* In the ritual " observed at laying the foundation-stone of public structures," it is said, " The principal architect then presents the working tools to the Grand Master, who applies the plumb, square, and level to the stone, in their proper positions, and pronounces it to be iv ell-formed, trtie, and trusty" — WEBB'S Monitor, p. 120.
f "The square teaches us to regulate our conduct by the princi- ples of morality and virtue." — Ritual of the E. A. Degree. — The old York lectures define the square thus : " The square is the theory of universal duty, and consisteth in two right lines, form- ing an angle of perfect sincerity, or ninety degrees ; the longest side is the sum of the lengths of the several duties which we owe to all men. And every man should be agreeable to this square, when perfectly finished."
164 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
deemed a figure of perfection, and the ^.vr\o u the square or cubical man," as the words may be trans- lated — was a term used to designate a man of unsullied integrity. Hence one of their most eminent metaphysi- cians* has said that u he who valiantly sustains the shocks of adverse fortune, demeaning himself uprightly, is truly good and of a square posture, without reproof; and he who would assume such a square posture should often subject himself to the perfectly square test of justice and integrity."
The cube, in the language of symbolism, denotes truth.f Among the pagan mythologists, Mercury, or Hermes, was always represented by a cubical stone, because he was the type of truth, | and the same form was adopted by the Is- raelites in the construction of the tabernacle, which was to be the dwelling-place of divine truth.
And, then, as to its material : This, too, is an essential element of all symbolism. Constructed of a material finer and more polished than that which constitutes the re- mainder of the edifice, often carved with appropriate de- vices and fitted for its distinguished purpose by the utmost skill of the sculptor's art, it becomes the symbol of that
* Aristotle.
f " The cube is a symbol of truth, of wisdom, and moral perfec- tion. The new Jerusalem, promised in the Apocalypse, is equal in length, breadth, and height. The Mystical city ought to be considered as a new church, where divine wisdom will reign." — OLIVER'S Landmarks, ii. p. 357. — And he might have added, where eternal truth will be present.
| In the most primitive times, all the gods appear to have been represented by cubical blocks of stone; and Pausanias says that he saw thirty of these stones in the city of Pharse, which rep- resented as many deities. The first of the kind, it is probable, were dedicated to Hermes, whence they derived their name of " Hermae."
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 165
beauty of holiness with which the Hebrew Psalmist has said that we are to worship Jehovah.*
The ceremony, then, of the north-east corner of the lodge, since it derives all its typical value from this sym- bolism of the corner-stone, was undoubtedly intended to portray, in this consecrated language, the necessity of integrity and stability of conduct, of truthfulness and up- rightness of character, and of purity and holiness of life, which, just at that time and in that place, the candidate is most impressively charged to maintain.
But there is also a symbolism about the position of the corner-stone, which is well worthy of attention. It is familiar to every one, — even to those who are without the pale of initiation, — that the custom of laying the corner-stones of public buildings has always been per- formed by the masonic order with peculiar and impres- sive ceremonies, and that this stone is invariably deposited in the north-east corner of the foundation of the intended structure. Now, the question naturally suggests itself, Whence does this ancient and invariable usage derive its origin? Why may not the stone be deposited in any other corner or portion of the edifice, as convenience or necessity may dictate? The custom of placing the founda- tion-stone in the north-east corner must have been origi- nally adopted for some good and sufficient reason ; for we have a right to suppose that it was not an arbitrary selection.f Was it in reference to the ceremony which
* " Give unto Jehovah the glory due unto His name; worship Jehovah in the beauty of holiness." — Psalm xxix. 2.
f It is at least a singular coincidence that in the Brahrninical religion great respect was paid to the north-east point of the heavens. Thus it is said in the Institutes of Menu, " If he has any incurable disease, let him advance in a straight path towards
1 66 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
takes place in the lodge? Or is that in reference to the position of the material stone ? No matter which has the precedence in point of time, the principle is the same. The position of the stone in the north-east corner of the building is altogether symbolic, and the symbolism exclu- sively alludes to certain doctrines which are taught in the speculative science of Masonry.
The interpretation, I conceive, is briefly this : Every Speculative Mason is familiar with the fact that the east, as the source of material light, is a symbol of his own order, which professes to contain within its bosom the pure light of truth. As, in the physical world, the morn- ing of each day is ushered into existence by the reddening dawn of the eastern sky, whence the rising sun dispenses his illuminating and prolific rays to every portion of the visible horizon, warming the whole earth with his em- brace of light, and giving new-born life and energy to flower and tree, and beast and man, who, at the magic touch, awake from the sleep of darkness, so in the moral world, when intellectual night was, in the earliest days, brooding over the wrorld, it was from the ancient priesthood living in the east that those lessons of God, of nature, and of humanity first emanated, which, travelling westward, revealed to man his future destiny, and his de- pendence on a superior power. Thus every new and true doctrine, coming from these " wise men of the east," was, as it were, a new day arising, and dissipating the clouds of intellectual darkness and error. It was a universal opinion among the ancients that the first learning came
the invincible north-east point, feeding on water and air till his mortal frame totally decay, and his soul become united with the Supreme."
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 167
from the east; and the often-quoted line of Bishop Berke- ley, that —
" Westward the course of empire takes its way " —
is but the modern utterance of an ancient thought, for it was always believed that the empire of truth and knowl- edge was advancing from the east to the west.
Again : the north, as the point in the horizon which is most remote from the vivifying rays of the sun when at his meridian height, has, with equal metaphorical pro- priety, been called the place of darkness, and is, there- fore, symbolic of the profane world, which has not yet been penetrated and illumined by the intellectual rays of masonic light. All history concurs in recording the fact that, in the early ages of the world, its northern portion was enveloped in the most profound moral and mental darkness. It was from the remotest regions of Northern Europe that those barbarian hordes " came down like the wolf on the fold," and devastated the fair plains of the south, bringing with them a dark curtain of ignorance, beneath whose heavy folds the nations of the world lay for centuries overwhelmed. The extreme north has ever been, physically and intellectually, cold, and dark, and dreary. Hence, in Masonry, the north has ever been esteemed the place of darkness ; and, in obedience to this principle, no symbolic light is allowed to illumine the northern part of the lodge.
The east, then, is, in Masonry, the symbol of the order, and the north the symbol of the profane world.
Now, the spiritual corner-stone is deposited in the north-east corner of the lodge, because it is symbolic of the position of the neophyte, or candidate, who represents
l68 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
it in his relation to the order and to the world. From the profane world he has just emerged. Some of its imperfections are still upon him ; some of its darkness is still about him ; he as yet belongs in part to the north. But he is striving for light and truth ; the pathway upon which he has entered is directed towards the east. His allegiance, if I may use the word, is divided. He is not altogether a profane, nor altogether a mason. If he were wholly in the world, the north would be the place to find him — the north, which is the reign of darkness. If he were wholly in the order, — a Master Mason, — the east would have received him — the east, which is the place of light. But he is neither ; he is an Apprentice, with some of the ignorance of the world cleaving to him, and some of the light of the order beaming upon him. And hence this divided allegiance — this double character — this mingling of the departing darkness of the north with the approaching brightness of the east — is well expressed, in our symbolism, by the appropriate position of the spiritual corner-stone in the north-east corner of the lodge. One surface of the stone faces the north, and the other surface faces the east. It is neither wholly in the one part nor wholly in the other, and in so far it is a symbol of initiation not fully developed — that which is incom- plete and imperfect, and is, therefore, fitly represented by the recipient of the first degree, at the very moment of his initiation.*
* This symbolism of the double position of the corner-stone has not escaped the attention of the religious symbologists. Etsius, an early commentator, in 1682, referring to the passage in Ephe- sians ii. 20, says, "That is called the corner-stone, or chief corner-stone, which is placed in the extreme angle of a founda- tion, conjoining and holding together two walls of the pile, meet-
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 169
But the strength and durability of the corner-stone are al.so eminently suggestive of symbolic ideas. To fulfil its design as the foundation and support of the massive building whose erection it precedes, it should be con- structed of a material which may outlast all other parts of the edifice, so that when that u eternal ocean whose waves are years " shall have ingulfed all who were present at the construction of the building in the vast vortex of its ever-flowing current ; and when generation after generation shall have passed away, and the crum- bling stones of the ruined edifice shall begin to attest the power of time and the evanescent nature of all human undertakings, the corner-stone will still remain to tell, by its inscriptions, and its form, and its beauty, to every passer-by, that there once existed in that, perhaps then desolate, spot, a building consecrated to some noble or some sacred purpose by the zeal and liberality of men who now no longer live.
So, too, do this permanence and durability of the corner-stone, in contrast with the decay and ruin of the building in whose foundations it was placed, remind the
ing from different quarters. And the apostle not only would be understood by this metaphor that Christ is the principal founda- tion of the whole church, but also that in him, as in a corner- stone, the two peoples, Jews and Gentiles, are conjoined, and so conjoined as to rise together into one edifice, and become one church." And Julius Firmicius, who wrote in the sixteenth century, says that Christ is called the corner-stone, because, being placed in the angle of the two walls, which are the Old and the New Testament, he collects the nations into one fold. " Lapis sanctus, i. e. Christus, aut fidei fundamenta sustentat aut in angulo positus duorum parietum membra sequata moderatione conjungit, i. e., Veteris et Novi Testament! in unum colligit gentes." — De Errore fro/an. Religionum, chap. xxi.
1 70 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
mason that when this earthly house of his tabernacle shall have passed away, he has within him a sure foundation of eternal life — a corner-stone of immortality — an ema- nation from that Divine Spirit which pervades all nature, and which, therefore, must survive the tomb, and rise, triumphant and eternal, above the decaying dust of death and the grave.*
It is in this way that the student of masonic symbolism is reminded by the corner-stone — by its form, its posi- tion, and its permanence — of significant doctrines of duty, and virtue, and religious truth, which it is the great object of Masonry to teach.
But I have said that the material corner-stone is depos- ited in its appropriate place with solemn rites and cere- monies, for which the order has established a peculiar ritual. These, too, have a beautiful and significant sym- bolism, the investigation of which will next attract our attention.
And here it may be observed, in passing, that the accompaniment of such an act of consecration to a par- ticular purpose, with solemn rites and ceremonies, claims our respect, from the prestige that it has of all antiquity.
* This permanence of position was also attributed to those cubical stones among the Romans which represented the statues of the god Terminus. They could never lawfully be removed from the spot which they occupied. Hence, when Tarquin was about to build the temple of Jupiter, on the Capitoline Hill, all the shrines and statues of the other gods were removed from the emi- nence to make way for the new edifice, except that of Terminus, represented by a stone. This remained untouched, and was enclosed within the temple, to show, says Dudley, "that the stone, having been a personification of the God Supreme, could not be reasonably required to yield to Jupiter himself in dignity and power." — DUDLEY'S Naology, p. 145.
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 1^1
A learned writer on symbolism makes, on this subject, the following judicious remarks, which may be quoted as a sufficient defence of our masonic ceremonies: —
" It has been an opinion, entertained in all past ages, that by the performance of certain acts, things, places, and persons acquire a character which they would not have had without such performances. The reason is plain : certain acts signify firmness of purpose, which, by consigning the object to the intended use, gives it, in the public opinion, an accordant character. This is most especially true of things, places, and persons connected with religion and religious worship. After the perform- ance of certain acts or rites, they are held to be altogether different from what they were before ; they acquire a sacred character, and in some instances a character abso- lutely divine. Such are the effects imagined to be pro- duced by religious dedication." *
The stone, therefore, thus properly constructed, is, when it is to be deposited by the constituted authorities of our order, carefully examined with the necessary im- plements of operative masonry, — the square, the level, and the plumb, — and declared to be u well-formed, true, and trusty." This is not a vain nor unmeaning ceremony. It teaches the mason that his virtues are to be tested by temptation and trial, by suffering and adversity, before they can be pronounced by the Master Builder of souls to be materials worthy of the spiritual building of eternal life, fitted " as living stones, for that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." But if he be faithful, and withstand these trials, — if he shall come forth from these
* Dudley's Naology, p. 476.
172 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
temptations and sufferings like pure gold from the refi- ner's fire, — then, indeed, shall he be deemed u well-formed, true, and trusty," and worthy to offer " unto the Lord an offering in righteousness."
In the ceremony of depositing the corner-stone, the sacred elements of masonic consecration are then pro- duced, and the stone is solemnly set apart by pouring corn, wine, and oil upon its surface. Each of these ele- ments has a beautiful significance in our symbolism.
Collectively, they allude to the Corn of Nourishment, the Wine of Refreshment, and the Oil of Joy, which are the promised rewards of a faithful and diligent perform- ance of duty, and often specifically refer to the anticipated success of the undertaking whose incipiency they have consecrated. They are, in fact, types and symbols of all those abundant gifts of Divine Providence for which we are daily called upon to make an offering of our thanks, and which are enumerated by King David, in his cata- logue of blessings, as u wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart."
" Wherefore, my brethren," says Harris, u do you carry corn, wine, and oil in your processions, but to remind you that in the pilgrimage of human life you are to impart a portion of your bread to feed the hungry, to send a cup of your wine to cheer the sorrowful, and to pour the heal- ing oil of your consolation into the wounds which sickness hath made in the bodies, or affliction rent in the hearts, of your fellow-travellers ? " *
But, individually, each of these elements of consecration
* Masonic Discourses, Dis. iv. p. 81.
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 173
has also an appropriate significance, which is well worth investigation.
Corn, in the language of Scripture, is an emblem of the resurrection, and St. Paul, in that eloquent discourse which is so familiar to all, as a beautiful argument for the great Christian doctrine of a future life, adduces the seed of grain, which, being sown, first dieth, and then quick- eneth, as the appropriate type of that corruptible which must put on incorruption, and of that mortal which must assume immortality. But, in Masonry, the sprig of acacia, for reasons purely masonic, has been always adopted as the symbol of immortality, and the ear of corn is appro- priated as the symbol of plenty. This is in accordance with the Hebrew derivation of the word, as well as with the usage of all ancient nations. The word dagan, pT, which signifies corn, is derived from the verb dagah, rcn, to increase, to multiply, and in all the ancient reli- gions the horn or vase, filled with fruits and with grain, was the recognized symbol of plenty. Hence, as an ele- ment of consecration, corn is intended to remind us of those temporal blessings of life and health, and comforta- ble support, which we derive from the Giver of all good, and to merit which we should strive, with " clean hands and a pure heart," to erect on the corner-stone of our initiation a spiritual temple, which shall be adorned with the " beauty of holiness."
Wine is a symbol of that inward and abiding comfort with which the heart of the man who faithfully performs his part on the great stage of life is to be refreshed ; and as, in the figurative language of the East, Jacob propheti- cally promises to Judah, as his reward, that he shall wash his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the
1 74 SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE.
grape, it seems intended, morally, to remind us of those immortal refreshments which, when the labors of this earthly lodge are forever closed, we shall receive in the celestial lodge above, where the G. A. O. T. U. forever presides.
Oil is a symbol of prosperity, and happiness, and joy. The custom of anointing every thing or person destined for a sacred purpose is of venerable antiquity.* The statues of the heathen deities, as well as the altars on which the sacrifices were offered to them, and the priests who presided over the sacred rites, were always anointed with perfumed ointment, as a consecration of them to the objects of religious worship.
When Jacob set up the stone on which he had slept in his journey to Padan-aram, and where he was blessed with the vision of ascending and descending angels, he anointed it with oil, and thus consecrated it as an altar to God. Such an inunction was, in ancient times, as it still continues to be in many modern countries and con- temporary religions, a symbol of the setting apart of the thing or person so anointed and consecrated to a holy purpose.
* " The act of consecration chiefly consisted in the unction, which was a ceremony derived from the most primitive antiquity. The sacred tabernacle, with all the vessels and utensils, as also the altar and the priests themselves, were consecrated in this manner by Moses, at the divine command. It is well known that the Jewish kings and prophets were admitted to their several offices by unction. The patriarch Jacob, by the same right, consecrated the altars which he made use of; in doing which it is more probable that he followed the tradition of his forefathers, than that he was the author of this custom. The same, or something like it, was also continued down to the times of Christianity." — POTTER'S Archceologia Grceca, b. ii. p. 176.
SYMBOLISM OF THE CORNER-STONE. 175
Hence, then, we are reminded by this last impressive ceremony, that the cultivation of virtue, the practice of duty, the resistance of temptation, the submission to suffering, the devotion to truth, the maintenance of integrity, and all those other graces by which we strive to fit our bodies, as living stones, for the spiritual build- ing of eternal life, must, after all, to make the object effectual and the labor successful, be consecrated by a holy obedience to God's will and a firm reliance on God's providence, which alone constitute the chief corner-stone and sure foundation, on which any man can build with the reasonable hope of a prosperous issue to his work.
It may be noticed, in concluding this topic, that the corner-stone seems to be peculiarly a Jewish symbol. I can find no reference to it in any of the ancient pagan rites, and the EBEN PINAH, the corner-stone, which is so frequently mentioned in Scripture as the emblem of an important personage, and most usually, in the Old Testament, of the expected Messiah, appears, in its use in Masonry, to have had, unlike almost every other sym- bol of the order, an exclusively temple origin.
XXIV.
THE INEFFABLE NAME.
NOTHER important symbol is the Ineffable Name, with which the series of ritualistic sym- bols will be concluded.
The Tetragrammaton,* or Ineffable Word, — the Incommunicable Name, — is a symbol — for rightly considered it is nothing more than a symbol — that has more than any other (except, perhaps, the symbols con- nected with sun-worship), pervaded the rites of antiquity. I know, indeed, of no system of ancient initiation in which it has not some prominent form and place.
But as it was, perhaps, the earliest symbol which was corrupted by the spurious Freemasonry of the pagans, in
* From the Greek TSTQ&g, four, and yQ&tu[ia, letter, because it is composed of four Hebrew letters. Brande thus defines it : "Among several ancient nations, the name of the mystic num- ber four, which was often symbolized to represent the Deity, whose name was expressed by four letters." But this definition is incorrect. The tetragrammaton is not the name of the number four, but the word which expresses the name of God in four let- ters, and is always applied to the Hebrew word only.
176
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 1 77
their secession from the primitive system of the patriarchs and ancient priesthood, it will be most expedient for the thorough discussion of the subject which is proposed in the present paper, that we should begin the investigation with an inquiry into the nature of the symbol among the Israelites.
That name of God, which we, at a venture, pronounce Jehovah, — although whether this is, or is not, the true pronunciation can now never be authoritatively settled, — was ever held by the Jews in the most profound venera- tion. They derived its origin from the immediate inspira- tion of the Almighty, who communicated it to Moses as his especial appellation, to be used only by his chosen people ; and this communication was made at the Burning Bush, wrhen he said to him, 4i Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel : Jehovah, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath sent me unto you : this [Jehovah] is my name forever, and this is my memorial unto all genera- tions." * And at a subsequent period he still more em- phatically declared this to be his peculiar name : " I am Jehovah; and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of El Shaddai; but by my name Jehovah was I not known unto them." f
It will be perceived that I have not here followed pre- cisely the somewhat unsatisfactory version of King James's Bible, which, by translating or anglicizing one name, and not the other, leaves the whole passage less intelligible
* Exod. iii. 15. In our common version of the Bible, the word "Lord " is substituted for "Jehovah," whence the true import of the original is lost.
f Exod. vi. 2, 3.
12
178 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
and impressive than it should be. I have retained the original Hebrew for both names. El Shaddai, " the Almighty One," was the name by which he had been heretofore known to the preceding patriarchs ; in its meaning it was analogous to Elohim, who is described in the first chapter of Genesis as creating the world. But his name of Jehovah was now for the first time to be communicated to his people.
Ushered to their notice with all the solemnity and re- ligious consecration of these scenes and events, this name of God became invested among the Israelites with the profoundest veneration and awe. To add to this mysti- cism, the Cabalists, by the change of a single letter, read the passage, u This is my name forever," or, as it is in the original, Zeh shemi Volam, tib?^ -ifcfl} riT? as if written Zeh shemi Fcilam, ti^i ^EJ {-it? that is to say, u This is my name to be concealed."
This interpretation, although founded on a blunder, and in all probability an intentional one, soon became a pre- cept, and has been strictly obeyed to this day.* The
* "The Jews have manj7 superstitious stories and opinions rela- tive to this name, which, because they were forbidden to mention in vain, they would not mention at all. They substituted Adonai, &c., in its room, whenever it occurred to them in reading or speaking, or else simply and emphatically styled it E£i"J> the Name. Some of them attributed to a certain repetition of this name the virtue of a charm, and others have had the boldness to assert that our blessed Savior wrought all his miracles (for they do not deny them to be such) by that mystical use of this venerable name. See the Toldoth Jeschu, an infamously scurrilous life of Jesus, written by a Jew not later than the thirteenth century. On p. 7, edition of Wagenseilius, 1681, is a succinct detail of the manner in which our Savior is said to have entered the temple and obtained posses- sion of the Holy Name. Leusden says that he had offered to give a sum of money to a very poor Jew at Amsterdam, if he would
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 179
word Jehovah is never pronounced by a pious Jew, who, whenever he meets with it in Scripture, substitutes for it the word Adonai or Lord — a practice which has been fol- lowed by the translators of the common English version of the Bible with almost Jewish scrupulosity, the word "Jehovah " in the original being invariably translated by the word "Lord."* The pronunciation of the word, being thus abandoned, became ultimately lost, as, by the peculiar construction of the Hebrew language, which is entirely without vowels, the letters, being all consonants, can give no possible indication, to one who has not heard it before, of the true pronunciation of any given word.
To make this subject plainer to the reader who is un- acquainted with the Hebrew, I will venture to furnish an explanation which will, perhaps, be intelligible.
The Hebrew alphabet consists entirely of consonants, the vowel sounds having always been inserted orally, and never marked in writing until the " vowel points," as they are called, were invented by the Masorites, some six cen- turies after the Christian era. As the vowel sounds were originally supplied by the reader, while reading, from a
only once deliberately pronounce the name Jehovah ; but he re- fused it by saying that he did not dare." — Horce Solitarice, vol. i. p. 3. — "A Brahmin will not pronounce the name of the Almighty, without drawing down his sleeve and placing it on his mouth with fear and trembling." — MURRAY, Truth of Revelation, p. 321.
* The same scrupulous avoidance of a strict translation has been pursued in other versions. For Jehovah, the Septuagint sub- stitutes " Kvgiog," the Vulgate " Dominus," and the German " der Herr," all equivalent to "the Lord." The French version uses the title " 1'Eternel." But, with a better comprehension of the value of the word, Lowth in his " Isaiah," the Swedenborgian version of the Psalms, and spine other recent versions, have restored the original name.
l8o THE INEFFABLE NAME.
knowledge which he had previously received, by means of oral instruction, of the proper pronunciation of the word, he was necessarily unable to pronounce any word which had never before been uttered in his presence. As we know that Dr. is to be pronounced Doctor, and Mr. Mister, because we have always heard those peculiar combinations of letters thus enunciated, and not because the letters themselves give any such sound ; so the Jew knew from instruction and constant practice, and not from the power of the letters, how the consonants in the different words in daily use were to be vocalized. But as the four letters which compose the word Jehovah, as we now call it, were never pronounced in his presence, but were made to represent another word, Adonai, which was substituted for it, and as the combination of these four consonants would give no more indication for any sort of enunciation than the combinations Dr. or Mr. give in our language, the Jew, being ignorant of what vocal sounds were to be supplied, was unable to pronounce the word, so that its true pronunciation was in time lost to the masses of the people.
There was one person, however, who, it is said, was in possession of the proper sound of the letters and the true pronunciation of the word. This was the high priest, who, receiving it from his predecessor, preserved the recollection of the sound by pronouncing it three times, once a year, on the day of the atonement, when he en- tered the holy of holies of the tabernacle or the temple.
If the traditions of Masonry on this subject are correct, the kings, after the establishment of the monarchy, must have participated in this privilege ; for Solomon is said to have been in possession of the word, and to have com-
THE INEFFABLE NAME. l8l
municated it to his two colleagues at the building of the temple.
This is the word which, from the number of its letters, was called the " tetragrammaton," or four-lettered name, and, from its sacred inviolability, the " ineffable " or unut- terable name.
The Cabalists and Talmudists have enveloped it in a host of mystical superstitions, most of which are as absurd as they are incredible, but all of them tending to show the great veneration that has alwa}'s been paid to it.* Thus they say that it is possessed of unlimited powers, and that he who pronounces it shakes heaven and earth, and in- spires the very angels with terror and astonishment.
The Rabbins called it " shem hamphorash," that is to say, " the name that is declaratory," and they say that David found it engraved on a stone while digging into the earth.
From the sacredness with which the name was vener- ated, it was seldom, if ever, written in full, and, conse- quently, a great many symbols, or hieroglyphics, were invented to express it. One of these was the letter i, or Tod, equivalent nearly to the English I, or J, or Y, which was the initial of the word, and it was often in- scribed within an equilateral triangle, thus : the triangle itself being a symbol of Deity.
* In the Talmud ical treatise, Majan Hachockima, quoted by Stephelin (Rabbinical Literature, i. p. 131), we are informed that rightly to understand the shem hamphorash is a key to the un- locking of all mysteries. " There," says the treatise, " shalt thou understand the words of men, the words of cattle, the singing of birds, the language of beasts, the barking of dogs, the language of devils, the language of ministering angels, the language of date- trees, the motion of the sea, the unity of hearts, and the murmur- ing of the tongue — nay, even the thoughts of the reins."
1 82 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
This symbol of the name of God is peculiarly worthy of our attention, since not only is the triangle to be found in many of the ancient religions occupying the same posi- tion, but the whole symbol itself is undoubtedly the origin of that hieroglyphic exhibited in the second degree of Masonry, where, the explanation of the symbolism being the same, the form of it, as far as it respects the letter, has only been anglicized by modern innovators. In my own opinion, the letter £r, which is used in the Fellow Craft's degree, should never have been permitted to intrude into Masonry ; it presents an instance of absurd anachronism, which would never have occurred if the original Hebrew symbol had been retained. But being there now, without the possibility of removal, we have only to remember that it is in fact but the symbol of a symbol.*
Widely spread, as I have already said, was this rever- ence for the name of God ; and, consequently, its symbol- ism, in some peculiar form, is to be found in all the ancient rites.
Thus the Ineffable Name itself, of which we have been discoursing, is said to have been preserved in its true pro- nunciation by the Essenes, who, in their secret rites, com- municated it to each other only in a whisper, and in such form, that while its component parts were known, they were so separated as to make the whole word a mys- tery.
Among the Egyptians, whose connection with the He- brews was more immediate than that of any other people, and where, consequently, there was a greater similarity of rites, the same sacred name is said to have been used
* The gamma, F9 or Greek letter G, is said to have been sacred among the Pythagoreans as the initial of reaijueigla or Geometry.
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 183
as a password, for the purpose of gaining admission to their Mysteries.
In the Brahminic Mysteries of Hindostan the ceremony of initiation was terminated by intrusting the aspirant with the sacred, triliteral name, which was AUM, the three letters of which were symbolic of the creative, pre- servative, and destructive principles of the Supreme Deity, personified in the three manifestations of Bramah, Siva, and Vishnu. This word was forbidden to be pronounced aloud. It was to be the subject of silent meditation to the pious Hindoo.
In the rites of Persia an ineffable name was also com- municated to the candidate after his initiation.* Mithras, the principal divinity in these rites, who took the place of the Hebrew Jehovah, and represented the sun, had this peculiarity in his name — that the numeral value of the letters of which it was composed amounted to pre- cisely 365, the number of days which constitute a revolu- tion of the earth around the sun, or, as they then supposed, of the sun around the earth.
In the Mysteries introduced by Pythagoras into Greece we again find the ineffable name of the Hebrews, obtained doubtless by the Samian Sage during his visit to Baby- lon, f The symbol adopted by him to express it was,
* Vide Oliver, Hist. Init. p. 68, note.
f Jamblichus says that Pythagoras passed over from Miletus to Sidon, thinking that he could thence go more easily into Egypt, and that while there he caused himself to be initiated into all the mysteries of Byblos and Tyre, and those which were practised in many parts of Syria, not because he was under the influence of any superstitious motives, but from the fear that if he were not to avail himself of these opportunities, he might neglect to acquire some knowledge in those rites which was worthy of observation. But
184 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
however, somewhat different, being ten points distributed in the form of a triangle, each side containing four points, as in the annexed figure.
• The apex of the triangle was consequently
• • a single point then followed below two
• • • others, then three ; and lastly, the base con- • • • • sisted of four. These points were, by the number in each rank, intended, according to the Py- thagorean system, to denote respectively the monad, or active principle of nature ; the duad, or passive principle ; the triad, or world emanating from their union ; and the quaterniad, or intellectual science ; the whole number of points amounting to ten, the symbol of perfection and consummation. This figure was called by Pythagoras the tetractys — a word equivalent in signification to the tetragrammaton; and it was deemed so sacred that on it the oath of secrecy and fidelity was administered to the aspirants in the Pythagorean rites.*
Among the Scandinavians, as among the Jewish Cabalists, the Supreme God who was made known in their mysteries had twelve names, of which the princi- pal and most sacred one was Alfader, the Universal Father.
as these mysteries were originally received by the Phoenicians from Egypt, he passed over into that country, where he remained twenty-two years, occupying himself in the study of geometry, astronomy, and all the initiations of the gods (n&aag 6s&v TS^srdg^ until he was carried a captive into Babylon by the soldiers of Cambyses, and that twelve years afterwards he returned to Samos at the age of sixty years. — Vit. Pythag. cap. iii., iv.
* " The sacred words were intrusted to him, of which the In- effable Tetractys, or name of God, was the chief." — OLIVER, Hist. Init. p. 109.
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Among the Druids, the sacred name of God was Hu* — a name which, although it is supposed, by Bryant, to have been intended by them for Noah, will be recognized as one of the modifications of the Hebrew tetragrammaton. It is, in fact, the masculine pronoun in Hebrew, and may be considered as the symbolization of the male or gener- ative principle in nature — a sort of modification of the system of Phallic worship.
This sacred name among the Druids reminds me of what is the latest, and undoubtedly the most philosophi- cal, speculation on the true meaning, as well as pronun- ciation, of the ineffable tetragrammaton. It is from the ingenious mind of the celebrated Lanci ; and I have already, in another work, given it to the public as I received it from his pupil, and my friend, Mr. Gliddon, the distinguished archaeologist. But the results are too curious to be omitted whenever the tetragrammaton is discussed.
Elsewhere I have very fully alluded to the prevailing sentiment among the ancients, that the Supreme Deity was bisexual, or hermaphrodite, including in the essence of his being the male and female principles, the generative and prolific powers of nature. This was the universal doctrine in all the ancient religions, and was very naturally developed in the symbol of the phallus and cteis among the Greeks, and in the corresponding one of the lingam
* " Hu, the mighty, whose history as a patriarch is precisely that of Noah, was promoted to the rank of the principal demon- god among the Britons; and, as his chariot was composed of rays of the sun, it may be presumed that he was worshipped in conjunc- tion with that luminary, and to the same superstition we may refer what is said of his light and swift course." — DAVIES, Mythol. and Rites of the Brit. Druids, p. no.
1 86 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
and yoni among the Orientalists ; from which symbols the masonic point within a circle is a legitimate deriva- tion. They all taught that God, the Creator, was both male and female.
Now, this theory is undoubtedly unobjectionable on the score of orthodoxy, if we view it in the spiritual sense, in which its first propounders must necessarily have intended it to be presented to the mind, and not in the gross, sensual meaning in which it was subsequently received. For, taking the word sex, not in its ordinary and collo- quial signification, as denoting the indication of a partic- ular physical organization, but in that purely philosophical one which alone can be used in such a connection, and which simply signifies the mere manifestation of a power, it is not to be denied that the Supreme Being must pos- sess in himself, and in himself alone, both a generative and a prolific power. This idea, which was so exten- sively prevalent among all the nations of antiquity,* has also been traced in the tetragrammaton, or name of Jehovah, with singular ingenuity, by Lanci ; and, what is almost equally as interesting, he has, by this discovery, been enabled to demonstrate what was, in all probability, the true pronunciation of the word.
In giving the details of this philological discovery, I will endeavor to make it as comprehensible as it can be made to those who are not critically acquainted with the
* " All the male gods (of the ancients) may be reduced to one, the generative energy ; and all the female to one, the prolific principle. In fact, they may all be included in the one great Her- maphrodite, the ayyevodijlvg, who combines in his nature all the elements of production, and who continues to support the vast creation which originally proceeded from his will." — RUSSELL'S Connection, i. p. 402.
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 1 8
construction of the Hebrew language ; those who are will at once appreciate its peculiar character, and will excuse the explanatory details, of course unnecessary to them.
The ineffable name, the tetragrammaton, the shem hamphorash, — for it is known by all these appellations, — consists of four letters, yod, heJi, z> the word lYiJY1. This word, of course, in accordance with the genius of the Hebrew language, is read, as we would say, backward, or from right to left, beginning with yod [">], and ending with Jieh [n].
Of these letters, the first, yod ["i], is equivalent to the English i pronounced as e in the word machine.
The second and fourth letter, heh [n], is an aspirate, and has here the sound of the English h.
And the third letter, vau [i], has the sound of open o.
Now, reading these four letters, % or I, n, or H, % or O, and n, or H, as the Hebrew requires, from right to left, we have the word rnn% equivalent in English to IH-OH, which is really as near to the pronunciation as we can well come, notwithstanding it forms neither of the seven ways in which the word is said to have been pronounced, at different times, by the patriarchs.*
But, thus pronounced, the word gives us no meaning, for there is no such word in Hebrew as ihohj and, as all the Hebrew names were significative of something, it is but fair to conclude that this was not the original pronun-
* It is a tradition that it was pronounced in the following seven different ways by the patriarchs, from Methuselah to David, viz. : Juha, Jeva, Jova, Jevo, Jeveh, Joke, and Jehovah. In all these words the j is to be pronounced as y, the a as a/i, the c as «, and the v as w.
1 88 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
elation, and that we must look for another which will give a meaning to the word. Now, Lanci proceeds to the discovery of this true pronunciation, as follows : —
In the Cabala, a hidden meaning is often deduced from a word by transposing or reversing its letters, and it was in this way that the Cabalists concealed many of their mysteries.
Now, to reverse a word in English is to read its letters from rig Jit to left, because our normal mode of reading is from left to rig Jit. But in Hebrew the contrary rule takes place, for there the normal mode of reading is from right to left; and therefore, to reverse the reading of a word, is to read it from left to rigJit.
Lanci applied this cabalistic mode to the tetragram- maton, when he found that IH-OH, being read reversely, makes the word HO-HL*
But in Hebrew, ho is the masculine pronoun, equivalent to the English he / and hi is the feminine pronoun, equiv- alent to she; and therefore the word HO-HI, literally translated, is equivalent to the English compound HE- SHE ; that is to say, the Ineffable Name of God in Hebrew, being read cabalistically, includes within itself the male and female principle, the generative and prolific energy of creation ; and here we have, again, the widely- spread symbolism of the phallus and the cteis, the lingam and the yoni, or their equivalent, the point within a circle, and another pregnant proof of the connection between Freemasonry and the ancient Mysteries.
And here, perhaps, we may begin to find some mean-
* The i is to be pronounced as e, and the whole word as if spelled in English ho-he.
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 189
ing for the hitherto incomprehensible passage in Genesis (i. 27) : " So God created man in his own image; in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." They could not have been u in the image" of IHOH, if they had not been " male and fe- male."
The Cabalists have exhausted their ingenuity and imagination in speculations on this sacred name, and some of their fancies are really sufficiently interesting to repay an investigation. Sufficient, however, has been here said to account for the important position that it occupies in the masonic system, and to enable us to appreciate the symbols by which it has been represented.
The great reverence, or indeed the superstitious vener- ation, entertained by the ancients for the name of the Supreme Being, led them to express it rather in symbols or hieroglyphics than in any word at length.
We know, for instance, from the recent researches of the archaeologists, that in all the documents of the ancient Egyptians, written in the demotic or common character of the country, the names of the gods were invariably denoted by symbols ; and I have already alluded to the different modes by which the Jews expressed the tetra- grammaton. A similar practice prevailed among the other nations of antiquity. Freemasonry has adopted the same expedient, and the Grand Architect of the Universe, whom it is the usage, even in ordinary writing, to designate by the initials G.'.A.-.O.'.T.'.U.'., is accord- ingly presented to us in a variety of symbols, three of which particularly require attention. These are the letter 6r, the equilateral triangle, and the All-Seeing Eye.
Of the letter G I have already spoken. A letter of the
190 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
English alphabet can scarcely be considered an appro- priate symbol of an institution which dates its organiza- tion and refers its primitive history to a period long anterior to the origin of that language. Such a symbol is deficient in the two elements of antiquity and univer- sality which should characterize every masonic symbol. There can, therefore, be no doubt that, in its present form, it is a corruption of the old Hebrew symbol, the letter yod, by which the sacred name was often expressed. This letter is the initial of the word Jehovah, or Ihoh, as I have already stated, and is constantly to be met with in Hebrew writings as the symbol or abbreviature of Jehovah, which word, it will be remembered, is never written at length. But because G is, in like manner, the initial of God, the equivalent of Jehovah, this letter has been incorrectly, and, I cannot refrain from again saying, most injudiciously, selected to supply, in modern lodges, the place of the Hebrew symbol.
Having, then, the same meaning and force as the He- brew yod, the letter G must be considered, like its proto- type, as the symbol of the life-giving and life-sustaining power of God, as manifested in the meaning of the word Jehovah, or Ihoh, the generative and prolific energy of the Creator.
The All-Seeing Eye is another, and a still more im- portant, symbol of the same great Being. Both the Hebrews and the Egyptians appear to have derived its use from that natural inclination of figurative minds to select an organ as the symbol of the function which it is intended peculiarly to discharge. Thus the foot wras often adopted as the symbol of swiftness, the arm of strength, and the hand of fidelity. On the same principle,
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 19!
the open eye was selected as the symbol of watchfulness, and the eye of God as the symbol of divine watchfulness and care of the universe. The use of the symbol in this sense is repeatedly to be found in the Hebrew writers. Thus the Psalmist says (Ps. xxxiv. 15), " The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their cry," which explains a subsequent passage (Ps. cxxi. 4), in which it is said, u Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep." *
On the same principle, the Egyptians represented Osiris, their chief deity, by the symbol of an open eye, and placed this hieroglyphic of him in all their temples. His sym- bolic name, on the monuments, was represented by the eye accompanying a throne, to which was sometimes added an abbreviated figure of the god, and sometimes what has been called a hatchet, but which, I consider, may as correctly be supposed to be a representation of a square.
The All-Seeing Eye may, then, be considered as a
* In the apocryphal "Book of the Conversation of God with Moses on Mount Sinai," translated by the Rev. W. Cureton from an Arabic MS. of the fifteenth century, and published by the Philobiblon Society of London, the idea of the eternal watchful- ness of God is thus beautifully allegorized : —
" Then Moses said to the Lord, O Lord, dost thou sleep or not? The Lord said unto Moses, I never sleep : but take a cup and fill it with water. Then Moses took a cup and filled it with water, as the Lord commanded him. Then the Lord cast into the heart of Moses the breath of slumber; so he slept, and the cup fell from his hand, and the water which was therein was spilled. Then Moses awoke from his sleep. Then said God to Moses, I declare by my power, and by my glory, that if I were to withdraw my providence from the heavens and the earth for no longer a space of time than thou hast slept, they would at once fall to ruin and confusion, like as the cup fell from thy hand."
192 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
symbol of God manifested in bis omnipresence — bis guardian and preserving character — to vvbicb Solomon alludes in the Book of Proverbs (xv. 3), when he says, " The eyes of Jehovah are in every place, beholding (or as it might be more faithfully translated, watching) the evil and the good." It is a symbol of the Omnipresent Deity.
The triangle is another symbol which is entitled to our consideration. There is, in fact, no other symbol which is more various in its application or more generally dif- fused throughout the whole system of both the Spurious and the Pure Freemasonry.
The equilateral triangle appears to have been adopted by nearly all the nations of antiquity as a symbol of the Deity.
Among the Hebrews, it has already been stated that this figure, with a yod in the centre, was used to repre- sent the tetragrammaton, or ineffable name of God.
The Egyptians considered the equilateral triangle as the most perfect of figures, and a representative of the great principle of animated existence, each of its sides referring to one of the three departments of creation — the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral.
The symbol of universal nature among the Egyptians was the right-angled triangle, of which the perpendicular side represented Osiris, or the male principle ; the base, Isis, or the female principle ; and the hypo then use, their offspring, Horus, or the world emanating from the union of both principles.
All this, of course, is nothing more nor less than the phallus and cteis, or lingam and yoni, under a different form.
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 193
The symbol of the right-angled triangle was afterwards adopted by Pythagoras when he visited the banks of the Nile ; and the discovery which he is said to have made in relation to the properties of this figure, but which he really learned from the Egyptian priests, is commemo- rated in Masonry by the introduction of the forty-seventh problem of Euclid's First Book among the symbols of the third degree. Here the same mystical application is supplied as in the Egyptian figure, namely, that the union of the male and female, or active and passive principles of nature, has produced the world. For the geometrical proposition being that the squares of the perpendicular and base are equal to the square of the hypothenuse, they may be said to produce it in the same way as Osiris and Isis are equal to, or produce, the world.
Thus the perpendicular — Osiris, or the active, male principle — being represented by a line whose measure- ment is 3; and the base — Isis, or the passive, female principle — by a line whose measurement is 4 ; then their union, or the addition of the squares of these numbers, will produce a square whose root will be the hypothenuse, or a line whose measurement must be 5. For the square of 3 is 9, and the square of 4 is 16, and the square of 5 is 25 ; but 9 added to 16 is equal to 25 ; and thus, out of the addition, or coming together, of the squares of the perpendicular and base, arises the square of the hypothe- nuse, just as, out of the coming together, in the Egyptian system, of the active and passive principles, arises, or is generated, the world.
In the mediaeval history of the Christian church, the
'3
194 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
great ignorance of the people, and their inclination to a sort of materialism, led them to abandon the symbolic representations of the Deity, and to depict the Father with the form and lineaments of an aged man, many of which irreverent paintings, as far back as the twelfth century, are to be found in the religious books and edifices of Europe.* But, after the period of the renaissance, a better spirit and a purer taste began to pervade the artists of the church, and thenceforth the Supreme Being was represented only by his name — the tetragrammaton — inscribed within an equilateral triangle, and placed within a circle of rays. Didron, in his inval- uable work on Christian Iconography, gives one of these symbols, which was carved on wood in the seventeenth century, of which I annex a copy.
But even in the earliest ages, when the Deity was painted or sculptured as a personage, the nim- bus, or glory, which surrounded the head of the Father, was often made to assume a triangular form. Didron says on this subject, " A nimbus, of a triangular form, is thus seen to be the exclusive attribute of the Deity, and most frequently restricted to the Father Eternal. The other persons of the trinity sometimes wear the triangle, but only in representations of the trinity, and because the Father is with them. Still, even then, beside the Father,
* I have in my possession a rare copy of the Vulgate Bible, in black letter, printed at Lyons, in 1522. The frontispiece is a coarsely executed wood cut, divided into six compartments, and representing the six days of the creation. The Father is, in each compartment, pictured as an aged man engaged in his creative task.
THE INEFFABLE NAME.
who has a triangle, the Son and the Holy Ghost are often drawn with a circular nimbus only." *
The triangle has, in all ages and in all religions, been deemed a symbol of Deity.
The Egyptians, the Greeks, and the other nations of antiquity, considered this figure, with its three sides, as a symbol of the creative energy displayed in the active and passive, or male and female, principles, and their pro- duct, the world ; the Christians referred it to their dogma of the trinity as a manifestation of the Supreme God ; and the Jews and the primitive masons to the three periods of existence included in the signification of the tetragram ma- ton — the past, the present, and the future.
In the higher degrees of Masonry, the triangle is the most important of all symbols, and most generally assumes the name of the Delta, in allusion to the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, which is of the same form and bears that appellation.
The Delta, or mystical triangle, is generally surrounded by a circle of rays, called a " glory." When this glory is distinct from the figure, and surrounds it in the form of a circle (as in the example just given from Didron), it is then an emblem of God's eternal glory. When, as is most usual in the masonic symbol, the rays emanate from the centre of the triangle, and, as it were, enshroud it in their brilliancy, it is symbolic of the Divine Light. The per- verted ideas of the pagans referred these rays of light to their Sun-god and their Sabian worship.
But the true masonic idea of this glory is, that it sym- bolizes that Eternal Light of Wisdom which surrounds the
* Christian Iconography, Millington's trans., vol. i. p. 59.
196 THE INEFFABLE NAME.
Supreme Architect as with a sea of glory, and from him, as a common centre, emanates to the universe of his crea- tion, and to which the prophet Ezekiel alludes in his elo- quent description of Jehovah : " And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from his loins even downward, I saw, as it were, the appear- ance of fire, and it had brightness round about." (Chap. i, ver. 27.)
Dante has also beautifully described this circumfused light of Deity : —
" There is in heaven a light whose goodly shine Makes the Creator visible to all Created, that in seeing him, alone Have peace ; and in a circle spreads so far, That the circumference were too loose a zone To girdle in the sun."
On a recapitulation, then, of the views that have been advanced in relation to these three symbols of the Deity which are to be found in the masonic system, we may say that each one expresses a different attribute.
The letter G is the symbol of the self-existent Jehovah.
The All-Seeing Eye is the symbol of the omnipresent God.
The triangle* is the symbol of the Supreme Architect
* The triangle, or delta, is the symbol of Deity for this reason. In geometry a single line cannot represent a perfect figure; neither can two lines; three lines, however, constitute the triangle or first perfect and demonstrable figure. Hence this figure symbolizes the Eternal God, infinitely perfect in his nature. But the triangle properly refers to God only in his quality as an Eternal Being, its three sides representing the Past, the Present, and the Future. Some Christian symbologists have made the three sides represent the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; but they evidently thereby
THE INEFFABLE NAME. 197
of the Universe — the Creator ; and when surrounded by rays of glory, it becomes a symbol of the Architect and Bestower of Light.
And now, after all, is there not in this whole prevalence of the name of God, in so many different symbols, through- out the masonic system, something more than a mere evi- dence of the religious proclivities of the institution? Is there not behind this a more profound symbolism, which constitutes, in fact, the very essence of Freemasonry? " The names of God," said a learned theologian at the beginning of this century, "were intended to communi- cate the knowledge of God himself. By these, men were enabled to receive some scanty ideas of his essential majesty, goodness, and power, and to know both whom we are to believe, and what we are to believe of him."
And this train of thought is eminently applicable to the admission of the name into the system of Masonry. With us, the name of God, however expressed, is a symbol of DIVINE TRUTH, which it should be the incessant labor of a Mason to seek.
destroy the divine unity, making a trinity of Gods in the unity of a Godhead. The Gnostic trinity of Manes consisted of one God and two principles, one of good and the other of evil. The Indian trinity, symbolized also by the triangle, consisted of Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu, the Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer, represented by Earth, Water, and Air. This symbolism of the Eternal God by the triangle is the reason why a trinitarian scheme has been so prevalent in all religions — the three sides naturally suggesting the three divisions of the Godhead. But in the Pagan and Oriental religions this trinity was nothing else but a tritheism.
XXV.
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
compound character of a speculative science and an operative art, which the masonic institu- tion assumed at the building of King Solomon's temple, in consequence of the union, at that era, of the Pure Freemasonry of the Noachidse* with the Spurious Freemasonry of the Tyrian workmen, has supplied it with two distinct kinds of symbols — the mythical, or legendary, and the material; but these are so thoroughly
* Noachidae, or Noachites, the descendants of Noah. This patriarch having alone preserved the true name and worship of God amid a race of impious idolaters, the Freemasons claim to be his descendants, because they preserve that pure religion which distinguished this second father of the human race from the' rest of the world. (See the author's Lexicon of Freemasonry.} The Tyrian workmen at the temple of Solomon were the descendants of that other division of the race who fell off, at Shinar, from the true worship, and repudiated the principles of Noah. The Tyrians, however, like many other ancient mystics, had recovered some portion of the lost light, and the complete repossession was finally achieved by their union with the Jewish masons, who were Noachidae.
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 199
united in object and design, that it is impossible to appre- ciate the one without an investigation of the other.
Thus, by way of illustration, it may be observed, that the temple itself has been adopted as a material symbol of the world (as I have already shown in former articles), while the legendary history of the fate of its builder is a mythical symbol of man's destiny in the world. What- ever is visible or tangible to the senses in our types and emblems — such as the implements of operative masonry, the furniture and ornaments of a lodge, or the ladder of seven steps — is a material symbol; while whatever de- rives its existence from tradition, and presents itself in the form of an allegory or legend, is a mythical symbol. Hiram the Builder, therefore, and all that refers to the legend of his connection with the temple, and his fate, — such as the sprig of acacia, the hill near Mount Moriah, and the lost word, — are to be considered as belonging to the class of mythical or legendary symbols.
And this division is not arbitrary, but depends on the nature of the types and the aspect in which they present themselves to our view.
Thus the sprig of acacia, although it is material, visi- ble, and tangible, is, nevertheless, not to be treated as a material symbol ; for, as it derives all its significance from its intimate connection with the legend of Hiram Abif, which is a mythical symbol, it cannot, without a violent and inexpedient disruption, be separated from the same class. For the same reason, the small hill near Mount Moriah, the search of the twelve Fellow Crafts, and the whole train of circumstances connected with the lost word, are to be viewed simply as mythical or legen- dary, and not as material symbols.
2OO THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
These legends of Freemasonry constitute a considerable and a very important part of its ritual. Without them, the most valuable portions of the masonic as a scientific system would cease to exist. It is, in fact, in the tradi- tions and legends of Freemasonry, more, even, than in its material symbols, that we are to find the deep religious instruction which the institution is intended to inculcate. It must be remembered that Freemasonry has been de- fined to be u a system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." Symbols, then, alone, do not constitute the whole of the system : allegory comes in for its share ; and this allegory, which veils the divine truths of masonry, is presented to the neophyte in the various legends which have been traditionally preserved in the order.
The close connection, at least in design and method of execution, between the institution of Freemasonry and the ancient Mysteries, which were largely imbued with the mythical character of the ancient religions, led, undoubt- edly, to the introduction of the same mythical character into the masonic system.
So general, indeed, was the diffusion of the myth or legend among the philosophical, historical, and religious systems of antiquity, that Heyne remarks, on this subject, that all the history and philosophy of the ancients pro- ceeded from myths.*
The word myth, from the Greek fivOos, a story, in its
* " A mythis omnis priscorum hominum turn historia turn phi- losophia procedit." — Ad Apollod. Athen. Biblioth. not. f. p. 3. — And Faber says, "Allegory and personification were peculiarly agreeable to the genius of antiquity; and the simplicity of truth was continually sacrificed at the shrine of poetical decoration." — On the Cabiri.
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 2OI
original acceptation, signified simply a statement or narra- tive of an event, without any necessary implication of truth or falsehood ; but, as the word is now used, it conveys the idea of a personal narrative of remote date, which, although not necessarily untrue, is certified only by the internal evi- dence of the tradition itself.*
Creuzer, in his " Symbolik," says that myths and sym- bols were derived, on the one hand, from the helpless condition and the poor and scanty beginnings of religious knowledge among the ancient peoples, and on the other, from the benevolent designs of the priests educated in the East, or of Eastern origin, to form them to a purer and higher knowledge.
But the observations of that profoundly philosophical historian, Mr. Grote, give so correct a view of the proba- ble origin of this universality of the mythical element in all the ancient religions, and are, withal, so appropriate to the subject of masonic legends which I am now about to discuss, that I cannot justly refrain from a liberal quota- tion of his remarks.
" The allegorical interpretation of the myths," he says, u has been, by several learned investigators, especially by Creuzer, connected with the hypothesis of an ancient and highly-instructed body of priests, having their origin either in Egypt or the East, and communicating to the rude and barbarous Greeks religious, physical, and historical knowledge, under the veil of symbols. At a time (we are told) when language was yet in its infancy, visible
* See Grote, History of Greece, vol. i. ch. xvi. p. 479, whence this definition has been substantially derived. The definitions of Creuzer, Hermann, Buttmann, Heyne, Welcker, Voss, and Mtiller are none of them better, and some of them not as good.
2O2 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
symbols were the most vivid means of acting upon the minds of ignorant hearers. The next step was to pass to symbolical language and expressions ; for a plain and lit- eral exposition, even if understood at all, would at least have been listened to with indifference, as not correspond- ing with any mental demand. In such allegorizing way, then, the early priests set forth their doctrines respecting God, nature, and humanity, — a refined monotheism and theological philosophy, — and to this purpose the earliest myths were turned. But another class of myths, more popular and more captivating, grew up under the hands of the poets — myths purely epical, and descriptive of real or supposed past events. The allegorical myths, being taken up by the poets, insensibly became confound- ed in the same category with the purely narrative myths ; the matter symbolized was no longer thought of, while the symbolizing words came to be construed in their own literal meaning, and the basis of the early allegory, thus lost among the general public, was only preserved as a secret among various religious fraternities, composed of members allied together by initiation in certain mystical ceremonies, and administered by hereditary families of presiding priests.
u In the Orphic and Bacchic sects, in the Eleusinian and Samothracian Mysteries, was thus treasured up the secret doctrine of the old theological and philosophical myths, which had once constituted the primitive legen- dary stock of Greece in the hands of the original priest- hood and in the ages anterior to Homer. Persons who had gone through the preliminary ceremonies of initiation were permitted at length to hear, though under strict obli- gation of secrecy, fhi§ ancient religion and cosmogonic
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 203
doctrine, revealing the destination of man and the certain- ty of posthumous rewards and punishments, all disen- gaged from the corruptions of poets, as well as from the symbols and allegories under which they still remained buried in the eyes of the vulgar. The Mysteries of Greece were thus traced up to the earliest ages, and represented as the only faithful depositaries of that purer theology and physics which had been originally communicated, though under the unavoidable inconvenience of a symbolical expression, by an enlightened priesthood, coming from abroad, to the then rude barbarians of the country."*
* Hist, of Greece, vol. i. ch. xvi. p. 579. The idea of the exist- ence of an enlightened people, who lived at a remote era, and came from the East, was a very prevalent notion among the ancient traditions. It is corroborative of this that the Hebrew word 2"lP> kedem, signifies, in respect to place, the east, and, in respect to time, oldeu time, ancient days. The phrase in Isaiah xix. n, which reads, " I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings," might just as well have been translated " the son of kings of the East." In a note to the passage Ezek. xliii. 2, " the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the East," Adam Clarke says, " All knowledge, all religion, and all arts and sciences, have travelled, according to the course of the sun, FROM EAST TO WEST! " Bazot tells us (in his Manuel du Franc-ma tion which masons entertain for the east confirms an opinion pre- viously announced, that the religious system of Masonry came from the east, and has reference to the primitive religion, whose first corruption was the worship of the sun." And lastly, the masonic reader will recollect the answer given in the Leland MS. to the question respecting the origin of Masonry, namely, "It did begin " (I modernize the orthography) " with the first men in the east, which were before the first men of the west; and coming westerly, it hath brought herewith all comforts to the wild and comfortless." Locke's commentary on this answer may conclude this note : " It should seem, by this, that masons believe there were men in the east before Adam, who is called the ' first man of the west,' and that arts and sciences began in the east. Some
204 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
In this long but interesting extract we find not only a philosophical account of the origin and design of the ancient myths, but a fair synopsis of all that can be taught in relation to the symbolical construction of Freemasonry, as one of the depositaries of a mythical theology.
The myths of Masonry, at first perhaps nothing more than the simple traditions of the Pure Freemasonry of the antediluvian system, having been corrupted and mis- understood in the separation of the races, were again purified, and adapted to the inculcation of truth, at first by the disciples of the Spurious Freemasonry, and then, more fully and perfectly, in the development of that sys- tem which we now practise. And if there be any leaven of error still remaining in the interpretation of our masonic myths, we must seek to disengage them from the corrup- tions with which they have been invested by ignorance and by misinterpretation. We must give to them their true significance, and trace them back to those ancient doctrines and faith whence the ideas which they are intended to embody were derived.
The myths or legends which present themselves to our attention in the course of a complete study of the sym- bolic system of Freemasonry may be considered as divided into three classes : —
authors, of great note for learning, have been of the same opinion ; and it is certain that Europe and Africa (which, in respect to Asia, may be called western countries) were wild and savage long after arts and politeness of manners were in great perfection in China and the Indies." The Talmudists make the same allusions to the superiority of the east. Thus, Rabbi Bechai says, u Adam was created with his face towards the east that he might behold the light and the rising sun, whence the east was to him the anterior part of the world."
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 205
1. The historical myth.
2. The philosophical myth.
3. The mythical history.
And these three classes may be defined as follows : —
1. The myth may be engaged in the transmission of a narrative of early deeds and events, having a foundation in truth, which truth, however, has been greatly distorted and perverted by the omission or introduction of circum- stances and personages, and then it constitutes the histor- ical myth.
2. Or it may have been invented and adopted as the medium of enunciating a particular thought, or of incul- cating a certain doctrine, when it becomes a philosophical myth.
3. Or, lastly, the truthful elements of actual history may greatly predominate ov*er the fictitious and invented materials of the myth, and the narrative may be, in the main, made up of facts, with a slight coloring of imagi- nation, when it forms a mythical history.*
These form the three divisions of the legend or myth (for I am not disposed, on the present occasion, like some of the German mythological writers, to make a distinc- tion between the two words f ) ; and to one of these three
* Strauss makes a division of myths into historical, philosophi- cal, and poetical. — Leben Jesu. — His poetical myth agrees with my first division, his philosophical with my second, and his historical with my third. But I object to the word poetical, as a distinctive term, because all myths have their foundation in the poetic idea.
f Ulmann, for instance, distinguishes between a myth and a legend — the former containing, to a great degree, fiction com- bined with history, and the latter having but a few faint echoes of mythical history.
2O6 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
divisions we must appropriate every legend which belongs to the mythical symbolism of Freemasonry.
These masonic myths partake, in their general charac- ter, of the nature of the myths which constituted the foundation of the ancient religions, as they have just been described in the language of Mr. Grote. Of these latter myths, Miiller * says that " their source is to be found, for the most part, in oral tradition," and that the real and the ideal — that is to say, the facts of history and the inventions of imagination — concurred, by their union and reciprocal fusion, in producing the myth.
Those are the very principles that govern the construc- tion of the masonic myths or legends. These, too, owe their existence entirely to oral tradition, and are made up, as I have just observed, of a due admixture of the real and the ideal — the true and' the false — the facts of his- tory and the inventions of allegory.
Dr. Oliver remarks that u the first series of historical facts, after the fall of man, must necessarily have been traditional, and transmitted from father to son by oral communication." f The same system, adopted in all the Mysteries, has been continued in the masonic institution ; and all the esoteric instructions contained in the legends of Freemasonry are forbidden to be written, and can be communicated only in the oral intercourse of Freemasons with each other. {
* In his " Prolegomena zu einer wissenshaftlichen Mythologie," cap. iv. This valuable work was translated in 1844, by Mr. John Leitch.
f Historical Landmarks, i. 53.
J See an article, by the author, on " The Unwritten Landmarks of Freemasonry," in the first volume of the Masonic Miscellany, in which this subject is treated at considerable length.
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 207
De Wette, in his Criticism on the Mosaic History, lays down the test by which a myth is to be distinguished from a strictly historical narrative, as follows, namely : that the myth must owe its origin to the intention of the inventor not to satisfy the natural thirst for historical truth by a simple narration, of facts, but rather to delight or touch the feelings, or to illustrate some philosophical or religious truth.
This definition precisely fits the character of the myths of Masonry. Take, for instance, the legend of the mas- ter's degree, or the myth of Hiram Abif. As " a simple narration of facts," it is of no great value — certainly not of value commensurate with the labor that has been en- gaged in its transmission. Its invention — by which is I meant, not the invention or imagination of all the inci-
dents of which it is composed, for there are abundant materials of the true and real in its details, but its inven- tion or composition in the form of a myth by the addition of some features, the suppression of others, and the general arrangement of the whole — was not intended to add a single item to the great mass of history, but alto- gether, as De Wette says, " to illustrate a philosophical or religious truth," which truth, it is hardly necessary for me to say, is the doctrine of the immortality of the soul.
It must be evident, from all that has been said respecting the analogy in origin and design between the masonic and the ancient religious myths, that no one acquainted with the true science of this subject can, for a moment, contend that all the legends and traditions of the order are, to the very letter, historical facts. All that can be claimed for them is, that in some there is simply a substratum of history, the edifice constructed on this foundation being
2O8 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
purely inventive, to serve as a medium for inculcating some religious truth ; in others, nothing more than an idea to which the legend or myth is indebted for its exist- ence, and of which it is, as a symbol, the exponent; and in others, again, a great deal of truthful narrative, more or less intermixed with fiction, but the historical always predominating.
Thus there is a legend, contained in some of our old records, which states that Euclid was a distinguished Mason, and that he introduced Masonry among the Egyptians.* Now, it is not at all necessary to the
* As a matter of some interest to the curious reader, I insert the legend as published in the Gentleman's Magazine of June, 1815, from, it is said, a parchment roll supposed to have been written early in the seventeenth century, and which, if so, was in all prob- ability copied from one of an older date : —
" Moreover, when Abraham and Sara his wife went into Egipt, -there he taught the Seaven Scyences to the Egiptians; and he had a worthy Scoller that height Ewclyde, and he learned right well, and was a master of all the vij Sciences liberall. And in his dayes it befell that the lord and the estates of the realme had soe many sonns that they had gotten some by their wifes and some by other jadyes of the realme; for that land is a hott land and a plentious of generacion. And they had not competent livehode to find with their children; wherefor they made much care. And then the King of the land made a great counsell and a parliament, to witt, how they might find their children honestly as gentlemen. And they could find no manner of good way. And then they did crye through all the realme, if there were any man that could enforme them, that he should come to them, and he should be soe re- warded for his travail, that he should hold him pleased.
" After that this cry was made, then came this worthy clarke Ewclyde, and said to the King and to all his great lords : ' If yee will, take me your children to governe, and to teach them one of the Seaven Scyences, wherewith they may live honestly as gentle- men should, under a condicion that yee will grant mee and them a commission that I may have power to rule them after the man-
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 209
orthodoxy of a Mason's creed that he should literally believe that Euclid, the great geometrician, was really a Freemason, and that the ancient Egyptians were indebted to him for the establishment of the institution among them. Indeed, the palpable anachronism in the legend which makes Euclid the contemporary of Abraham necessarily prohibits any such belief, and shows that the whole story is a sheer invention. The intelligent Mason, however, will not wholly reject the legend, as ridiculous or absurd ; but, with a due sense of the nature and design of our system of symbolism, will rather accept it as what, in the classification laid down on a preceding page, would be called u a philosophical myth" — an ingenious method of conveying, symbolically, a masonic truth.
Euclid is here very appropriately used as a type of geometry, that science of which he was so eminent a teacher, and the myth or legend then symbolizes the fact that there was in Egypt a close connection between that science and the great moral and religious system, which was among the Egyptians, as well as other ancient na- tions, what Freemasonry is in the present day — a secret institution, established for the inculcation of the same principles, and inculcating them in the same symbolic manner. So interpreted, this legend corresponds to all the developments of Egyptian history, which teach us how close a connection existed in that country between
ner that the science ought to be ruled.' And that the Kinge and all his counsell granted to him anone, and sealed their commis- sion. And then this worthy tooke to him these lords' sonns, and taught them the science of Geometric in practice, for to work in stones all manner of worthy worke that belongeth to buildinge churches, temples, castells, towres, and manners, and all other manner of buildings."
2IO THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
the religious and scientific systems. Thus Kenrick tells us, that " when we read of foreigners [in Egypt] being obliged to submit to painful and tedious ceremonies of initiation, it was not that they might learn the secret meaning of the rites of Osiris or Isis, but that they might partake of the knowledge of astronomy, physic, geome- try, and theology." *
Another illustration will be found in the myth or legend of the Winding- Stairs, by which the Fellow Crafts are said to have ascended to the middle chamber to receive their wages. Now, this myth, taken in its literal sense, is, in all its parts, opposed to history and probability. As a myth, it finds its origin in the fact that there was a place in the temple called the " Middle Chamber," and that there were "winding stairs" by which it was reached ; for we read, in the First Book of Kings, that " they went up with winding stairs into the middle cham- ber." f But we have no historical evidence that the stairs were of the construction, or that the chamber was used for the purpose, indicated in the mythical narrative, as it is set forth in the ritual of the second degree. The whole legend is, in fact, an historical myth, in which the mystic number of the steps, the process of passing to the cham- ber, and the wages there received, are inventions added to or ingrafted on the fundamental history contained in the sixth chapter of Kings, to inculcate important sym- bolic instruction relative to the principles of the order. These lessons might, it is true, have been inculcated in a dry, didactic form ; but the allegorical and mythical method adopted tends to make a stronger and deeper
* Ancient Egypt under the Pharaohs, vol. i. p. 393. f i Kings vi. 8.
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 211
impression on the mind, and at the same time serves more closely to connect the institution of Masonry with the ancient temple.
Again : the myth which traces the origin of the insti- tution of Freemasonry to the beginning of the world, making its commencement coeval with the creation, — a myth which is, even at this day, ignorantly interpreted, by some, as an historical fact, and the reference to which is still preserved in the date of u anno lucis," which is affixed to all masonic documents, — is but a philosophical myth, symbolizing the idea which analogically connects the creation of physical light in the universe with the birth of masonic or spiritual and intellectual light in the candidate. The one is the type of the other When, therefore, Preston says that u from the commencement of the world we may trace the foundation of Masonry," and when he goes on to assert that " ever since symmetry be- gan, and harmony displayed her charms, our order has had a being," we are not to suppose that Preston intended to teach that a masonic lodge was held in the Garden of Eden. Such a supposition would justly subject us to the ridicule of every intelligent person. The only idea in- tended to be conveyed is this : that the principles of Free- masonry, which, indeed, are entirely independent of any special organization which it may have as a society, are coeval with the existence of the world ; that when God said, u Let there be light," the material light thus pro- duced was an antitype of that spiritual light that must burst upon the mind of every candidate when his intellec- tual world, theretofore " without form and void," becomes adorned and peopled with the living thoughts and divine principles which constitute the great system of Specula-
212 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
tive Masonry, and when the spirit of the institution, brooding over the vast deep of his mental chaos, shall, from intellectual darkness, bring forth intellectual light*
In the legends of the Master's degree and of the Royal Arch there is a commingling of the historical myth and the mythical history, so that profound judg- ment is often required to discriminate these differing ele- ments. As, for example, the legend of the third degree is, in some of its details, undoubtedly mythical — in others, just as undoubtedly historical. The difficulty, however, of separating the one from the other, and of distinguishing the fact from the fiction, has necessarily produced a difference of opinion on the subject among masonic writers. Hutchinson, and, after him, Oliver, think the whole legend an allegory or philosophical myth. I am inclined, with Anderson and the earlier writers, to suppose it a mythical history. In the Royal Arch degree, the legend of the rebuilding of the temple is clearly historical ; but there are so many accompanying circumstances, which are uncertified, except by oral tra- dition, as to give to the entire narrative the appearance of a mythical history. The particular legend of the three weary sojourners is undoubtedly a myth, and perhaps merely a philosophical one, or the enunciation of an idea — namely, the reward of successful perseverance, through all dangers, in the search for divine truth.
u To form symbols and to interpret symbols," says the learned Creuzer, u were the main occupation of the an- cient priesthood." Upon the studious Mason the same task of interpretation devolves. He who desires properly
* An allusion to this symbolism is retained in one of the well- known mottoes of the order — " Lux e tenebris"
THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY. 213
to appreciate the profound wisdom of the institution of which he is the disciple, must not be content, with unin- quiring credulity, to accept all the traditions that are imparted to him as veritable histories; nor yet, with unphilosophic incredulity, to reject them in a mass, as fabulous inventions. In these extremes there is equal error. " The myth," says Hermann, " is the representa- tion of an idea." It is for that idea that the student must search in the myths of Masonry. Beneath every one of them there is something richer and more spiritual than the mere narrative.* This spiritual essence he must learn to extract from the ore in which, like a precious metal, it lies imbedded. It is this that constitutes the true value of Freemasonry. Without its symbols, and its myths or legends, and the ideas and conceptions which lie at the bottom of them, the time, the labor, and the expense incurred in perpetuating the institution, would be thrown away. Without them, it would be a " vain and empty show." Its grips and signs are worth nothing, except for social purposes, as mere means of recognition. So, too. would be its words, were it not that they are, for the most part, symbolic. Its social habits and its charities are but incidental points in its constitu-
* "An allegory is that in which, under borrowed characters and allusions, is shadowed some real action or moral instruction ; or, to keep more strictly to its derivation (aAAog, alius, and dyogetfoi, died), it is that in which one thing is related and another thing is under- stood. Hence it is apparent that an allegory must have two senses — the literal and mystical ; and for that reason it must con- vey its instruction under borrowed characters and allusions throughout." — The Antiquity, JEvidence, and Certainty of Chris- tianity canvassed, or Dr. Middleton's Examination of the Bishop of London's Discourses on Prophecy. By Anselm Bayly, LL. B.^ Minor Canon of St. Paul's. Lond. 175 1-
214 THE LEGENDS OF FREEMASONRY.
tion — of themselves good, it is true, but capable of being attained in a simpler way. Its true value, as a science, consists in its symbolism — in the great lessons of divine truth which it teaches, and in the admirable manner in which it accomplishes that teaching. Every one, there- fore, who desires to be a skilful Mason, must not suppose that the task is accomplished by a perfect knowledge of the mere phraseology of the ritual, by a readiness in opening and closing a lodge, nor by an off-hand capacity to confer degrees. All these are good in their places, but without the internal meaning they are but mere child's play. He must study the myths, the traditions, and the symbols of the order, and learn their true interpretation ; for tliiS alone constitutes the science and the philosophy — the end, aim, and design of Speculative Masonry.
XXVI.
THE LEGEND OF THE WINDING STAIRS.
EFORE proceeding to the examination of those more important mythical legends which appro- priately belong to the Master's degree, it will not, I think, be unpleasing or uninstructive to consider the only one which is attached to the Fellow Craft's degree — that, namely, which refers to the alle- gorical ascent of the Winding Stairs to the Middle Chamber, and the symbolic payment of the workmen's wages.
Although the legend of the Winding Stairs forms an important tradition of Ancient Craft Masonry, the only allusion to it in Scripture is to be found in a single verse in the sixth chapter of the First Book of Kings, and is in these words : " The door for the middle chamber was in the right side of the house ; and they went up with winding stairs into the middle chamber, and out of the middle into the third." Out of this slender material has been constructed an allegory, which, if properly consid- ered in its symbolical relations, will be found to be of surpassing beauty. But it is only as a symbol that we
2l6 THE LEGEND OF
can regard this whole tradition ; for the historical facts and the architectural details alike forbid us for a moment to suppose that the legend, as it is rehearsed in the second degree of Masonry, is anything more than a magnificent philosophical myth.
Let us inquire into the true design of this legend, and learn the lesson of symbolism which it is intended to teach.
In the investigation of the true meaning of every ma- sonic symbol and allegory, we must be governed by the single principle that the whole design of Freemasonry as a speculative science is the investigation of divine truth. To this great object everything is subsidiary. The Mason is, from the moment of his initiation as an Entered Ap- prentice, to the time at which he receives the full fruition of masonic light, an investigator — a laborer in the quarry and the temple — whose reward is to be Truth. All the ceremonies and traditions of the order tend to this ulti- mate design. Is there light to be asked for? It is the intellectual light of wisdom and truth. Is there a word to be sought? That word is the symbol of truth. Is there a loss of something that had been promised? That loss is typical of the failure of man, in the infirmity of his nature, to discover divine truth. Is there a substitute to be appointed for that loss? It is an allegory which teaches us that in this world man can only approximate to the full conception of truth.
Hence there is in Speculative Masonry always a prog- ress, symbolized by its peculiar ceremonies of initiation. There is an advancement from a lower to a higher state — from darkness to light — from death to life — from error to truth. The candidate is always ascending ; he
THE WINDING STAIRS. 21 7
is never stationary ; he never goes back, but each step he takes brings him to some new mental illumination — to the knowledge of some more elevated doctrine. The teaching of the Divine Master is, in respect to this con- tinual progress, the teaching of Masonry — u No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of heaven." And similar to this is the precept of Pythagoras : u When travelling, turn not back, for if you do the Furies will accompany you."
Now, this principle of masonic symbolism is apparent in many places in each of the degrees. In that of the Entered Apprentice we find it developed in the theo- logical ladder, which, resting on earth, leans its top upon heaven, thus inculcating the idea of an ascent from a lower to a higher sphere, as the object of masonic labor. In the Master's degree we find it exhibited in its most religious form, in the restoration from death to life — in the change from the obscurity of the grave to the holy of holies of the Divine Presence. In all the degrees we find it presented in the ceremony of circumambulation, in which there is a gradual inquisition, and a passage from an inferior to a superior officer. And lastly, the same symbolic idea is conveyed in the Fellow Craft's degree in the legend of the Winding Stairs.
In an investigation of the symbolism of the Winding Stairs we shall be directed to the true explanation by a reference to their origin, their number, the objects which they recall, and their termination, but above all by a con- sideration of the great design which an ascent upon them was intended to accomplish.
The steps of this Winding Staircase commenced, we are informed, at the porch of the temple ; that is to say,
2l8 THE LEGEND OF
at its very entrance. But nothing is more undoubted in the science of masonic symbolism than that the temple was the representative of the world purified by the She- kinah, or the Divine Presence. The world of the profane is without the temple ; the world of the initiated is within its sacred walls. Hence to enter the temple, to pass within the porch, to be made a Mason, and to be born into the world of masonic light, are all synonymous and convertible terms. Here, then, the symbolism of the Winding Stairs begins.
The Apprentice, having entered W7ithin the porch of the temple, has begun his masonic life. But the first degree in Masonry, like the lesser Mysteries of the ancient systems of initiation, is only a preparation and purifica- tion for something higher. The Entered Apprentice is the child in Masonry. The lessons which he receives are simply intended to cleanse the heart and prepare the recipient for that mental illumination which is to be given in the succeeding degrees.
As a Fellow Craft, he has advanced another step, and as the degree is emblematic of youth, so it is here that the intellectual education of the candidate begins. And therefore, here, at the very spot which separates the Porch from the Sanctuary, where childhood ends and manhood begins, he finds stretching out before him a winding stair which invites him, as it were, to ascend, and which, as the symbol of discipline and instruction, teaches him that here must commence his masonic labor — here he must enter upon those glorious though difficult researches, the end of which is to be the possession of divine truth. The Winding Stairs begin after the candi- date has passed within the Porch and between the pillars
THE WINDING STAIRS. 219
of Strength and Establishment, as a significant symbol to teach him that as soon as he has passed beyond the years of irrational childhood, and commenced his entrance upon manly life, the laborious task of self-improvement is the first duty that is placed before him. He cannot stand still, if he would be worthy of his vocation ; his des- tiny as an immortal being requires him to ascend, step by step, until he has reached the summit, where the treasures of knowledge await him.
The number of these steps in all the systems has been odd. Vitruvius remarks — and the coincidence is at least curious — that the ancient temples were always ascended by an odd number of steps ; and he assigns as the reason, that, commencing with the right foot at the bottom, the worshipper would find the same foot foremost when he entered the temple, which was considered as a fortunate omen. But the fact is, that the symbolism of numbers was borrowed by the Masons from Pythagoras, in whose system of philosophy it plays an important part, and in which odd numbers were considered as more perfect than even ones. Hence, throughout the masonic system we find a predominance of odd numbers ; and while three, five, seven, nine, fifteen, and twenty-seven, are all-impor- tant symbols, we seldom find a reference to two, four, six, eight, or ten. The odd number of th-e stairs was therefore intended to symbolize the idea of perfection, to which it was the object of the aspirant to attain.
As to the particular number of the stairs, this has varied at different periods. Tracing-boards of the last century have been found, in which only Jive steps are delineated, and others in which they amount to seven. The Presto- nian lectures, used in England in the beginning of this
22O THE LEGEND OF
century, gave the whole number as thirty-eight, dividing them into series of one, three, five, seven, nine, and eleven. The error of making an even number, which was a violation of the Pythagorean principle of odd num- bers as the symbol of perfection, was corrected in the Hemming lectures, adopted at the union of the two Grand Lodges of England, by striking out the eleven, which was also objectionable as receiving a sectarian explanation. In this country the number was still further reduced to fifteen, divided into three series of three, jive, and seven. I shall adopt this American division in explaining the symbolism, although, after all, the particular number of the steps, or the peculiar method of their division into series, will not in any wray affect the general symbolism of the whole legend.
The candidate, then, in the second degree of Masonry, represents a man starting forth on the journey of life, with the great task before him of self-improvement. For the faithful performance of this task, a reward is promised, which reward consists in the development of all his intel- lectual faculties, the moral and spiritual elevation of his character, and the acquisition of truth and knowledge. Now, the attainment of this moral and intellectual condi- tion supposes an elevation of character, an ascent from a lower to a higher life, and a passage of toil and difficulty, through rudimentary instruction, to the full fruition of wisdom. This is therefore beautifully symbolized by the Winding Stairs ; at whose foot the aspirant stands ready to climb the toilsome steep, while at its top is placed " that hieroglyphic bright which none but Craftsmen ever saw/' as the emblem of divine truth. And hence a dis- tinguished writer has said that " these steps, like all the
THE WINDING STAIRS. 221
masonic symbols, are illustrative of discipline and doc- trine, as well as of natural, mathematical, and metaphys- ical science, and open to us an extensive range of moral and speculative inquiry."
The candidate, incited by the love of virtue and the desire of knowledge, and withal eager for the reward of truth which is set before him, begins at once the toilsome ascent At each division he pauses to gather instruction from the symbolism which these divisions present to his attention.
At the first pause which he makes he is instructed in the peculiar organization of the order of which he has become a disciple. But the information here given, if taken in its naked, literal sense, is barren, and unworthy of his labor. The rank of the officers who govern, and the names of the degrees which constitute the institution, can give him no knowledge which he has not before pos- sessed. We must look therefore to the symbolic meaning of these allusions for any value which may be attached to this part of the ceremony.
The reference to the organization of the masonic insti- tution is intended to remind the aspirant of the union of men in society, and the development of the social state out of the state of nature. He is thus reminded, in the very outset of his journey, of the blessings which arise from civilization, and of the fruits of virtue and knowl- edge which are derived from that condition. Masonry itself is the result of civilization ; while, in grateful return, it has been one of the most important means of extending that condition of mankind.
All the monuments of antiquity that the ravages of time have left, combine to prove that man had no sooner
222 THE LEGEND OF
emerged from the savage into the social state, than he commenced the organization of religious mysteries, and the separation, by a sort of divine instinct, of the sacred from the profane. Then came the invention of architec- ture as a means of providing convenient dwellings and necessary shelter from the inclemencies and vicissitudes of the seasons, with all the mechanical arts connected with it ; and lastly, geometry, as a necessary science to enable the cultivators of land to measure and designate the limits of their possessions. All these are claimed as peculiar characteristics of Speculative Masonry, which may be considered as the type of civilization, the former bearing the same relation to the profane world as the latter does to the savage state. Hence we at once see the fitness of the symbolism which commences the aspi- rant's upward progress in the cultivation of knowledge and the search after truth, by recalling to his mind the condition of civilization and the social union of mankind as necessary preparations for the attainment of these objects. In the allusions to the officers of a lodge, and the degrees of Masonry as explanatory of the organization of our own society, we clothe in our symbolic language the history of the organization of society.
Advancing in his progress, the candidate is invited to contemplate another series of instructions. The human senses, as the appropriate channels through which we receive all our ideas of perception, and which, therefore, constitute the most important sources of our knowledge, are here referred to as a symbol of intellectual cultivation. Architecture, as the most important of the arts which conduce to the comfort of mankind, is also alluded to here, not simply because it is so closely connected with
THE WINDING STAIRS. 223
the operative institution of Masonry, but also as the type of all the other useful arts. In his second pause, in the ascent of the Winding Stairs, the aspirant is therefore reminded of the necessity of cultivating practical knowl- edge.
So far, then, the instructions he has received relate to his own condition in society as a member of the great social compact, and to his means of becoming, by a knowledge of the arts of practical life, a necessary and useful member of that society.
But his motto will be, u Excelsior." Still must he go onward and forward. The stair is still before him ; its summit is not yet reached, and still further treasures of wisdom are to be sought for, or the reward will not be gained, nor the middle chamber, the abiding place of truth, be reached.
In his third pause, he therefore arrives at that point in which the whole circle of human science is to be explained. Symbols, we know, are in themselves arbitrary and of conventional signification, and the complete circle of human science might have been as well symbolized by any other sign or series of doctrines as by the seven liberal arts and sciences. But Masonry is an institution of the olden time ; and this selection of the liberal arts and sciences as a symbol of the completion of human learning is one of the most pregnant evidences that we have of its antiquity.
In the seventh century, and for a long time afterwards, the circle of instruction to which all the learning of the most eminent schools and most distinguished philosophers was confined, was limited to what were then called the liberal arts and sciences, and consisted of two branches,
224 THE LEGEND OF
the trivium and the quadrivium^* The trivium included grammar, rhetoric, and logic ; the quadrivium compre- hended arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
"These seven heads," says Enfield, " were supposed to include universal knowledge. He who was master of these was thought to have no need of a preceptor to ex- plain any books or to solve any questions which lay with- in the compass of human reason, the knowledge of the trivium having furnished him with the key to all lan- guage, and that of the quadrivium having opened to him the secret laws of nature." f
At a period, says the same writer, when few were in- structed in the trivium, and very few studied the quad- rivium, to be master of both was sufficient to complete the character of a philosopher. The propriety, therefore, of adopting the seven liberal arts and sciences as a symbol of the completion of human learning is apparent. The candidate, having reached this point, is now supposed to have accomplished the task upon which he had entered — he has reached the last step, and is now ready to re- ceive the full fruition of human learning.
So far, then, we are able to comprehend the true symbolism of the Winding Stairs. They represent the progress of an inquiring mind with the toils and labors of intellectual cultivation and study, and the preparatory
* The words themselves are purely classical, but the meanings here given to them are of a mediaeval or corrupt Latinity. Among the old Romans, a trivium meant a place where three ways met, and a quadrivium where four, or what we now call a cross-road. When we speak of the paths of learning, we readily discover the origin of the signification given by the scholastic philosophers to these terms.
t Hist, of Philos. vol. ii. p. 337.
THE WINDING STAIRS.
225
acquisition of all human science, as a preliminary step to the attainment of divine truth, which it must be remem- bered is always symbolized in Masonry by the WORD.
Here let me again allude to the symbolism of num- bers, which is for the first time presented to the consid- eration of the masonic student in the legend of the Winding Stairs. The theory of numbers as the symbols of certain qualities was originally borrowed by the Ma- sons from the school of Pythagoras. It will be impossi- ble, however, to develop this doctrine, in its entire extent, on the present occasion, for the numeral symbolism of Masonry would itself constitute materials for an ample essay. It will be sufficient to advert to the fact that the total number of the steps, amounting in all to fifteen, in the American system, is a significant symbol. For Jif- teen was a sacred number among the Orientals, because the letters of the holy name JAH, ii^, were, in their nu- merical value, equivalent to fifteen ; and hence a figure in which the nine digits were so disposed as to make fifteen either way when added together perpendicularly, horizon- tally, or diagonally, constituted one of their most sacred talismans.* The fifteen steps in the Winding Stairs are therefore symbolic of the name of God.
But we are not yet done. It will be remembered that
* Such a talisman was the following figure : —
226 THE LEGEND OF
a reward was promised for all this toilsome ascent of the Winding Stairs. Now, what are the wages of a Specu- lative Mason? Not money, nor corn, nor wine, nor oil. All these are but symbols. His wages are TRUTH, or that approximation to it which will be most appropriate to the degree into which he has been initiated. It is one of the most beautiful, but at the same time most abstruse, doc- trines of the science of masonic symbolism, that the Ma- son is ever to be in search of truth, but is never to find it. This divine truth, the object of all his labors, is symbol- ized by the WORD, for which we all know he can only obtain a substitiite ; and this is intended to teach the humiliating but necessary lesson that the knowledge of the nature of God and of man's relation to him, which knowledge constitutes divine truth, can never be acquired in this life. It is only when the portals of the grave open to us, and give us an entrance into a more perfect life, that this knowledge is to be attained. u Happy is the man," says the father of lyric poetry, " who descends beneath the hollow earth, having beheld these mysteries ; he knows the end, he knows the origin of life."
The Middle Chamber is therefore symbolic of this life, where the symbol only of the word can be given, where the truth is to be reached by approximation only, and yet where we are to learn that that truth will consist in a per- fect knowledge of the G. A. O. T. U. This is the reward of the inquiring Mason ; in this consist the wages of a Fellow Craft ; he is directed to the truth, but must travel farther and ascend still higher to attain it.
It is, then, as a symbol, and a symbol only, that we must study this beautiful legend of the Winding Stairs. If we attempt to adopt it as an historical fact, the absurdity of
THE WINDING STAIRS. 227
its details stares us in the face, and wise men will wonder at our credulity. Its inventors had no desire thus to im- pose upon our folly ; but offering it to us as a great philo- sophical myth, they did not for a moment suppose that we would pass over its sublime moral teachings to accept the allegory as an historical narrative, without meaning, and wholly irreconcilable with the records of Scripture, and opposed by all the principles of probability. To suppose that eighty thousand craftsmen were weekly paid in the narrow precincts of the temple chambers, is simply to suppose an absurdity. But to believe that all this pic- torial representation of an ascent by a Winding Staircase to the place where the wages of labor were to be received, was an allegory to teach us the ascent of the mind from ignorance, through all the toils of study and the difficulties of obtaining knowledge, receiving here a little and there a little, adding something to the stock of our ideas at each step, until, in the middle chamber of life, — in the full fruition of manhood, — the reward is attained, and the purified and elevated intellect is invested with the reward in the direction how to seek God and God's truth, — to believe this is to believe and to know the true design of Speculative Masonry, the only design which makes it worthy of a good or a wise man's study.
Its historical details are barren, but its symbols and alle- gories are fertile with instruction.
XXVII.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
'HE most important and significant of the legendaiy symbols of Freemasonry is, undoubtedly, that which relates to the fate of Hiram Abif, com- monly called, " by way of excellence," the Legend of the Third Degree.
The first written record that I have been able to find of this legend is contained in the second edition of An- derson's Constitutions, published in 1738, and is in these words : —
" It (the temple) was finished in the short space of seven years and six months, to the amazement of all the world ; when the cape-stone was celebrated by the fra- ternity with great joy. But their joy was soon inter- rupted by the sudden death of their dear master, Hiram Abif, whom they decently interred, in the lodge near the temple, according to ancient usage." *
In the next edition of the same work, published in 1756, a few additional circumstances are related, such as
* Anderson's Constitutions, 2d ed. 1738, p. 14.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 229
the participation of King Solomon in the general grief, and the fact that the king of Israel u ordered his ob- sequies to he conducted with great solemnity and decen- cy." * With these exceptions, and the citations of the same passages, made by subsequent authors, the narrative has always remained unwritten, and descended, from age to age, through the means of oral tradition.
The legend has been considered of so much importance that it has been preserved in the symbolism of every masonic rite. No matter what modifications or altera- tions the general system may have undergone, — no mat- ter how much the ingenuity or the imagination of the founders of rites may have perverted or corrupted other symbols, abolishing the old and substituting new ones, — the legend of the Temple Builder has ever been left un- touched, to present itself in all the integrity of its ancient mythical form.
What, then, is the signification of this symbol, so impor- tant and so extensively diffused? What interpretation can we give to it that will account for its universal adop- tion? How is it that it has thus become so intimately interwoven with Freemasonry as to make, to all appear- ances, a part of its very essence, and to have been always deemed inseparable from it?
To answer these questions, satisfactorily, it is necessary to trace, in a brief investigation, the remote origin of the institution of Freemasonry, and its connection with the ancient systems of initiation.
It was, then, the great object of all the rites and mys- teries which constituted the 4t Spurious Freemasonry "
* Anderson's Constitutions, 3d ed. 1756, p. 24.
230 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
of antiquity to teach the consoling doctrine of the immor- tality of the soul.* This dogma, shining as an almost solitary beacon-light in the surrounding gloom of pagan darkness, had undoubtedly been received from that ancient people or priesthood f who practised what has been called the system of u Pure Freemasonry," and among whom it probably existed only in the form of an abstract propo- sition or a simple and unembellished tradition. But in the more sensual minds of the pagan philosophers and mystics, the idea, when presented to the initiates in their Mysteries, was always conveyed in the form of a scenic representation. J The influence, too, of the early Sabian
* "The hidden doctrines of the unity of the Deity and the im- mortality of the soul were originally in all the Mysteries, even those of Cupid and Bacchus." — WARBURTON, in Spence's Anec- dotes, p. 309.
t "The allegorical interpretation of the myths has been, by several learned investigators, especially by Creuzer, connected with the hypothesis of an ancient and highly instructed body of priests, having their origin either in Egypt or in the East, and communicating to the rude and barbarous Greeks religious, physi- cal, and historical knowledge, under the veil of symbols." — GROTE, Hist, of Greece, vol. i. ch. xvi. p. 579. — And the Chevalier Ram- say corroborates this theory: "Vestiges of the most sublime truths are to be found in the sages of all nations, times, and re- ligions, both sacred and profane, and these vestiges are emana- tions of the antediluvian and noevian tradition, more or less dis- guised and adulterated." — Philosophical Principles of Nattiral and Revealed Religion unfolded in a Geometrical Order, vol. I, p. iv.
$ Of this there is abundant evidence in all the ancient and modern writers on the Mysteries. Apuleius, cautiously describing his initiation into the Mysteries of Isis, says, " I approached the confines of death, and having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I returned therefrom, being borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its brilliant light; and I approached the presence of the gods beneath, and the gods of heaven, and stood near and worshipped them." — Metam. lib *i. The context shows that all this was a scenic representation.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 231
worship of the sun and heavenly bodies, in which the solar orb was adored, on its resurrection, each morning, from the apparent death of its evening setting, caused this rising sun to be adopted in the more ancient Myste- ries as a symbol of the regeneration of the soul.
Thus in the Egyptian Mysteries we find a representa- tion of the death and subsequent regeneration of Osiris ; in the Phoenician, of Adonis ; in the Syrian, of Dionysus ; in all of which the scenic apparatus of initiation was intended to indoctrinate the candidate into the dogma of a future life.
It will be sufficient here to refer simply to the fact, that through the instrumentality of the Tyrian workmen at the temple of King Solomon, the spurious and pure branches of the masonic system were united at Jerusalem, and that the same method of scenic representation was adopted by the latter from the former, and the narrative of the tem- ple builder substituted for that of Dionysus, which was the myth peculiar to the mysteries practised ry the Tyrian workmen.
The idea, therefore, proposed to be communicated in the myth of the ancient Mysteries was the same as that which is now conveyed in the masonic legend of the Third Degree.
Hence, then, Hiram Abif is, in the masonic system, the symbol of human nature, as developed in the life here and the life to come ; and so, while the temple was, as I have heretofore shown, the visible symbol of the world, its builder became the mythical symbol of man, the dwreller and worker in that world.
Now, is not this symbolism evident to every reflective mind?
232 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
Man, setting forth on the voyage of life, with faculties and powers fitting him for the due exercise of the high duties to whose performance he has been called, holds, if he be " a curious and cunning workman," * skilled in all moral and intellectual purposes (and it is only of such men that the temple builder can be the symbol), within the grasp of his attainment the knowledge of all that divine truth imparted to him as the heirloom of his race — that race to whom it has been granted to look, with exalted countenance, on high ; f which divine truth is symbolized by the WORD.
Thus provided with the word of life, he occupies his time in the construction of a spiritual temple, and travels onward in the faithful discharge of all his duties, laying down his designs upon the trestle-board of the future and invoking the assistance and direction of God.
But is his path always over flowery meads and through pleasant groves? Is there no hidden foe to obstruct his progress? Is all before him clear and calm, with joyous sunshine and refreshing zephyrs? Alas! not so. " Man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward." At every
* Aish kakam iodea binah, " a cunning man, endued with under- standing," is the description given by the king of Tyre of Hiram Abif. See 2 Chron. ii. 13. It is needless to say that "cunning" is a good old Saxon word meaning skilful.
f " Pronaque cum spectent animalia caetera terram; Os homini sublime dedit : ccelumqtie tueri Jussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus."
OVID, Met. i. 84.
"Thus, while the mute creation downward bend Their sight, and to their earthly mother tend, Man looks aloft, and with erected eyes Beholds his own hereditary skies."
DRYDEN.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 233
46 gate of life " — as the Orientalists have beautifully called the different ages — he is beset by peril. Temptations allure his youth, misfortunes darken the pathway of his manhood, and his old age is encumbered with infirmity and disease. But clothed in the armor of virtue he may resist the temptation ; he may cast misfortunes aside, and rise triumphantly above them ; but to the last, the direst, the most inexorable foe of his race, he must eventually yield ; and stricken down by death, he sinks prostrate into the grave, and is bttried in the rubbish of his sin and human frailty.
Here, then, in Masonry, is what was called the apha- nism * in the ancient Mysteries. The bitter but necessary lesson of death has been imparted. The living soul, with the lifeless body which encased it, has disappeared, and can nowhere be found. All is darkness — confusion — despair. Divine truth — the WORD — for a time is lost, and the Master Mason may now say, in the language of Hutchinson, u I prepare my sepulchre. I make my grave in the pollution of the earth. I am under the shadow of death."
But if the mythic symbolism ended here, with this lesson of death, then were the lesson incomplete. That teaching would be vain and idle — nay, more, it would be corrupt and pernicious — which should stop short of the conscious and innate instinct for another existence. And hence the succeeding portions of the legend are intended to convey the sublime symbolism of a resurrection from the grave and a new birth into a future life. The discov-
JfjLbg, disappearance, destruction, a perishing, death, from dqpw*'/£o>, to remove from one's view, to conceal," &c. —
Schrevel. Lex.
234 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
ery of the body, which, in the initiations of the ancient Mysteries, was called the euresisf* and its removal, from the polluted grave into which it had been cast, to an hon- ored and sacred place within the precincts of the temple, are all profoundly and beautifully symbolic of that great truth, the discovery of which was the object of all the ancient initiations, as it is almost the whole design of Freemasonry, namely, that when man shall have passed the gates of life and have yielded to the inexorable fiat of death, he shall then (not in the pictured ritual of an earthly lodge, but in the realities of that eternal one, of 0V**Q which the former is but an antitype) be raised, at the vV^ omnific word of the Grand Master of the Universe, from time To eternity ; from the tomb of corruption to the chambers of hope ; from the darkness of death to the celestial beams of life ; and that his disembodied spirit shall be conveyed as near to the holy of holies of the divine presence as humanity can ever approach to Deity.
Such I conceive to be the true interpretation of the symbolism of the legend of the Third Degree.
I have said that this mythical history of the temple builder was universal in all nations and all rites, and that in no place and at no time had it, by alteration, diminu- tion, or addition, acquired any essentially new or different form : the myth has always remained the same.
But it is not so with its interpretation. That which I have just given, and which I conceive to be the correct one, has been very generally adopted by the Masons of this country. But elsewhere, and by various writers, other interpretations have been made, very different in their
* " EvQeaig, a finding, invention, discovery." — SchreveL Lex.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 235
character, although always agreeing in retaining the gen- eral idea of a resurrection or regeneration, or a restoration of something from an inferior to a higher sphere or func- tion.
Thus some of the earlier continental writers have sup- posed the myth to have been a symbol of -the destruction of the Order of the Templars, looking upon its restora- tion to its original wealth and dignities as being propheti- cally symbolized.
In some of the high philosophical degrees it is taught that the whole legend refers to the sufferings and death, with the subsequent resurrection, of Christ.*
Hutchinson, who has the honor of being the earliest philosophical writer on Freemasonry in England, sup- poses it to have been intended to embody the idea of .the decadence of the Jewish religion, and the substitution of the Christian in its place and on its ruins. J*
Dr. Oliver — " clarum et venerabile nomeu " — thinks that it is typical of the murder of Abel by Cain, and that it symbolically refers to the universal death of our race through Adam, and its restoration to life in the Redeemer,]:
* A French writer of the last century, speaking of the degree of " Tres Parfait Maitre," says, " C'est ici qu'on voit reellement qu'Hiram n'a ete que le type de Jesus Christ, que le temple et les autres symboles ma^onniquessontdes allegories relatives a 1'Eglise, a la Foi, et aux bonnes moeurs." — Originc et Objct dc la Franche- ma^onnerie, par le F. B. Paris, 1774.
t " This our order is a positive contradiction to the Judaic blindness and infidelity, and testifies our faith concerning the res- urrection of the body." — HUTCHINSON, Spirit of Masonry, lect. ix. p. 101. — The whole lecture is occupied in advancing and sup- porting his peculiar theory.
% "Thus, then, it appears that the historical reference of the legend of Speculative Freemasonry, in all ages of the world, was —
236 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
according to the expression of the apostle, u As in Adam we all died, so in Christ we all live."
Ragon makes Hiram a symbol of the sun shorn of its vivifying rays and fructifying power by the three winter months, and its restoration to generative heat by the sea- son of spring.*
And, finally, Des Etangs, adopting, in part, the inter- pretation of Ragon, adds to it another, which he calls the moral symbolism of the legend, and supposes that Hiram is no other than eternal reason, whose enemies are the vices that deprave and destroy humanity .|
To each of these interpretations it seems to me that there are important objections, though perhaps to some less so than to others.
As to those who seek for an astronomical interpretation of the legend, in which the annual changes of the sun are symbolized, while the ingenuity with which they press their argument cannot but be admired, it is evident that, by such an interpretation, they yield all that Masonry has
to our death in Adam and life in Christ. What, then, was the origin of our tradition? Or, in other words, to what particular incident did the legend of initiation refer before the flood? I con- ceive it to have been the offering and assassination of Abel by his brother Cain ; the escape of the murderer; the discovery of the body by his disconsolate parents, and its subsequent interment, under a certain belief of its final resurrection from the dead, and of the detection and punishment of Cain by divine vengeance." — OLIVER, Historical Landmarks of Freemasonry, vol. ii. p. 171.
* " Le grade de Maitre va done nous retracer allegoriquement la mort du dieu-lumiere — mourant en hiver pour reparaitre et ressusciter an printemps." — RAGON, Cours Philos. et Iiiierp. dcs In ft. p. 158.
f " Dans Fordre moral, Hiram n'est autre chose que la raison eternelle, parqui tout estpondere, regie, conserve." — DES ETANGS, CEuvres Ma^onniques^ p. 90.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 237
gained of religious development in past ages, and fall back upon that corruption and perversion of Sabaism from which it was the object, even of the Spurious Free- masonry of antiquity, to rescue its disciples.
The Templar interpretation of the myth must at once be discarded if we would avoid the difficulties of anach- ronism, unless we deny that the legend existed before the abolition of the Order of Knights Templar, and such denial would be fatal to the antiquity of Freemasonry.*
And as to the adoption of the Christian reference, Hutch- inson, and after him Oliver, profoundly philosophical as are the masonic speculations of both, have, I am con- strained to believe, fallen into a great error in calling the Master Mason's degree a Christian institution. It is true that it embraces within its scheme the great truths of Christianity upon the subject of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body ; but this was to be presumed, because Freemasonry is truth, and Christianity is truth, and all truth must be identical. But the origin of each is different; their histories are dissimilar. The institution of Freemasonry preceded the advent of Chris- tianity. Its symbols and its legends are derived from the Solomonic temple, and from the people even anterior to that. Its religion comes from the ancient priesthood. Its faith was that primitive one of Noah and his immediate descendants. If Masonry were simply a Christian insti- tution, the Jew and the Moslem, the Brahmin and the Buddhist, could not conscientiously partake of its illumina-
* With the same argument would I meet the hypothesis that Hiram was the representative of Charles I. of England — an hypothesis now so generally abandoned, that I have not thought it worth noticing in the text.
238 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
tion ; but its universality is its boast. In its language citizens of every nation may converse ; at its altar men of all religions may kneel ; to its creed disciples of every faith may subscribe.
Yet it cannot be denied, that since the advent of Chris- tianity a Christian element has been almost imperceptibly infused into the masonic system, at least among Christian Masons* This has been a necessity ; for it is the tendency of every predominant religion to pervade with its influ- ences all that surrounds it, or is about it, whether religious, political, or social. This arises from a need of the human heart. To the man deeply imbued with the spirit of his religion there is an almost unconscious desire to accom- modate and adapt all the business and the amusements of life, the labors and the employments of his every-day existence, to the indwelling faith of his soul.
The Christian Mason, therefore, while acknowledging and justly appreciating the great doctrines taught in Ma- sonry, and while grateful that these doctrines were pre- served in the bosom of his ancient order at a time when they were unknown to the multitudes of the surrounding nations, is still anxious to give to them a Christian character, to invest them, in some measure, with the peculiarities of his own creed, and to bring the interpre- tation of their symbolism more nearly home to his own religious sentiments.
The feeling is an instinctive one, belonging to the noblest aspirations of our human nature ; and hence we find Christian masonic writers indulging in it almost to an unwarrantable excess, and by the extent of their secta- rian interpretations materially affecting the cosmopolitan character of the institution.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 239
This tendency to Christianization has, in some instances, been so universal, and has prevailed for so long a period, that certain symbols and myths have been, in this way, so deeply and thoroughly imbued with the Christian element as to leave those who have not penetrated into the cause of this peculiarity, in doubt whether they should attrib- ute to the symbol an ancient or a modern and Christian origin.
As an illustration of the idea here advanced, and as a remarkable example of the result of a gradually Chris- tianized interpretation of a masonic symbol, I will refer to the subordinate myth (subordinate, I mean, to the great legend of the Builder), which relates the circumstances connected with the grave upon " the brow of a small hill near Mount Moriah"
Now, the myth or legend of a grave is a legitimate de- duction from the symbolism of the ancient Spurious Ma- sonry. It is the analogue of the Pastos, Couch, or Cojfin, which was to be found in the ritual of all the pagan Mys- teries. In all these initiations, the aspirant was placed in a cell or upon a couch, in darkness, and for a period varying, in the different rites, from the three days of the Grecian Mysteries to the fifty of the Persian. This cell or couch, technically called the " pastos," was adopted as a symbol of the being whose death and resurrection or apotheosis, was represented in the legend.
The learned Faber says that this ceremony was doubt- less the same as the descent into Hades,* and that, when the aspirant entered into the mystic cell, he was directed
* "The initiation into the Mysteries," he says, " scenically rep- resented the mythic descent into Hades and the return from thence to the light of day ; by which was meant the entrance into
240 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
to lay himself down upon the bed which shadowed out the tomb of the Great Father, or Noah, to whom, it will be recollected, that Faber refers all the ancient rites. " While stretched upon the holy couch," he continues to remark, u in imitation of his figurative deceased proto- type, he was said to be wrapped in the deep sleep of death. His resurrection from the bed was his restoration to life or his regeneration into a new world."
Now, it is easy to see how readily such a symbolism would be seized by the Temple Masons, and appropriated at once to the grave at the brow of the hill. At first, the interpretation, like that from which it had been derived, would be cosmopolitan ; it would fit exactly to the gen- eral dogmas of the resurrection of the body and the im- mortality of the soul.
But on the advent of Christianity, the spirit of the new religion being infused into the old masonic system, the whole symbolism of the grave was affected by it. The same interpretation of a resurrection or restoration to life, derived from the ancient u pastos," was, it is true, pre- served ; but the facts that Christ himself had come to promulgate to the multitudes the same consoling dogma, and that Mount Calvary, u the place of a skull," was the spot where the Redeemer, by his own death and resur-
the Ark and the subsequent liberation from its dark enclosure. Such Mysteries were established in almost every part of the pagan world; and those of Ceres were substantially the same as the Orgies of Adonis, Osiris, Hu, Mithras, and the Cabiri. They all equally related to the allegorical disappearance, or death, or descent of the great father at their commencement, and to his invention, or revival, or return from Hades, at their conclusion." — Origin of Pagan Idolatry, vol. iv. b. iv. ch. v. p. 384. — But this Arkite theory, as it is called, has not met with the general ap- probation of subsequent writers.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 24!
rection, had testified the truth of the doctrine, at once suggested to the old Christian Masons the idea of Chris- tianizing the ancient symbol.
Let us now examine briefly how that idea has been at length developed.
In the first place, it is necessary to identify the spot where the u newly-made grave " was discovered with Mount Calvary, the place of the sepulchre of Christ. This can easily be done by a very few but striking analo- gies, which will, I conceive, carry conviction to any thinking mind.
1. Mount Calvary was a small hill.*
2. It was situated in a westward direction from the temple, and near Mount Moriah.
3. It was on the direct road from Jerusalem to Joppa, and is thus the very spot where a weary brother, travel- ling on that road, would find it convenient to sit down to rest and refresh himself.^
* Mount Calvary is a small hill or eminence, situated in a westerly direction from that Mount Moriah on which the temple of Solomon was built. It was originally a hillock of notable eminence, but has, in modern times, been greatly reduced by the excavations made in it for the construction of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Buckingham, in his Palestine, p. 283, says, " The present rock, called Calvary, and enclosed within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, bears marks, in every part that is naked, of its having been a round nodule of rock standing above the com- mon level of the surface."
f Dr. Beard, in the art. " Golgotha," in Kitto's Encyc. of Bib. Lit., reasons in a similar method as to the place of the crucifixion, and supposing that the soldiers, from the fear of a popular tumult, would hurry Jesus to the most convenient spot for execution, says, " Then the road to Joppa or Damascus would be most convenient, and no spot in the vicinity would probably be so suitable as the slight rounded elevation which bore the name of Calvary."
16
242 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
4. It was outside the gate of the temple.
5. It has at least one cleft in the rock, or cave, which was the place which suhsequently became the sepulchre of our Lord. But this coincidence need scarcely to be insisted on, since the whole neighborhood abounds in rocky clefts, which meet at once the conditions of the masonic legend.
But to bring this analogical reasoning before the mind in a more expressive mode, it may be observed that if a party of persons were to start forth from the temple at Jerusalem, and travel in a westward direction towards the port of Joppa, Mount Calvary would be the first hill met with j and as it may possibly have been used as a place of sepulture, which its name of Golgotha * seems to im- port, we may suppose it to have been the very spot alluded to in the Third Degree, as the place where the craftsmen, on their way to Joppa, discovered the evergreen acacia.
Having thus traced the analogy, let us look a little to the symbolism.
Mount Calvary has always retained an important place in the legendary history of Freemasonry, and there are many traditions connected with it that are highly interest- ing in th^ir import.
One of these traditions is, that it was the burial-place of Adam, in order, says the old legend, that where he lay, who effected the ruin of mankind, there also might the Savior of the world suffer, die, and be buried. Sir R. Torkington, who published a pilgrimage to Jerusalem in 1517, says that " under the Mount of Calvary is another
* Some have supposed that it was so called because it was the place of public execution. Gulgoleth in Hebrew, or gogultho in Syriac, means a skull.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 243
chapel of our Blessed Lady and St. John the Evangelist, that was called Golgotha ; and there, right under the mortise of the cross, was found the head of our forefather, Adam." * Golgotha, it will be remembered, means, in Hebrew, " the place of a skull ; " and there may be some connection between this tradition and the name of Gol- gotha, by which the Evangelists inform us, that in the time of Christ Mount Calvary was known. Calvary, or Calvaria, has the same signification in Latin.
Another tradition states, that it was in the bowels of Mount Calvary that Enoch erected his nine-arched vault, and deposited on the foundation-stone of Masonry that Ineffable Name, whose investigation, as a symbol of divine truth, is the great object of Speculative Masonry.
A third tradition details the subsequent discovery of Enoch's deposit by King Solomon, whilst making exca- vations in Mount Calvary, during the building of the temple.
On this hallowed spot was Christ the Redeemer slain and buried. It was there that, rising on the third day from his sepulchre, he gave, by that act, the demonstra- tive evidence of the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul.
And it was on this spot that the same great lesson was taught in Masonry — the same sublime truth — the development of which evidently forms the design of the Third or Master Mason's degree.
There is in these analogies a sublime beauty as well as a wonderful coincidence between the two systems of Masonry and Christianity, that must, at an early period, have attracted the attention of the Christian Masons.
* Quoted in Oliver, Landmarks, vol. i. p. 587, note.
244 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
Mount Calvary is consecrated to the Christian as the place where his crucified Lord gave the last great proof of the second life, and fully established the doctrine of the resurrection which he had come to teach. It was the sepulchre of him
" Who captive led captivity, Who robbed the grave of victory, And took the sting from death."
It is consecrated to the Mason, also, as the scene of the euresis, the place of the discovery, where the same con- soling doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul are shadowed forth in profoundly symbolic forms.
These great truths constitute the very essence of Chris- tianity, in which it differs from and excels all religious systems that preceded it ; they constitute, also, the end, aim, and object of all Freemasonry, but more especially that of the Third Degree, whose peculiar legend, symboli- cally considered, teaches nothing more nor less than that there is an immortal and better part within us, wrhich, as an emanation from that divine spirit which pervades all nature, can never die.
The identification of the spot on which this divine truth was promulgated in both systems — the Christian and the Masonic — affords an admirable illustration of the readiness with which the religious spirit of the former may be infused into the symbolism of the latter. And hence Hutchinson, thoroughly imbued with these Chris- tian views of Masonry, has called the Master Mason's order a Christian degree, and thus Christianizes the whole symbolism of its mythical history.
THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. 245
" The Great Father of all, commiserating the miseries of the world, sent his only Son, who was innocence itself, to teach the doctrine of salvation — by whom man was raised from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness — from the tomb of corruption unto the chamber of hope — from the darkness of despair to the celestial beams of faith ; and not only working for us this redemption, but making with us the covenant of regeneration ; whence we are become the children of the Divinity, and inheritors of the realms of heaven.
" We, Masons, describing the deplorable estate of re- ligion under the Jewish law, speak in figures : fc Her tomb was in the -rubbish and filth cast forth of the temple, and acacia wove its branches over her monuments ; akakia being the Greek word for innocence, or being free from sin ; implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law, and devotees of the Jewish altar, had hid Religion from those who sought her, and she was only to be found where innocence survived, and under the banner of the Divine Lamb, and, as to ourselves, professing that we were to be distinguished by our Acacy, or as true Acacians in our religious faiths and tenets.
" The acquisition of the doctrine of redemption is ex- pressed in the typical character of Huramen (I have found it. — Greek), and by the applications of that name with Masons, it is implied that we have discovered the knowledge of God and his salvation, and have been re- deemed from the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollu- tion and unrighteousness.
u Thus the Master Mason represents a man, under the Christian doctrine, saved from the grave of iniquity and raised 'to the faith of salvation."
246 THE LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE.
It is in this way that Masonry has, by a sort of inevita- ble process (when we look to the religious sentiment of the interpreters), been Christianized by some of the most illustrious and learned writers on masonic science — by such able men as Hutchinson and Oliver in England, and by Harris, by Scott, by Salem Towne, and by several oth- ers in this country.
I do not object to the system when the interpretation is not strained, but is plausible, consistent, and productive of the same results as in the instance of Mount Calvary : all that I contend for is, that such interpretations are modern, and that they do not belong to, although they may often be deduced from, the ancient system.
But the true ancient interpretation of the legend, — the universal masonic one, — for all countries and all ages, undoubtedly was, that the fate of the temple builder is but figurative of the pilgrimage of man on earth, through trials and temptations, through sin and sorrow, until his eventual fall beneath the blow of death and his final and glorious resurrection to another and an eternal life.
XXVIII.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
^'NTIMATELY connected with the legend of the third degree is the mythical history of the Sprig of Acacia, which we are now to consider.
There is no symbol more interesting to the masonic student than the Sprig of Acacia, not only on account of its own peculiar import, but also because it introduces us to an extensive and delightful field of research ; that, namely, which embraces the symbolism of sacred plants. In all the ancient systems of religion, and Mysteries of initiation, there was always some one plant consecrated, in the minds of the worshippers and participants, by a peculiar symbolism, and therefore held in extraordinary veneration as a sacred emblem. Thus the ivy was used in the Mysteries of Dionysus, the myrtle in those of Ceres, the erica in the Osirian, and the lettuce in the Adonisian. But to this subject I shall have occa- sion to refer more fully in a subsequent part of the present investigation.
Before entering upon an examination of the symbolism
248 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
of the Acacia, it will be, perhaps, as well to identify the true plant which occupies so important a place in the ritual of Freemasonry.
And here, in passing, I may be permitted to say that it is a very great error to designate the symbolic plant of Masonry by the name of " Cassia " — an error which undoubtedly arose, originally, from the very common habit among illiterate people of sinking the sound of the letter a in the pronunciation of any word of which it con- stitutes the initial syllable. Just, for instance, as we con- stantly hear, in the conversation of the uneducated, the words pothecary and prentice for apothecary and appren- tice, shall we also find cassia used for acacia.* Unfor- tunately, however, this corruption of acacia into cassia has not always been confined to the illiterate : but the long employment of the corrupted form has at length introduced it, in some instances, among a few of our writers. Even the venerable Oliver, although well ac- quainted with the symbolism of the acacia, and having writen most learnedly upon it, has, at times, allowed him- self to use the objectionable corruption, unwittingly influ- enced, in all probability, by the too frequent adoption of the latter word in the English lodges. In America, but few Masons fall into the error of speaking of the Cassia. The proper teaching of the Acacia is here well under- stood, f
* Oliver's idea (Landmarks, ii. 149) that cassia has, since the year 1730, been corrupted into acacia, is contrary to all etymologi- cal experience. Words are corrupted, not by lengthening, but by abbreviating them. The uneducated and the careless are always prone to cut off a syllable, not to add a new one.
f And yet I have been surprised by seeing, once or twice, the word
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. 249
The cassia of the ancients was, in fact, an ignoble plant, having no mystic meaning and no sacred character, and was never elevated to a higher function than that of being united, as Virgil informs us, with other odorous herbs in the formation of a garland : —
" . . . violets pale,
The poppy's flush, and dill which scents the gale, Cassia, and hyacinth, and daffodil, With yellow marigold the chaplet fill." *
Alston says that the " Cassia lignea of the ancients was the larger branches of the cinnamon tree, cut off with their bark and sent together to the druggists ; their Cassia fistu- la, or Syrinx, was the same cinnamon in the bark only ; " but Ruaeus says that it also sometimes denoted the laven- der, and sometimes the rosemary.
In Scripture the cassia is only three times mentioned,! twice as the translation of the Hebrew word kiddah, and once as the rendering of ketzioth, but always as referring to an aromatic plant which formed a constituent portion of some perfume. There is, indeed, strong reason for believing that the cassia is only another name for a coarser preparation of cinnamon, and it is also to be remarked that it did not grow in Palestine, but was imported from the East.
or " sandal wood " would have been as appropriate, for any ma- sonic meaning or symbolism* * Eclog. ii. 49.
" Pallentes violas et summa papavera carpens, Narcissum et florem jungit bene olentis anethi : Turn casia, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis, Mollia luteola pingit vaccinia caltha." f Exod. xxx. 24, Ezek. xxvii. 9, and Ps. xlv. 8.
250 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
The acacia, on the contrary, was esteemed a sacred tree. It is the acacia vera of Tournefort, and the mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus. It grew abundantly in the vicinity of Jerusalem,* where it is still to be found, and is familiar to us all, in its modern uses at least, as the tree from which the gum arabic of commerce is obtained.
The acacia, which, in Scripture, is always called shit- tah^\ and in the plural shittim, was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews. Of it Moses was ordered to make the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the table for the showbread, and the rest of the sacred furniture. Isaiah, in recounting the promises of God's mercy to the Israelites on their return from the captivity, tells them, that, among other things, he will plant in the wilderness, for their relief and refreshment, the cedar, the acacia (or, as it is rendered in our common version, the shittafi), the fir, and other trees.
* Oliver, it is true, says, that " there is not the smallest trace of any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem " (Landm. ii. 136) ; but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch, who saw it growing in great abundance at Jericho, and still farther north. — Exped. to the Dead Sea, p. 262. —The Rabbi Joseph Schwarz, who is excellent authority, says, " The Acacia (Shittim) Tree, Al Sunt, is found in Palestine of different varieties ; it looks like the Mulberry tree, attains a great height, and has a hard wood. The gum which is obtained from it is the gum arabic." — Descriptive Geography and Historical Sketch of Pal- estine, p. 308, Leeser's translation. Phila., 1850. — Schwarz was for sixteen years a resident of Palestine, and wrote from personal observation. The testimony of Lynch and Schwarz should, there- fore, forever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in Palestine.
f Calmet, Parkhurst, Gesenius, Clarke, Shaw, and all the best authorities, concur in saying that the otaii shittim, or shittim wood of Exodus, was the common acacia or mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. 251
The first thing, then, that we notice in this symbol of the acacia, is, that it had been always consecrated from among the other trees of the forest by the sacred purposes to which it was devoted. By the Jew the tree from whose wood the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the holy ark had been constructed would ever be viewed as more sacred than ordinary trees. The early Masons, therefore, verj naturally appropriated this hallowed plant to the equally sacred purpose of a symbol which was to teach an im- portant divine truth in all ages to come.
Having thus briefly disposed of the natural history of this plant, we may now proceed to examine it in its sym- bolic relations.
First. The acacia, in the mythic system of Freemason- ry, is preeminently the symbol of the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL — that important doctrine which it is the great design of the institution to teach. As the evanescent na- ture of the flower which " cometh forth and is cut down'' reminds us of the transitory nature of human life, so the perpetual renovation of the evergreen plant, which unin- terruptedly presents the appearance of youth and vigor, is aptly compared to that spiritual life in which the soul, freed from the corruptible companionship of the body, shall enjoy an eternal spring and an immortal youth. Hence, in the impressive funeral service of our order, it is said, " This evergreen is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By this we are reminded that we have an immortal part within us, which shall sur- vive the grave, and which shall never, never, never die." And again, in the closing sentences of the monitorial lecture of the Third Degree, the same sentiment is repeat- ed, and we are told that by " the ever green and ever
252 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
living sprig " the Mason is strengthened " with confidence and composure to look forward to a blessed immortality." Such an interpretation of the symbol is an easy and a natural one ; it suggests itself at once to the least reflec- tive mind, and consequently, in some one form or anoth- er, is to be found existing in all ages and nations. It was an ancient custom, which is not, even now, altogether disused, for mourners to carry in their hands at funerals a sprig of some evergreen, generally the cedar or the cypress, and to deposit it in the grave of the deceased. According to Dalcho,* the Hebrews always planted a sprig of the acacia at the head of the grave of a departed friend. Potter tells us that the ancient Greeks " had a custom of bedecking tombs with herbs and flowers. "f All sorts of purple and white flowers were acceptable to the dead, but principally the amaranth and the myrtle. The very name of the former of these plants, which sig- nifies u never fading," would seem to indicate the true
* "This custom among the Hebrews arose from this circum- stance. Agreeably to their laws, no dead bodies were allowed to be interred within the walls of the city ; and as the Cohens, or priests, were prohibited from crossing a grave, it was necessary to place marks thereon, that they might avoid them. For this purpose the acacia was used." — DALCHO, Oration, p. 27, note. — I object to the reason assigned by Dalcho; but of the existence of the custom there can be no question, notwithstanding the denial or doubt of Dr. Oliver. Blount (Travels in the Levant, p. 197) says, speaking of the Jewish burial customs, "those who bestow a mar- ble stone over any [grave] have a hole a yard long and a foot broad, in which they plant an evergreen, which seems to grow from the body, and is carefully watched." Hasselquist (Travels, p. 28) confirms his testimony. I borrow the citations from Brown {Antiquities of the Jews, vol. ii. p. 356), but have verified the reference to Hasselquist. The work of Blount I have not been enabled to consult.
t Antiquities of Greece, p. 569.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
253
symbolic meaning of the usage, although archaeologists have generally supposed it to be simply an exhibition of love on the part of the survivors. Ragon says, that the ancients substituted the acacia for all other plants because they believed it to be incorruptible, and not liable to injury from the attacks of any kind of insect or other animal — thus symbolizing the incorruptible nature of the soul.
Hence we see the propriety of placing the sprig of acacia, as an emblem of immortality, among the symbols of that degree, all of whose ceremonies are intended to teach us the great truth, that " the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, and justice, will be rewarded at its closing hour by the prospect of eternal bliss."* So, therefore, says Dr. Oliver, when the Master Mason ex- claims, "My name is Acacia," it is equivalent to saying, " I have been in the grave, — I have triumphed over it by rising from the dead, — and being regenerated in the pro- cess, I have a claim to life everlasting."
The sprig of acacia, then, in its most ordinary signifi- cation, presents itself to the Master Mason as a symbol of the immortality of the soul, being intended to remind him, by its evergreen and unchanging nature, of that bet- ter and spiritual part within us, which, as an emanation from the Grand Architect of the Universe, can never die. And as this is the most ordinary, the most generally ac- cepted signification, so also is it the most important ; for thus, as the peculiar symbol of immortality, it becomes the most appropriate to an order all of whose teachings are intended to inculcate the great lesson that " life rises out of the grave." But incidental to this the acacia has
* Dr. Crucefix, MS., quoted by Oliver, Landmarks, ii. 2.
254 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
two other interpretations, which are well worthy of inves- tigation.
Secondly, then, the acacia is a symbol of INNOCENCE. The symbolism here is of a peculiar and unusual charac- ter, depending not on any real analogy in the form or use of the symbol to the idea symbolized, but simply on a double or compound meaning of the word. For «X in the Greek language, signifies both the plant in question and the moral quality of innocence or purity of life. In this sense the symbol refers, primarily, to him over whose solitary grave the acacia was planted, and whose virtuous conduct, whose integrity of life and fidelity to his trusts, have ever been presented as patterns to the craft, and consequently to all Master Masons, who, by this inter- pretation of the symbol, are invited to emulate his ex- ample.
Hutchinson, indulging in his favorite theory of Chris- tianizing Masonry, when he comes to this signification of the symbol, thus enlarges on the interpretation : u We Masons, describing the deplorable estate of religion under the Jewish law, speak in figures : ' Her tomb was in the rubbish and filth cast forth of the temple, and Acacia wove its branches over her monument ; ' akakia being the Greek word for innocence, or being free from sin ; implying that the sins and corruptions of the old law and devotees of the Jewish altar had hid Religion from those who sought her, and she was only to be found where innocence survived, and under the banner of the divine Lamb ; and as to ourselves, professing that we were to be distinguished by our Acacy^ or as true Acacians in our religious faith and tenets." *
* Spirit of Masonry, Icct. ix. p. 99.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. 255
Among the nations of antiquity, it was common thus by peculiar plants to symbolize the virtues and other qualities of the mind. In many instances the sym- bolism has been lost to the moderns, but in others it has been retained, and is well understood, even at the present day. Thus the olive was adopted as the symbol of peace, because, says Lee, " its oil is very useful, in some way or other, in all arts manual which principally flourish in times of peace." *
The quince among the Greeks was the symbol of love and happiness ; | and hence, by the laws of Solon, in Athenian marriages, the bride and bridegroom were re- quired to eat a quince together.
The palm was the symbol of victory ; } and hence, in
* The Temple of Solomon, ch. ix. p. 233.
t It is probable that the quince derived this symbolism, like the acacia, from its name; for there seems to be some connection between the Greek word nvd&viog, which means a quince, and the participle xvdld)v9 which signifies rejoicing, exulting. But this must have been an after-thought, for the name is derived from Cydon, in Crete, of which island the quince is a native.
| Desprez, speaking of the palm as an emblem of victory, says {Comment, in Horat* Od. I. i. 5), " Palma vero signum victoriae passim apud omnes statuitur, ex Plutarcho, propterea quod ea est ejus natura ligni, ut urgentibus opprimentibusque minime cedat. Unde est illud Alciati epigramma, —
' Nititur in pondus palma, et consurgit in altum : Quoque magis premitur, hoc mage tollit onus.' "
It is in the eighth book of his Symposia that Plutarch states this peculiar property of the palm to resist the oppression of any superincumbent weight, and to rise up against it, whence it was adopted as the symbol of victory. Cowley also alludes to it in his Davideis.
" Well did he know how palms by oppression speed Victorious, and the victor's sacred meed."
356 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
the catacombs of Rome, the burial-place of so many of the early Christians, the palm leaf is constantly found as an emblem of the Christian's triumph over sin and death.
The rosemary was a symbol of remembrance, and hence was used both at marriages and at funerals, the memory of the past being equally appropriate in both rites.*
The parsley was consecrated to grief; and hence all the Greeks decked their tombs with it ; and it was used to crown the conquerors in the Nemean games, which were of a funereal character, f
But it is needless to multiply instances of this symbol- ism. In adopting the acacia as a symbol of innocence, Masonry has but extended the principle of an ancient and universal usage, which thus consecrated particular plants, by a mystical meaning, to the representation of particular virtues.
But lastly, the acacia is to be considered as the symbol of INITIATION. This is by far the most interesting of Us interpretations, and was, we have every reason to
* " Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the mem- ory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings." — STEEVENS, Notes on Hamlet, a. iv. s. 5. — Douce {Illustrations of Shakspeare, i. 345) gives the following old song in reference to this subject : —
"Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night, Wishing that I might always have You present in my sight."
t Ste. Croix {Recherches sur les Mysteres, i. 56) says that in the Samothracian Mysteries it was forbidden to put parsley on the table, because, according to the mystagogues, it had been pro- duced by the blood of Cadmillus, slain by his brothers.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
257
believe, the primary and original, the others being but in- cidental. It leads us at once to the investigation of that significant fact to which I have already alluded, that in all the ancient initiations and religious mysteries there was some plant, peculiar to each, which was consecrated by its own esoteric meaning, and which occupied an important position in the celebration of the rites ; so that the plant, whatever it might be, from its constant and prominent use in the ceremonies of initiation, came at length to be adopted as the symbol of that initiation.
A reference to some of these sacred plants — for such was the character they assumed — and an investigation of their symbolism will not, perhaps, be uninteresting or useless, in connection with the subject of the present article.
In the Mysteries of Adonis, which originated in Phoe- nicia, and were afterwards transferred to Greece, the death and resurrection of Adonis was represented. A part of the legend accompanying these mysteries was, that when Adonis was slain by a wild boar, Venus laid out the body on a bed of lettuce. In memorial of this sup- posed fact, on the first day of the celebration, when funeral rites were performed, lettuces were carried in the pro- cession, newly planted in shells of earth. Hence the lettuce became the sacred plant of the Adonia, or Adonis- ian Mysteries.
The lotus was the sacred plant of the Brahminical rites of India, and was considered as the symbol of their elemental trinity, — earth, water, and air, — because, as an aquatic plant, it derived its nutriment from all of these elements combined, its roots being planted in the earth, its stem rising through the water, and its leaves exposed
17
258 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
to the air.* The Egyptians, who borrowed a large por- tion of their religious rites from the East, adopted the lotus, which was also indigenous to their country, as a mystical plant, and made it the symbol of their initiation, or the birth into celestial light. Hence, as Champollion observes, they often on their monuments represented the god Phre, or the sun, as borne within the expanded calyx of the lotus. The lotus bears a flower similar to that of the poppy, while its large, tongue-shaped leaves float upon the surface of the water. As the Egyptians had remarked that the plant expands when the sun rises, and closes when it sets, they adopted it as a symbol of the sun ; and as that luminary was the principal object of the popular worship, the lotus became in all their sacred rites a con- secrated and mystical plant.
The Egyptians also selected the erica,\ or heath, as a sacred plant. The origin of the consecration of this plant presents us with a singular coincidence, that will be pecu- liarly interesting to the masonic student. We are informed that there was a legend in the mysteries of Osiris, which related, that Isis, when in search of the body of her mur- dered husband, discovered it interred at the brow of a hill, near which an erica, or heath plant, grew ; and hence, after the recovery of the body and the resurrection
* "The Hindoos," says Faber, " represent their mundane lotus, as having four large leaves and four small leaves placed alternate- ly, while from the centre of the flower rises a protuberance. Now, the circular cup formed by the eight leaves they deem a symbol of the earth, floating on the surface of the ocean, and consisting of four large continents and four intermediate smaller islands; while the centrical protuberance is viewed by them as representing their sacred Mount Menu." — Communication to Gent. Mag. vol. Ixxxvi. p. 408.
f The erica arboreat or tree heath.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. 259
of the god, when she established the mysteries to com- memorate her loss and her recovery, she adopted the erica, as a sacred plant,* in memory of its having pointed out the spot where the mangled remains of Osiris were con- cealed.f
The mistletoe was the sacred plant of Drnidism. Its consecrated character was derived from a legend of the Scandinavian mythology, and which is thus related in the Edda, or sacred books. The god Balder, the son of Odin, having dreamed that he was in some great danger of life, his mother, Friga, exacted an oath from all the creatures of the animal, the vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms, that they would do no harm to her son. The mistletoe, contemptible from its size and weakness, was alone neglected, and of it no oath of immunity was demanded. Lok, the evil genius, or god of Darkness, becoming acquainted with this fact, placed an arrow made of mistletoe in the hands of Holder, the blind brother of Balder, on a certain day, when the gods were throwing missiles at him in sport, and wondering at their inability to do him injury with any arms wTith which they could attack him. But, being shot with the mistletoe arrow, it inflicted a fatal wound, and Balder died.
Ever afterwards the mistletoe was revered as a sacred
* Ragon thus alludes to this mystical event: " Isis found the body of Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the erica. Oppressed with grief, she seated herself on the margin of a fountain, whose waters issued from a rock. This rock is the small hill mentioned in the ritual ; the erica has been replaced by the acacia, and the grief of Isis has been changed for that of the fellow crafts." — Cours des Initiations, p. 151.
f It is singular, and perhaps significant, that the word eriko, in Greek, tylxw, whence erica is probably derived, means to break in pieces, to mangle*
260 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
plant, consecrated to the powers of darkness ; and annually it became an important rite among the Druids to proceed into the forest in search of the mistletoe, which, being found, was cut down by the Arch Druid, and its parts, after a solemn sacrifice, were distributed among the people. Clavel * very ingeniously remarks, that it is evident, in reference to the legend, that as Balder sym- bolizes the Sun-god, and Lok, Darkness, this search for the mistletoe was intended to deprive the god of Darkness of the power of destroying the god of Light. And the distribution of the fragments of the mistletoe among their pious worshippers, was to assure them that henceforth a similar attempt of Lok would prove abortive, and he was thus deprived of the means of effecting his design.f
The myrtle performed the same office of symbolism in the Mysteries of Greece as the lotus did in Egypt, or the mistletoe among the Druids. The candidate, in these initiations, was crowned with myrtle, because, according to the popular theology, the myrtle was sacred to Proser- pine, the goddess of the future life. Every classical scholar will remember the golden branch with which yEneas was supplied by the Sibyl, before proceeding on his journey to the infernal regions J — a voyage which
* Histoire Pittoresque des Religions, t. i. p. 217.
t According to Toland ( Works, i. 74), the festival of searching, cutting, and consecrating the mistletoe, took place on the loth of March, or New Year's day. "This," he says, 'k is the ceremony to which Virgil alludes, by his golden branch, in the Sixth Book of the ^Eneid." No doubt of it; for all these sacred plants had a common origin in some ancient and general symbolic idea.
\ " Under this branch is figured the wreath of myrtle, with which the initiated were crowned at the celebration of the Mysteries." — WARBURTON, Divine Legation, vol. i. p. 299.
THE SPRIG OF ACACIA. 261
is now universally admitted to be a mythical representa- tion of the ceremonies of initiation.
In all of these ancient Mysteries, while the sacred plant was a symbol of initiation, the initiation itself was sym- bolic of the resurrection to a future life, and of the im- mortality of the soul. In this view, Freemasonry is to us now in the place of the ancient initiations, and the acacia is substituted for the lotus, the erica, the ivy, the mistletoe, and the myrtle. The lesson of wisdom is the same ; the medium of imparting it is all that has been changed.
Returning, then, to the acacia, we find that it is capable of three explanations. It is a symbol of immortality, of innocence, and of initiation. But these three signifi- cations are closely connected, and that connection must be observed, if we desire to obtain a just interpretation of the symbol. Thus, in this one symbol, we are taught that in the initiation of life, of which the initiation in the third -degree is simply emblematic, innocence must for a time lie in the grave, at length, however, to be called, by the word of the Grand Master of the Universe, to a blissful immortality. Combine with this the recollection of the place where the sprig of acacia was planted, and which I have heretofore shown to be Mount Calvary, the place of sepulture of Him who "brought life and immortality to light," and who, in Christian Masonry, is designated, as he is in Scripture, as u the lion of the tribe of Judah," and remember, too, that in the mystery of his death, the wood of the cross takes the place of the acacia, and in this little and apparently insignificant symbol, but which is really and truly the most important and significant one in masonic science, we have a beautiful suggestion of all
262 THE SPRIG OF ACACIA.
the mysteries of life and death, of time and eternity, of the present and of the future. Thus read (and thus all our symbols should be read), Masonry proves something more to its disciples than a mere social society or a chari- table association. It becomes a " lamp to our feet," whose spiritual light shines on the darkness of the death- bed, and dissipates the gloomy shadows of the grave.
XXIX.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
'T is one of the most beautiful features of the Masonic Institution, that it teaches not only the necessity, but the nobility, of labor. Among the earliest of the implements in whose emblematic use it instructs its neophytes is the Trestle Board, the acknowledged symbol of the Divine Law, in accordance with whose decree * labor was originally instituted as the common lot of all ; and therefore the important lesson that is closely connected with this symbol is. that to labor well and truly, to labor honestly and persistently, is the object and the chief end of all humanity.
To work out well the task that is set before us is our highest duty, and should constitute our greatest happi- ness. All men, then, must have their trestle boards ; for the principles that guide us in the discharge of our duty — the schemes that we devise — the plans that we
* " In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Gen. iii. 19. Bush interprets the decree to mean that " some species of toilsome occupation is the appointed lot of all men.'r
264 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
propose — are but the trestle board, whose designs we follow, for good or for evil, in our labor of life.
Earth works with every coming spring, and within its prolific bosom designs the bursting seed, the tender plant, and the finished tree, upon its trestle board.
Old ocean works forever — restless and murmuring — but still bravely working ; and storms and tempests, the purifiers of stagnant nature, are inscribed upon its trestle board.
And God himself, the Grand Architect, the Master Builder of the world, has labored from eternity ; and working by his omnipotent will, he inscribes his plans upon illimitable space, for the universe is his trestle board.
There was a saying of the monks of old which is well worth meditation. They taught that u laborare est orare" — labor is worship. They did not, it is true, al\vays practise the wise precept. They did not always make labor a part of their religion. Like Onuphrius, who lived threescore years and ten in the desert, without human voice or human sympathy to cheer him, because he had not learned that man was made for man, those old ascetics went into the wilderness, and built cells, and occupied themselves in solitary meditation and profitless thought. They prayed much, but they did no work. And thus they passed their lives, giving no pity, aid, or consolation to their fellow-men, adding no mite to the treasury of human knowledge, and leaving the world, when their selfish pilgrimage was finished, without a single contribution, in labor of mind or body, to its welfare.*
* Aristotle says, " He that cannot contract society with others, or who, through his own self-sufficiency [atfrdgxeta)'], does not
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 265
And men, seeing the uselessness of these ascetic lives, shrink now from their example, and fall back upon that wiser teaching, that he best does God's will who best does God's work. The world now knows that heaven is not served by man's idleness — that the " dolce far niente" though it might suit an Italian lazzaroni, is not fit for a brave Christian man, and that they who would do rightly, and act well their part, must take this distich for their motto : —
'* With this hand work, and with the other pray, And God will bless them both from day to day.
Now, this doctrine, that labor is worship, is the very doctrine that has been advanced and maintained, from time immemorial, as a leading dogma of the Order of Freema- sonry. There is no other human institution under the sun which has set forth this great principle in such bold re- lief. We hear constantly of Freemasonry as an institution that inculcates morality, that fosters the social feeling, that teaches brotherly love ; and all this is well, because it is true ; but we must never forget that from its founda- tion-stone to its pinnacle, all over its vast temple, is inscribed, in symbols of living light, the great truth that labor is 'worship.
It has been supposed that, because we speak of Free- masonry as a speculative system, it has nothing to do with the practical. But this is a most grievous error. Freemasonry is, it is true, a speculative science, but it is a speculative science based upon an operative art. All its symbols and allegories refer to this connection.
need it, forms no part of the community, but is either a wild beast or a god."
266 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
Its very language is borrowed from the art, and it is singularly suggestive that the initiation of a candidate into its mysteries is called, in its peculiar phraseology, ivork.
I repeat that this expression is singularly suggestive. When the lodge is engaged in reading petitions, hearing reports, debating financial matters, it is said to be occu- pied in business I but when it is engaged in the form and ceremony of initiation into any of the degrees, it is said to be at 'work. Initiation is masonic labor. This phra- seology at once suggests the connection of our speculative system with an operative art that preceded it, and upon which it has been founded. This operative art must have given it form and features and organization. If the speculative system had been founded solely on phil- osophical or ethical principles, if it had been derived from some ancient or modern sect of philosophers, — from the Stoics, the Epicureans, or the Platonists of the heathen world, or from any of the many divisions of the scholastics of the middle ages, — this origin would most certainly have affected its interior organization as well as its external form, and we should have seen our modern masonic reunions assuming the style of academies or schools. Its technical language — for, like every institu- tion isolated from the ordinary and general pursuits of mankind, it would have had its own technical dialect — would have been borrowed from, and would be easily traced to, the peculiar phraseology of the philosophic sects which had given it birth. There would have been the sophists and the philosophers j the gramma- tists and the grammarians; the scholars, the masters, and the doctors. It would have had its trivial and its
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 267
quadrivial schools ; its occupation would have been research, experiment, or investigation ; in a word, its whole features would have been colored by a grammat- ical, a rhetorical, or a mathematical cast, accordingly as it should have been derived from a sect in which any one of these three characteristics was the predominating influence.
But in the organization of Freemasonry, as it now presents itself to us, we see an entirely different appear- ance. Its degrees are expressive, not of advancement in philosophic attainments, but of progress in a purely mechanical pursuit. Its highest grade is that of Master of the Work. Its places of meeting are not schools, but lodges, places where the workmen formerly lodged, in the neighborhood of the building on whose construction they were engaged. It does not form theories, but builds temples. It knows nothing of the rules of the dialecticians, — of the syllogism, the dilemma, the enthy- meme, or the sorites, — but it recurs to the homely imple- ments of its operative parent for its methods of instruction, and with the plumb-line it inculcates rectitude of conduct, and draws lessons of morality from the workman's square. It sees in the Supreme God that it worships, not a " numen divinum" a divine power, nor a " moderator rerum omnium" a controller of all things, as the old philosophers designated him, but a Grand Architect of the Universe. The masonic idea of God refers to Him as the Mighty Builder of this terrestrial globe, and all the countless worlds that surround it. He is not the ens entium, or to theion, or any other of the thousand titles with which ancient and modern speculation has invested him, but simply the Architect, — as the Greeks
268 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
have it, the tiyxbg TEXTMV, the chief workman, — under whom we are all workmen also ; * and hence our labor is his worship.
This idea, then, of masonic labor, is closely connected with the history of the organization of the institution. When we say " the lodge is at work," we recognize that it is in the legitimate practice of that occupation for which it was originally intended. The Masons that are in it are not occupied in thinking, or speculating, or reasoning, but simply and emphatically in working. The duty of a Mason as such, in his lodge, is to work. Thereby he accomplishes the destiny of his Order. Thereby he best fulfils his obligation to the Grand Architect, for with the Mason laborare est orare — labor is worship.
The importance of masonic labor being thus demon- strated, the question next arises as to the nature of that labor. What is the work that a Mason is, called upon to perform?
Temple building was the original occupation of our ancient brethren. Leaving out of view that system of ethics and of religious philosophy, that search after truth, those doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul, which alike distinguish the ancient Mysteries and the masonic institution, and which both must have de- rived from a common origin, — most probably from some priesthood of the olden time, — let our attention be exclu- sively directed, for the present, to that period, so familiar to every Mason, when, under the supposed Grand Mas-
*" Der Arbeiter," says Leaning, " ist der symbolische Name eines Freimaurers " — the Workman is the symbolic name of a Freemason. — Encyclop. der Fraumererei.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 269
tership of King Solomon, Freemasonry first assumed " a local habitation and a name" in the holy city of Jerusa- lem. There the labor of the Israelites and the skill of the Tynans were occupied in the construction of that noble temple whose splendor and magnificence of deco- ration made it one of the wonders of the world.
Here, then, we see the two united nations directing their attention, with surprising harmony, to the task of temple building. The Tyrian workmen, coming imme- diately from the bosom of the mystical society of Dionysian artificers, whose sole employment was the erection of sacred edifices throughout all Asia Minor, indoctrinated the Jews with a part of their architectural skill, and bestowed upon them also a knowledge of those sacred Mysteries which they had practised at Tyre, and from which the present interior form of Freemasonry is said to be derived.
Now, if there be any so incredulous as to refuse their assent to the universally received masonic tradition on this subject, if there be any who would deny all con- nection of King Solomon with the origin of Freemasonry, except it be in a mythical or symbolical sense, such incredulity will not at all affect the chain of argument which I am disposed to use. For it will not be denied that the corporations of builders in the middle ages, those men who were known as u Travelling Freema- sons," were substantial and corporeal, and that the cathedrals, abbeys, and palaces, whose ruins are still objects of admiration to all observers, bear conclusive testimony that their existence was nothing like a myth, and that their labors were not apocryphal. But these Travelling Freemasons, whether led into the error, if
270 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
error it be, by a mistaken reading of history, or by a superstitious reverence for tradition, always esteemed King Solomon as the founder of their Order. So that the first absolutely historical details that we have of the masonic institution, connect it with the idea of a temple. And it is only for this idea that I contend, for it proves that the first Freemasons of whom we have authentic record, whether they were at Jerusalem or in Europe, and whether they flourished a thousand years before or a thousand years after the birth of Christ, always sup- posed that temple building was the peculiar specialty of their craft, and that their labor was to be the erection of temples in ancient times, and cathedrals and churches in the Christian age.
So that we come back at last to the proposition with which I had commenced, namely : that temple building was the original occupation of our ancient brethren. And to this is added the fact, that after a long lapse of centuries, a body of men is found in the middle ages who were universally recognized as Freemasons, and who directed their attention and their skill to the same pur- suit, and were engaged in the construction of cathedrals, abbeys, and other sacred edifices, these being the Christian substitute for the heathen or the Jewish temple.
And therefore, when we view the history of the Order as thus developed in its origin and its design, wre are justified in saying that, in all times past, its members have been recognized as men of labor, and that their labor has been temple building.
But our ancient brethren wrought in both operative and speculative Masonry, while we work only in specu- lative. They worked with the hand ; we work with the
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
271
brain. They dealt in the material ; we in the spiritual. They used in their labor wood and stones ; we use thoughts, and feelings, and affections. We both devote ourselves to labor, but the object of the labor and the mode of the labor are different.
The French rituals have given us the key-note to the explanation of what is masonic labor when they say that 4t Freemasons erect temples for virtue and dungeons for vice."
The modern Freemasons, like the Masons of old, are engaged in the construction of a temple ; but with this difference : that the temple of the latter was material, that of the former spiritual. When the operative art was the predominant characteristic of the Order, Masons were engaged in the construction of material and earthly temples. But when the operative art ceased, and the speculative science took its place, then the Freemasons symbolized the labors of their predecessors by engaging in the construction of a spiritual temple in their hearts, which was to be made so pure that it might become the dwelling-place of Him who is all purity. It was to be u a house not made with hands," where the hewn stone was to be a purified heart.
This symbolism, which represents man as a temple, a house, a sacred building in which God is to dwell, is not new, nor peculiar to the masonic science. It was known to the Jewish, and is still recognized by the Christian, sys- tem. The Talmudists had a saying that the threefold repetition of the words u Temple of Jehovah," in the seventh chapter and fourth verse of the book of Jere- miah, was intended to allude to the existence of three temples ; and hence in one of their treatises it is said,
272 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
" Two temples have been destroyed, but the third will en- dure forever," in which it is manifest that they referred to the temple of the immortal soul in man.
By a similar allusion, which, however, the Jews chose wilfully to misunderstand, Christ declared, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." And the beloved disciple, who records the conversation, does not allow us to doubt of the Saviour's meaning.
" Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
" But he spake of the temple of his body." *
In more than one place the apostle Paul has fondly dwelt upon this metaphor. Thus he tells the Corinthians that they are " God's building*' and he calls himself the u wise master builder," who was to lay the foundation in his truthful doctrine, upon which they were to erect the edifice. f And he says to them immediately afterwards, " Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?"
In consequence of these teachings of the apostles, the idea that the body was a temple has pervaded, from the earliest times to the present day, the system of Christian or theological symbolism. Indeed, it has sometimes been carried to an almost too fanciful excess. Thus Samuel Lee, in that curious and rare old work, " The Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light" thus dilates on this symbolism of the temple : —
u The foundation of this temple may be laid in hu- mility and contrition of spirit, wherein the inhabiter of
* John iii. 19-21. t J Corinth, iii. 9.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 273
eternity delighteth to dwell ; we may refer the porch to the mouth of a saint, wherein every holy Jacob erects the pillars of God's praise, calling upon and blessing his name for received mercies ; when songs of deliverance are uttered from the doors of his lips. The holy place is the renewed mind, and the windows therein may denote divine illumination from above, cautioning a saint lest they be darkened with the smoke of anger, the mist of grief, the dust of vain-glory, or the filthy mire of worldly cares. The golden candlesticks, the infused habits of divine knowledge resting within the soul. The sheiu- bread, the word of grace exhibited in the promises for the preservation of a Christian's life and glory. The golden altar of odors, the breathings, sufferings, and groanings after God, ready to break forth into Abba, Father. The veiles, the righteousness of Christ. The holy of holies may relate to the conscience purified from dead works and brought into a heavenly frame." * And thus he proceeds, symbolizing every part and utensil of the temple as alluding to some emotion or affection of man, but in language too tedious for quotation.
In a similar vein has the celebrated John Bunyan, the author of the "Pilgrim's Progress" proceeded in his u Temple of Solomon Spiritualized" to refer every part of that building to a symbolic meaning, selecting, how- ever, the church, or congregation of good men, rather than the individual man, as the object of the symbolism.
In the middle ages the Hermetic philosophers seem to have given the same interpretation of the temple, and Swedenborg, in his mystical writings, adopts the idea.
* Orbis Miraculum, or the Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light, ch. ix. p. 192. London, 1659. IS
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
Hitchcock, who has written an admirable little work on Swedenborg considered as a Hermetic Philosopher, thus alludes to this subject, and his language, as that of a learned and shrewd investigator, is well worthy of quotation : —
" With, perhaps, the majority of readers, the Taberna- cle of Moses and the Temple of Solomon were mere buildings ; very magnificent indeed, but still mere build- ings for the worship of God. But some are struck with many portions of the account of their erection, admitting a moral interpretation ; and while the buildings are allowed to stand (or to have stood once) visible objects, these in- terpreters are delighted to meet with indications that Moses and Solomon, in building the temples, were wise in the knowledge of God and of man ; from which point it is not difficult to pass on to the moral meaning alto- gether, and to affirm that the building which was erected without 'the noise of a hammer or axe, or any tool of iron,' was altogether a moral building — a building of God, not made with hands : in short, many see in the story of Solomon's temple a symbolical representation of MAN as the temple of God, with its holy of holies deep-seated in the centre of the human heart."*
The French Masons have not been inattentive to this symbolism. Their already quoted expression that the " Freemasons build temples for virtue and dungeons for vice," has very clearly a reference to it, and their most distinguished writers never lose sight of it.
* Swedenborg a Hermetic Philosopher, &c., p. 210. The object of the author is to show that the Swedish sage was an adept, and that his writings may be interpreted from the point of view of Hermetic philosophy^
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 275
Thus Ragon, one of the most learned of the French historians of Freemasonry, in his lecture to the Appren- tice, says that the founders of our Order " called them- selves Masons, and proclaimed that they were building a temple to truth and virtue."* And subsequently he ad- dresses the candidate who has received the Master's de- gree in the following language : —
" Profit by all that has been revealed to you. Improve your heart and your mind. Direct your passions to the general good ; combat your prejudices ; watch over your thoughts and your actions ; love, enlighten, and assist your brethren ; and you will have perfected that temple of which you are at once the architect^ the material, and the workman"^
Rebold, another French historian of great erudition, says, " If Freemasonry has ceased to erect temples, and by the aid of its architectural designs to elevate all hearts to the Deity, and all eyes and hopes to heaven, it has not therefore desisted from its work of moral and intellectual building;" and he thinks that the success of the institu- tion has justified this change of purpose and the disrup- tion of the speculative from the operative character of the Order4
Eliphas Levi, who has written abstrusely and mystical- ly on Freemasonry and its collateral sciences, sees very clearly an allegorical and a real design in the institution, the former being the rebuilding of the temple of Solo- mon, and the latter the improvement of the human
* Cours Philosophique et Interpretatif des Initiations Anciennes et Modernes, p. 99. f Ibid., p. 176. t Histoire Gen6rale de la Franc-ma
276 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
race by a reconstruction of its social and religious ele- ments.*
The Masons of Germany have elaborated this idea with all the exhaustiveness that is peculiar to the German mind, and the masonic literature of that country abounds in essays, lectures, and treatises, in which the prominent topic is this building of the Solomonic temple as referring to the construction of a moral temple.
Thus writes Ero. Rhode, of Berlin : —
" So soon as any one has received the consecration of our Order, we say to him that we are building a mystical temple ; " and he adds that u this temple which we Masons are building is nothing else than that which will conduce to the greatest possible happiness of mankind." |
And another German brother, Von Wedekind, asserts that " we only labor in our temple when we make man our predominating object, when we unite goodness of heart with polished manners, truth with beauty, virtue with grace." J
Again we have Reinhold telling us, in true Teutonic expansiveness of expression, that " by the mystical Solo- monic temple we are to understand the high ideal or archetype of humanity in the best possible condition of social improvement, wherein every evil inclination is overcome, every passion is resolved into the spirit of
* Histoire de la Magie, liv. v. ch. vii. p. 100.
f Vorlesung Uber das Symbol des Tempels, in the " Jarbflchern der Gross. Loge Roy. York zur Freundschaft," cited by Lenning, Encyc., voc. Tempel.
\ Jn an Essay on the Masonic Idea of Man's Destination, cited by Lenning, ut supra, from the Altenburg Zeitschift der Frei- maurerei.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 277
love, and wherein each for all, and all for each, kindly strive to work."*
And thus the German Masons call this striving for an almost millennial result labor in the temple.
The English Masons, although they have not treated the symbolism of the Order with the same abstruse inves- tigation that has distinguished those of Germany and France, still have not been insensible to this idea that the building of the Solomonic temple is intended to indicate a cultivation of the human character. Thus Hutch inson, one of the earliest of the symbolic writers of England, shows a very competent conception — for the age in which he lived — of the mystical meaning of the temple ; and later writers have improved upon his crude views. It must, however, be acknowledged that neither Hutchinson nor Oliver, nor any other of the dis- tinguished masonic writers of England, has dwelt on this peculiar symbolism of a moral temple with that earnest appreciation of the idea that is to be found in the works of the French and German Masons. But although the allusions are rather casual and incidental, yet the symbolic theory is evidently recognized. f
Our own country has produced many students of Ma- sonic symbolism, wrho have thoroughly grasped this noble thought, and treated it with eloquence and erudition.
Fifty years ago Salem Towne wrote thus : " Specula-
* Cited by Lenning, ut sup.
f Thus Dr. Oliver, while treating of the relation of the temple to the lodge, thus briefly alludes to this important symbol: "As our ancient brethren erected a material temple, without the use of axe, hammer, or metal tool, so is our moral temple con- structed." — Historical Landmarks, lect. xxxi.
278 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
tive Masonry, according to present acceptation, has an ultimate reference to that spiritual building erected by virtue in the heart, and summarily implies the arrange- ment and perfection of those holy and sublime principles by which the soul is fitted for a meet temple of God in a world of immortality." *
Charles Scott has devoted one of the lectures in his u Analogy of Ancient Craft Masonry to Natural and Re- vealed Religion " to a thorough consideration of this sub- ject. The language is too long for quotation, but the symbol has been well interpreted by him.f
Still more recently, Bro. John A. Lodor has treated the topic in an essay, which I regret has not had a larger cir- culation. A single and brief passage may show the spirit of the production, and how completely it sustains the idea of this symbolism.
" We may disguise it as we will," says Bro. Lodor, " we may evade a scrutiny of it ; but our character, as it is, with its faults and blemishes, its weaknesses and in- firmities, its vices and its stains, together with its redeem- ing traits, its better parts, is our speculative temple." And he goes on to extend the symbolic idea : u Like the exemplar temple on Mount Moriah, it should be preserved as a hallowed shrine, and guarded with the same vigilant care. It should be our pearl of price set round with walls and enclosures, even as was the Jewish temple, and the impure, the vicious, the guilty, and the profane be banished from even its outer courts. A faithful sentinel should be placed at every gate, a watchman on every
* System of Speculative Masonry, ch. vi. p. 63. f On the Speculative Temple — an essay read in 1861 before the Grand Lodge of Alabama.
THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR. 279
wall, and the first approach of a cowan and eavesdroppei be promptly met and resisted."
Teachings like this are now so common that every American Mason who has studied the symbolism of his Order believes, with Carlyle, that " there is but one tem- ple in the world, and that is the body of man."
This inquiry into the meaning and object of labor, as a masonic symbol, brings us to these conclusions : —
1. That our ancient brethren worked as long as the operative art predominated in the institution at material temples, the most prominent of these being the temple of King Solomon.
2. That when the speculative science took the place of the operative art, the modern Masons, working no longer at material temples, but holding still to the sa- cred thought, the reverential idea, of a holy temple, a Lord's house to be built, began to labor at living temples, and to make man, the true house of the Lord, the taber- nacle for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
And, 3. Therefore to every Freemason who rightly comprehends his art, this construction of a living temple is his labor.
" Labor," says Gadicke, the German masonic lexicog- rapher, " is an important word in Masonry ; indeed, we might say the most important. For this, and this alone, does a man become a Freemason. Every other object is secondary or incidental. Labor is the accustomed design of every lodge meeting. But does such meeting always furnish evidence of industry? The labor of an operative mason will be visible, and he will receive his reward for it, even though the building he has constructed may, in the next hour, be overthrown by a tempest. He knows
280 THE SYMBOLISM OF LABOR.
that he has done his labor. And so must the Freemason labor. His labor must be visible to himself and to his brethren, or, at least, it must conduce to his own internal satisfaction. As we build neither a visible Solomonic temple nor an Egyptian pyramid, our industry must become visible in works that are imperishable, so that when we vanish from the eyes of mortals it may be said of us that our labor was well done."
And remembering what the apostle has said, that we are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in us, we know that our labor is so to build that temple that it shall become worthy of its divine Dweller.
And thus, too, at last, we can understand the saying of the old monks that " labor is worship ;" and as Masons we labor in our lodge, labor to make ourselves a perfect building, without blemish, working hopefully for the con- summation, when the house of our earthly tabernacle shall be finished, when the LOST WORD of divine truth shall at last be discovered, and when we shall be found by our own efforts at perfection to have done God service. For so truly is the meaning of those noble wrords — LABOR is WORSHIP.
XXX.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.*
Stone of Foundation constitutes one of the most important and abstruse of all the symbols of Freemasonry. It is referred to in numerous legends and traditions, not only of the Freemasons, but also of the Jewish Rabbins, the Talmudic writers, and even the Mussulman doctors. Many of these, it must be confessed, are apparently puerile and absurd ; but some of them, and especially the masonic ones, are deeply interesting in their allegorical signification.
The Stone of Foundation is, properly speaking, a symbol of the higher degrees. It makes its first appear- ance in the Royal Arch, and forms, indeed, the most important symbol of that degree. But it is so intimately connected, in its legendary history, with the construction of the Solomonic temple, that it must be considered as a part of Ancient Craft Masonry, although he who con- fines the range of his investigations to the first three
* A portion of this essay, but in a very abridged form, was used by the author in his work on " Cryptic Masonry."
282 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
degrees, will have no means, within that narrow limit, of properly appreciating the symbolism of the Stone of Foundation.
As preliminary to the inquiry which is about to be instituted, it is necessary to distinguish the Stone of Foundation, both in its symbolism and in its legendary history, from other stones which play an important part in the masonic ritual, but which are entirely distinct from it. Such are the corner-stone, which was always placed in the north-east corner of the building about to be erected, and to which such a beautiful reference is made in the ceremonies of the first degree ; or the key- stone, which constitutes an interesting part of the Mark Master's degree ; or, lastly, the cape-stone, upon which all the ritual of the Most Excellent Master's degree is founded. These are all, in their proper places, highly interesting and instructive symbols, but have no connec- tion whatever with the Stone of Foundation or its sym- bolism. Nor, although the Stone of Foundation is said, for peculiar reasons, to have been of a cubical form, must it be confounded with that stone called by the continental Masons the cubical stone — the pierre cubique of the French, and the cubik stein of the German Masons, but which in the English system is known as the perfect ashlar.
The Stone of Foundation has a legendary history and a symbolic signification which are peculiar to itself, and which differ from the history and meaning which belong to these other stones.
Let us first define this masonic Stone of Foundation, then collate the legends which refer to it, and afterwards investigate its significance as a«symbol. To the Mason
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 283
who takes a pleasure in the study of the mysteries of his institution, the investigation cannot fail to be interesting, if it is conducted with any ability.
But in the very beginning, as a necessary preliminary to any investigation of this kind, it must be distinctly under- stood that all that is said of this Stone of Foundation in Masonry is to be strictly taken in a mythical or allegorical sense. Dr. Oliver, the most learned of our masonic writers, while undoubtedly himself knowing that it was simply a symbol, has written loosely of it, as though it were a substantial reality ; and hence, if the passages in his u Historical Landmarks," and in his other works which refer to this celebrated stone are accepted by his readers in a literal sense, they will present absurdities and puerilities which would not occur if the Stone of Foundation was received, as it really is, as a philosophical myth, conveying a most profound and beautiful symbol- ism. Read in this spirit, as all the legends of Masonry should be read, the mythical story of the Stone of Foun- dation becomes one of the most important and interesting of all the masonic symbols.
The Stone of Foundation is supposed, by the theory which establishes it, to have been a stone placed at one time within the foundations of the temple of Solomon, and afterwards, during the building of the second temple, transported to the Holy of Holies. It was in form a perfect cube, and had inscribed upon its upper face, within a delta or triangle, the sacred tetragrammaton, or ineffable name of God. Oliver, speaking with the solemnity of an historian, says that Solomon thought that he had rendered the house of God worthy, so far as human adornment could effect, for the dwelling of
284 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
God, " when he had placed the celebrated Stone of Foundation, on which the sacred name was mystically engraven, with solemn ceremonies, in that sacred deposi- tory on Mount Moriah, along with the foundations of Dan and Asher, the centre of the Most Holy Place, where the ark was overshadowed by the shekinah of God." * The Hebrew Talmudists, who thought as much of this stone, and had as many legends concerning it as the masonic Talmudists, called it eben shatijahfi or " Stone of Foundation," because, as they said, it had been laid by Jehovah as the foundation of the world ; and hence the apocryphal book of Enoch speaks of the "stone which supports the corners of the earth."
This idea of a foundation stone of the world was most probably derived from that magnificent passage of the book of Job, in which the Almighty demands of the afflicted patriarch, —
" Where wast thou, when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare, since thou hast such knowledge! » Who fixed its dimensions, since thou knowest? Or who stretched out the line upon it? Upon what were its foundations fixed? And who laid its corner-stone, When the morning stars sang together, And all the sons of God shouted for joy? " f
Noyes, whose beautiful translation I have adopted as not materially differing from the common version, but which is far more poetical and more in the strain of the original, thus explains the allusions to the foundation-
* Hist. Landmarks, i. 459, note 52.
t rPTlS3 *!-£• See the Gemara and Buxtorf Lex. Talm., p. 2541.
| Job xxxviii. 4-7.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. ' 285
stone : " It was the custom to celebrate the laying of the corner-stone of an important building with music, songs, shouting, &c. Hence the morning stars are represent- ed as celebrating the laying of the corner-stone of the earth." *
Upon this meagre statement have been accumulated more traditions than appertain to any other masonic symbol. The Rabbins, as has already been intimated, divide the glory of these apocryphal histories with the Masons ; indeed, there is good reason for a suspicion that nearly all the masonic legends owe their first exist- ence to the imaginative genius of the writers of the Jewish Talmud. But there is this difference between the Hebrew and the masonic traditions, that the Talmudic scholar recited them as truthful histories, and swallowed, in one gulp of faith, all their impossibilities and anach- ronisms, while the masonic student has received them as allegories, whose value is not in the facts, but in the sentiments which they convey.
With this understanding of their meaning, let us pro- ceed to a collation of these legends.
In that blasphemous work, the "Toldotk Jeshu" or Life of Jesus, written, it is supposed, in the thirteenth or fourteenth century, we find the following account of this wonderful stone : —
" At that time [the time of Jesus] there was in the House of the Sanctuary [that is, the temple] a Stone of Foundation, which is the very stone that our father Jacob anointed with oil, as it is described in the twenty- eighth chapter of the book of Genesis. On that stone the
* A New Translation of the Book of Job, notes, p. 196.
286 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
letters of the tetragrammaton were inscribed, and who- soever of the Israelites should learn that name would be able to master the world. To prevent, therefore, any one from learning these letters, two iron dogs were placed upon two columns in front of the Sanctuary. If any person, having acquired the knowledge of these letters, desired to depart from the Sanctuary, the barking of the dogs, by magical power, inspired so much fear, that he suddenly forgot what he had acquired."
This passage is cited by the learned Buxtorf, in his "Lexicon Talmud i cum ;" * but in the copy of the "707- dotJi Jeshu" which I have the good fortune to possess (for it is among the rarest of books), I find another pas- sage which gives some additional particulars, in the following words : —
" At that time there was in the temple the ineffable name of God, inscribed upon the Stone of Foundation. For when King David was digging the foundation for the temple, he found in the depths of the excavation a certain stone, on which the name of God was inscribed. This stone he removed, and deposited it in the Holy of Holies." f
The same puerile story of the barking dogs is repeated, still more at length. It is not pertinent to the present
* In voc. jr^FiEJj where some other curious extracts from the Talmud and Talmudic writers on the subject of the Stone of Foun- dation are given.
f Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, p. 6. The abominably scurrilous char- acter of this work aroused the indignation of the Christians, who, in the fifteenth century, were not distinguished for a spirit of tolerance, and the Jews, becoming alarmed, made every effort to suppress it. But, in 1681, it was republished by Wagenselius in his "Tela Ignea Satanae," with a Latin translation.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 287
inquiry, but it may be stated as a mere matter of curious information, that this scandalous book, which is through- out a blasphemous defamation of our Saviour, proceeds to say, that he cunningly obtained a knowledge of the tetragrammaton from the Stone of Foundation, and by its mystical influence was enabled to perform his miracles.
The masonic legends of the Stone of Foundation, based on these and other rabbinical reveries, are of the most extraordinary character, if they are to be viewed as histories, but readily reconcilable with sound sense, if looked at only in the light of allegories. They present an uninterrupted succession of events, in which the Stone of Foundation takes a prominent part, from Adam to Solomon, and from Solomon to Zerubbabel.
Thus the first of these legends, in order of time, re- lates that the Stone of Foundation was possessed by Adam while in the garden of Eden ; that he used it as an altar, and so reverenced it, that, on his expulsion from Paradise, he carried it with him into the world in which he and his descendants were afterwards to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow.
Another legend informs us that from Adam the Stone of Foundation descended to Seth. From Seth it passed by regular succession to Noah, who took it with him into the ark, and after the subsidence of the deluge, made on it his first thank-offering. Noah left it on Mount Ararat, where it was subsequently found by Abraham, who re- moved it, and consequently used it as an altar of sacrifice. His grandson Jacob took it with him when he fled to his uncle Laban in Mesopotamia, and used it as a pillow when, in the vicinity of Luz, he had his celebrated vision.
288 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
Here there is a sudden interruption in the legendary history of the stone, and we have no means of conjectur- ing how it passed from the possession of Jacob into that of Solomon. Moses, it is true, is said to have taken it with him out of Egypt at the time of the exodus, and thus it may have finally reached Jerusalem. Dr. Adam Clarke * repeats what he very properly calls u a foolish tradition," that the stone on which Jacob rested his head was afterwards brought to Jerusalem, thence carried after a long lapse of time to Spain, from Spain to Ireland, and from Ireland to Scotland, where it was used as a seat on which the kings of Scotland sat to be crowned. Edward I., we know, brought a stone, to which this legend is attached, from Scotland to Westminster Abbey, where, under the name of Jacob's Pillow, it still remains, and is always placed under the chair upon which the British sovereign sits to be crowned, because there is an old distich which declares that wherever this stone is found the Scottish kings shall reign.|
But this Scottish tradition would take the Stone of Foundation away from all its masonic connections, and therefore it is rejected as a masonic legend.
The legends just related are in many respects contra- dictory and unsatisfactory, and another series, equally as old? are now very generally adopted by masonic scholars, as much better suited to the symbolism by which all these legends are explained.
This series of legends commences with the patriarch Enoch, who is supposed to have been the first consecrator
* Comment, on Gen. xxviii. 18.
f " Ni fallit fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum
Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem."
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 289
of the Stone of Foundation. The legend of Enoch is so interesting and important in masonic science as to excuse something more than a brief reference to the incidents which it details.
The legend in full is as follows: Enoch, under the inspiration of the Most High, and in obedience to the instructions which he had received in a vision, built a temple under ground on Mount Moriah, and dedicated it to God. His son, Methuselah, constructed the build- ing, although he was not acquainted with his father's motives for the erection. This temple consisted of nine vaults, situated perpendicularly beneath each other, and communicating by apertures left in each vault.
Enoch then caused a triangular plate of gold to be made, each side of which was a cubit long; he enriched it with the most precious stones, and encrusted the plate upon a stone of agate of the same form. On the plate he engraved the true name of God, or the tetragrammaton, and placing it on a cubical stone, known thereafter as the Stone of Foundation, he deposited the whole within the lowest arch.
When this subterranean building was completed, he made a door of stone, and attaching to it a ring of iron, by which it might be occasionally raised, he placed it over the opening of the uppermost arch, and so covered it that the aperture could not be discovered. Enoch himself was not permitted to enter it but once a year, and after the days of Enoch, Methuselah, and Lamech, and the destruction of the world by the deluge, all knowl- edge of the vault or subterranean temple, and of the Stone of Foundation, with the sacred and ineffable name inscribed upon it, was lost for ages to the world. '9
290 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
At the building of the first temple of Jerusalem, the Stone of Foundation again makes its appearance. Ref- erence has already been made to the Jewish tradition that David, when digging the foundations of the temple, found in the excavation which he was making a certain stone, on which the ineffable name of God was inscribed, and which stone he is said to have removed and deposited in the Holy of Holies. That King David laid the founda- tions of the temple upon which the superstructure was subsequently erected by Solomon, is a favorite theory of the legend-mongers of the Talmud.
The masonic tradition is substantially the same as the Jewish, but it substitutes Solomon for David, thereby giving a greater air of probability to the narrative ; and it supposes that the stone thus discovered by Solomon was the identical one that had been deposited in his secret vault by Enoch. This Stone of Foundation, the tradition states, was subsequently removed by King Solo- mon, and, for wise purposes, deposited in a secret and safer place.
In this the masonic tradition again agrees with the Jewish, for we find in the third chapter of the "Treatise on the Temple" written by the celebrated Maimonides, the following narrative : —
" There was a stone in the Holy of Holies, on its west side, on which was placed the ark of the covenant, and before it the pot of manna and Aaron's rod. But when Solomon had built the temple, and foresaw that it was, at some future time, to be destroyed, he constructed a deep and winding vault under ground, for the purpose of concealing the ark, wherein Josiah afterwards, as we learn in the Second Book of Chronicles, xxxv. 3, depos-
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 29!
ited it, with the pot of manna, the rod of Aaron, and the oil of anointing."
The Talmtidical book "Yoma" gives the same tradi- tion, and says that " the ark of the covenant was placed in the centre of the Holy of Holies, upon a stone rising three fingers' breadth above the floor, to be, as it were, a pedestal for it." " This stone," says Prideaux,* " the Rabbins call the Stone of Foundation, and give us a great deal of trash about it."
There is much controversy as to the question of the existence of any ark in the second temple. Some of the Jewish writers assert that a new one was made ; others, that the old one was found where it had been concealed by Solomon ; and others again contend that there wras no ark at all in the temple of Zerubbabel, but that its place was supplied by the Stone of Foundation on which it had originally rested.
Royal Arch Masons well know how all these traditions are sought to be reconciled by the masonic legend, in which the substitute ark and the Stone of Foundation play so important a part.
In the thirteenth degree of the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the Stone of Foundation is conspicuous as the resting-place of the sacred delta.
In the Royal Arch and Select Master's degrees of the Americanized York Rite, the Stone of Foundation con- stitutes the most important part of the ritual. In both of these it is the receptacle of the ark, on which the ineffable name is inscribed.
Lee, in his fct Temple of Solomon" has devoted a chap-
* Old and New Testament connected, vol. i. p. 148.
292 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
ter to this Stone of Foundation, and thus recapitulates the Talmudic and Rabbinical traditions on the subject : —
" Vain and futilous are the feverish dreams of the an- cient Rabbins concerning the Foundation Stone of the temple. Some assert that God placed this stone in the centre of the world, for a future basis and settled consis- tency for the earth to rest upon. Others held this stone to be the first matter, out of which all the beautiful visible beings of the world have been hewn forth and produced to light. Others relate that this was the very same stone laid by Jacob for a pillow under his head, in that night when he dreamed of an angelic vision at Bethel, and afterwards anointed and consecrated it to God. Which when Solomon had found (no doubt by forged revelation, or some tedious search, like another Rabbi Selemoh), he durst not but lay it sure, as the principal foundation stone of the temple. Nay, they say further, he caused to be engraved upon it the tetragrammaton, or the ineffa- ble name of Jehovah." *
It will be seen that the masonic traditions on the sub- ject of the Stone of Foundation do not differ very mate- rially from these Rabbinical ones, although they give a few additional circumstances.
In the masonic legend, the Foundation Stone first makes its appearance, as I have already said, in the days of Enoch, who placed it in the bowels of Mount Moriah. There it was subsequently discovered by King Solomon, who deposited it in a crypt of the first temple, where it remained concealed until the foundations of the second
* The Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light, ch. ix. p. 194. Of the Mysteries laid up in the Foundation of the Temple.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 293
temple were laid, when it was discovered and removed to the Holy of Holies. But the most important point of the legend of the Stone of Foundation is its intimate and constant connection with the tetragrammaton, or ineffable name. It is this name, inscribed upon it, within the sacred and symbolic delta, that gives to the stone all its masonic value and significance. It is upon this fact, that it was so inscribed, that its wrhole symbolism depends.
Looking at these traditions in anything like the light of historical narratives, we are compelled to consider them, to use the plain language of Lee, " but as so many idle and absurd conceits." We must go behind the legend, viewing it only as an allegory, and study its symbolism.
The symbolism of the Foundation Stone of Masonry is therefore the next subject of investigation.
In approaching this, the most abstruse, and one of the most important, symbols of the Order, we are at once impressed with its apparent connection with the ancient doctrine of stone worship. Some brief consideration of this species of religious culture is therefore necessary for a proper understanding of the real symbolism of the Stone of Foundation.
The worship of stones is a kind of fetichism, which in the very infancy of religion prevailed, perhaps, more extensively than any other form of religious culture. Lord Kames explains the fact by supposing that stones erected as monuments of the dead became the place where posterity paid their veneration to the memory of the deceased, and that at length the people, losing sight of the emblematical signification, which was not readily understood, these monumental stones became objects of worship.
294 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
Others have sought to find the origin of stone-worship in the stone that was set up and anointed by Jacob at Bethel, and the tradition of which had extended into the heathen nations and become corrupted. It is certain that the Phoenicians worshipped sacred stones under the name of Bcetylia, which word is evidently derived from the Hebrew Bethel; and this undoubtedly gives some appear- ance of plausibility to the theory.
But a third theory supposes that the worship of stones was derived from the unskilfulness of the primitive sculp- tors, who, unable to frame, by their meagre principles of plastic art, a true image of the God whom they adored, were content to substitute in its place a rude or scarcely polished stone. Hence the Greeks, according to Pausa- nias, originally used unhewn stones to represent their deities, thirty of which that historian says he saw in the city of Pharae. These stones were of a cubical form, and as the greater number of them were dedicated to the god Hermes, or Mercury, they received the generic name of Hermes. Subsequently, with the improvement of the plastic art, the head was added.*
One of these consecrated stones was placed before the door of almost every house in Athens. They were also placed in front of the temples, in the gymnasia or schools, in libraries, and at the corners of streets, and in the roads. -When dedicated to the god Terminus they were used as landmarks, and placed as such upon the concurrent lines of neighboring possessions.
The Thebans worshipped Bacchus under the form of a rude, square stone.
* See Pausanias, lib. iv.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 295
Arnobius* says that Cybele was represented by a small stone of a black color. Eusebius cites Porphyry as saying that the ancients represented the deity by a black stone, because his nature is obscure and inscrutable. The reader will here be reminded of the black stone Hadsjar cl As-wad, placed in the south-west corner of the Kaaba at Mecca, which was worshipped by the ancient Arabians, and is still treated with religious veneration by the mod- ern Mohammedans. The Mussulman priests, however, say that it was originally white, and of such surprising splendor that it could be seen at the distance of four days' journey, but that it has been blackened by the tears of pilgrims.
The Druids, it is well known, had no other images of their gods but cubical, or sometimes columnar, stones, of which Toland gives several instances.
The Chaldeans had a sacred stone, which they held in great veneration, under the name of Mnizuris, and to which they sacrificed for the purpose of evoking the Good Demon.
Stone-worship existed among the early American races. Squier quotes Skinner as asserting that the Peruvians used to set up rough stones in their fields and plantations, which were worshipped as protectors of their crops. And Gama says that in Mexico the presiding god of the spring was often represented without a human body, and in place thereof a pilaster or square column, whose pedestal was covered with various sculptures.
Indeed, so universal was this stone-worship, that Hig-
* The "Disputationes adversus Gentes" of Arnobius supplies us with a fund of information on the symbolism of the classic mythology.
296 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
gins, in his " Celtic Druids" says that, " throughout the world the first object of idolatry seems to have been a plain, unwrought stone, placed in the ground, as an em- blem of the generative or procreative powers of nature/' And the learned Bryant, in his "Analysis of Ancient Mythology" asserts that " there is in every oracular tem- ple some legend about a stone."
Without further citations of examples from the religious usages of other countries, it will, I think, be conceded that the cubical stone formed an important part of the religious worship of primitive nations. But Cudworth, Bryant, Faber, and all other distinguished writers who have treated the subject, have long since established the theory that the pagan religions were eminently symbolic. Thus, to use the language of Dudley, the pillar or stone " was adopted as a symbol of strength and firmness, — a symbol, also, of the divine power, and, by a ready infer- ence, a symbol or idol of the Deity himself."* And this symbolism is confirmed by Cornutus, who says that the god Hermes was represented without hands or feet, being a cubical stone, because the cubical figure betokened his solidity and stability.!
Thus, then, the following facts have been established, but not precisely in this order : First, that there was a very general prevalence among the earliest nations of antiquity of the worship of stones as the representatives of Deity ; secondly, that in almost every ancient temple there was a legend of a sacred or mystical stone ; thirdly, that this legend is found in the masonic system ; and last- ly, that the mystical stone there has received the name of the " Stone of Foundation."
* Naologj, ch. iii. p. 119. f Cornut. de Nat. Deor. c. 16.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 297
Now, as in all the other systems the stone is admitted to be symbolic, and the tradition connected with it mys- tical, we are compelled to assume the same predicates of the masonic stone. It, too, is symbolic, and its legend a myth or an allegory.
Of the fable, myth, or allegory, Bailly has said that, " subordinate to history and philosophy, it only deceives that it may the better instruct us. Faithful in preserving the realities which are confided to it, it covers with its seductive envelope the lessons of the one and the truths of the other."* It is from this stand-point that we are to view the allegory of the Stone of Foundation, as devel- oped in one of the most interesting and important sym- bols of Masonry.
The fact that the mystical stone in all the ancient re- ligions was a symbol of the Deity, leads us necessarily to the conclusion that the Stone of Foundation was also a symbol of Deity. And this symbolic idea is strengthened by the tetragrammaton, or sacred name of God, that was inscribed upon it. This ineffable name sanctifies the stone upon which it is engraved as the symbol of the Grand Architect. It takes from it its heathen significa- tion as an idol, and consecrates it to the worship of the true God.
The predominant idea of the Deity, in the masonic system, connects him with his creative and formative power. God is, to the Freemason, Al Gabil, as the Ara- bians called him, that is, The Builder ; or, as expressed in his masonic title, the Grand Architect of the Universe, by common consent abbreviated in the formula G. A. O. T. U. Now, it is evident that no symbol could so appro-
* Essais sur les Fables, t. i. lett. 2. p. 9.
298 THE STONE OF FOUNDATION.
priately suit him in this character as the Stone of Foun- dation, upon which he is allegorically supposed to have erected his world. Such a symbol closely connects the creative work of Gocl, as a pattern and exemplar, with the workman's erection of his temporal building on a similar foundation stone.
But this masonic idea is still further to be extended. The great object of all Masonic labor is divine truth. The search for the lost word is the search for truth. But divine truth is a term synonymous with God. The inef- fable name is a symbol of truth, because God, and God alone, is truth. It is properly a scriptural idea. The Book of Psalms abounds with this sentiment. Thus it is said that the truth of the Lord " reacheth unto the clouds/' and that " his truth endureth unto all genera- tions." If, then, God is truth, and the Stone of Founda- tion is the masonic symbol of God, it follows that it must also be the symbol of divine truth.
When we have arrived at this point in our speculations, we are ready to show how all the myths and legends of the Stone of Foundation may be rationally explained as parts of that beautiful " science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols," which is the ac- knowledged definition of Freemasonry.
In the masonic system there are two temples ; the first temple, in which the degrees of Ancient Craft Masonry are concerned, and the second temple, with which the higher degrees, and especially the Royal Arch, are re- lated. The first temple is symbolic of the present life ; the second temple is symbolic of the life to come. The first temple, the present life, must be destroyed ; on its foundations the second temple, the life eternal, must be built.
THE STONE OF FOUNDATION. 299
But the mystical stone was placed by King Solomon in the foundations of the first temple. That is to say, the first temple of our present life must be built on the sure foundation of divine truth, " for other foundation can no man lay."
But although the present life is necessarily built upon the foundation of truth, yet we never thoroughly attain it in this sublunary sphere. The Foundation Stone is concealed in the first temple, and the Master Mason knows it not. He has not the true word. He receives only a substitute.
But in the second temple of the future life, we have passed from the grave, which had been the end of our labors in the first. We have removed the rubbish, and have found that Stone of Foundation which had been hith- erto concealed from our eyes. We now throw aside the substitute for truth which had contented us in the former temple, and the brilliant effulgence of the tetragrammaton and the Stone of Foundation are discovered, and thence- forth we are the possessors of the true word — of divine truth. And in this way, the Stone of Foundation, or divine truth, concealed in the first temple, but discovered and brought to light in the second, will explain that pas- sage of the apostle, " For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
And so, the result of this inquiry is, that the masonic Stone of Foundation is a symbol of divine truth, upon which all Speculative Masonry is built, and the legends and traditions which refer to it are intended to describe, in an allegorical way, the progress of truth in the soul,
the search for which is a Mason's labor, and the discovery
j
of which is his reward.
XXXI.
THE LOST WORD.
last of the symbols, depending for its exist- ence on its connection with a myth to which I shall invite attention, is the Lost Word, and the search for it. Very appropriately may this symbol terminate our investigations, since it includes within its comprehensive scope all the others, being itself the very essence of the science of masonic symbolism. The other symbols require for their just appreciation a knowledge of the origin of the order, because they owe their birth to its relationship with kindred and anterior institutions. But the symbolism of the Lost Word has reference ex- clusively to the design and the objects of the institution.
First, let us define the symbol, and then investigate its interpretation.
The mythical history of Freemasonry informs us that there once existed a WORD of surpassing value, and claiming a profound veneration ; that this Word was known to but few ; that it was at length lost ; and that a temporary substitute for it was adopted. But as the
THE LOST WORD. 30 1
very philosophy of Masonry teaches us that there can be no death without a resurrection, — no decay without a subsequent restoration, — on the same principle it fol- lows that the loss of the Word must suppose its eventual recovery.
Now, this it is, precisely, that constitutes the myth of the Lost Word and the search for it. No matter what was the word, no matter how it was lost, nor why a sub- stitute was provided, nor when nor where it was recov- ered. These are all points of subsidiary importance, necessary, it is true, for knowing the legendary history, but not necessary for understanding the symbolism. The only term of the myth that is to be regarded in the study of its interpretation, is the abstract idea of a word lost and afterwards recovered.
This, then, points us to the goal to which we must direct our steps in the pursuit of the investigation.
But the symbolism, referring in this case, as I have already said, solely to the great design of Freemasonry, the nature of that design at once suggests itself as a pre- liminary subject of inquiry in the investigation.
What, then, is the design of Freemasonry? A very- large majority of its disciples, looking only to its practi- cal results, as seen in the every-day business of life, — to the noble charities which it dispenses, to the tears of widows which it has dried, to the cries of orphans which it has hushed, to the wants of the destitute which it has supplied, — arrive with too much rapidity at the conclu- sion that Charity, and that, too, in its least exalted sense of eleemosynary aid, is the great design of the institution.
Others, with a still more contracted view, remembering the pleasant reunions at their lodge banquets, the unre-
3O2 THE LOST WORD.
served communications which are thus encouraged, and the solemn obligations of mutual trust and confidence that are continually inculcated, believe that it was intend- ed solely to promote the social sentiments and cement the bonds of friendship.
But, although the modern lectures inform us that Brotherly Love and Relief are two of u the principal tenets of a Mason's profession," yet, from the same au- thority, we learn that Truth is a third and not less im- portant one ; and Truth, too, not in its old Anglo-Saxon meaning of fidelity to engagements,* but in that more strictly philosophical one in which it is opposed to intel- lectual and religious error or falsehood.
But I have shown that the Primitive Freemasonry of the ancients was instituted for the purpose of preserving that truth which had been originally communicated to the patriarchs, in all its integrity, and that the Spurious Ma- sonry, or the Mysteries, originated in the earnest need of the sages, and philosophers, and priests, to find again the same truth which had been lost by the surrounding mul- titudes. I have shown, also, that this same truth contin- ued to be the object of the Temple Masonry, which was formed by a union of the Primitive, or Pure, and the Spurious systems. Lastly, I have endeavored to demon- strate that this truth related to the nature of God and the human soul.
The search, then, after this truth, I suppose to consti- tute the end and design of Speculative Masonry. From the very commencement of his career, the aspirant is by significant symbols and expressive instructions directed to
* Bosworth (Aug. Sax. Diet.} defines treoivtk to signify " troth, truth, treaty, league, pledge, covenant."
THE LOST WORD. 303
the acquisition of this divine truth ; and the whole lesson, if not completed in its full extent, is at least well devel- oped in the myths and legends of the Master's degree. God and the soul — the unity of the one and the immor- tality of the other — are the great truths, the search for which is to constitute the constant occupation of every Mason, and which, when found, are to become the chief corner-stone, or the stone of foundation, of the spiritual temple — "the house not made with hands" — which he is engaged in erecting.
Now, this idea of a search after truth forms so promi- nent a part of the whole science of Freemasonry, that I conceive no better or more comprehensive answer could be given to the question, What is Freemasonry f than to say that it is a science which is engaged in the search after divine truth.
But Freemasonry is eminently a system of symbolism, and all its instructions are conveyed in symbols. It is, therefore, to be supposed that so prominent and so pre- vailing an idea as this, — one that constitutes, as I have said, the whole design of the institution, and which may appropriately be adopted as the very definition of its science, — could not with any consistency be left without its particular symbol.
The WORD, therefore, I conceive to be the symbol of Divine Truth; and all its modifications — the loss, the substitution, and the recovery — are but component parts of the mythical symbol which represents a search after truth.
How, then, is this symbolism preserved? How is the whole history of this Word to be interpreted, so as to bear, in all its accidents of time, and place, and circumstance,
304 THE LOST WORD.
a patent reference to the substantive idea that has been symbolized?
The answers to these questions embrace what is, per- haps, the most intricate as well as most ingenious and interesting portion of the science of masonic symbolism.
This symbolism may be interpreted, either in an appli- cation to a general or to a special sense.
The general application will embrace the whole history of Freemasonry, from its inception to its consummation. The search after the Word is an epitome of the intellec- tual and religious progress of the order, from the period when, by the dispersion at Babel, the multitudes were enshrouded in the profundity of a moral darkness where truth was apparently forever extinguished. The true name of God was lost ; his true nature was not under- stood ; the divine lessons imparted by our father Noah were no longer remembered ; the ancient traditions were now corrupted ; the ancient symbols were perverted. Truth was buried beneath the rubbish of Sabaism, and the idolatrous adoration of the sun and stars had taken the place of the olden worship of the true God. A moral darkness was now spread over the face of the earth, as a dense, impenetrable cloud, which obstructed the rays. of the spiritual sun, and covered the people as with a gloomy pall of intellectual night.
But this night was not to last forever. A brighter dawn was to arise, and amidst all this gloom and darkness there were still to be found a few sages in whom the religious sentiment, working in them with powerful throes, sent forth manfully to seek after truth. There were, even in those days of intellectual and religious darkness, craftsmen who were willing to search for the Lost Word. And though
THE LOST WORD. 305
they were unable to find it, their approximation to truth was so near that the result of their search may well be symbolized by the Substitute Word.
It was among the idolatrous multitudes that the Word had been lost. It was among them that the Builder had been smitten, and that the works of the spiritual temple had been suspended ; and so, losing at each successive stage of their decline, more and more of the true knowl- edge of God and of the pure religion which had originally been imparted by Noah, they finally arrived at gross ma- terialism and idolatry, losing all sight of the divine exist- ence. Thus it was that the truth — the Word — was said to have been lost ; or, to apply the language of Hutchin- son, modified in its reference to the time, " in this situa- tion, it might well be said that the guide to heaven was lost, and the master of the works of righteousness was smitten. The nations had given themselves up to the grossest idolatry, and the service of the true God was effaced from the memory of those who had yielded them- selves to the dominion of sin."
And now it was among the philosophers and priests in the ancient Mysteries, or the spurious Freemasonry, that an anxiety to discover the truth led to the search for the Lost Word. These were the craftsmen who saw the fatal blow which had been given, who knew that the Word was now lost, but were willing to go forth, manfully and patiently, to seek its restoration. And there were the craftsmen who, failing to rescue it from the grave of oblivion into which it had fallen, by any efforts of their own incomplete knowledge, fell back upon the dim traditions which had been handed down from primeval times, and through their aid found a substitute for truth in their own philosophical religions.
THE LOST WORD.
And hence Schmidtz, speaking of these Mysteries of the pagan world, calls them the remains of the ancient Pelasgian religion, and says that " the associations of persons for the purpose of celebrating them must there- fore have been formed at the time when the overwhelm- ing influence of the Hellenic religion began to gain the upper hand in Greece, and when persons who still enter- tained a reverence for the worship of former times united together, with the intention of preserving and upholding among themselves as much as possible of the religion of their forefathers."
Applying, then, our interpretation in a general sense, the Word itself being the symbol of Divine Truth, the narrative of its loss and the search for its recovery be- comes a mythical symbol of the decay and loss of the true religion among the ancient nations, at and after the dis- persion on the plains of Shinar, and of the attempts of the wise men, the philosophers, and priests, to find and retain it in their secret Mysteries and initiations, which have hence been designated as the Spurious Freemasonry of Antiquity.
But I have said that there is a special, or individual, as well as a general interpretation. This compound or double symbolism, if I may so call it, is by no means un- usual in Freemasonry. I have already exhibited an illus- tration of it in the symbolism of Solomon's temple, where, in a general sense, the temple is viewed as a symbol of that spiritual temple formed by the aggregation of the whole order, and in which each mason is considered as a stone ; and, in an individual or special sense, the same temple is considered as a type of that spiritual temple which each mason is directed to erect in his heart.
THE LOST WORD. 307
Now, in this special or indi\7idual interpretation, the Word, with its accompanying myth of a loss, a substitute, and a recovery, becomes a symbol of the personal prog- ress of a candidate from his first initiation to the comple- tion of his course, when he receives a full development of the Mysteries.
The aspirant enters on this search after truth, as an Entered Apprentice, in darkness, seeking for light — the light of wisdom, the light of truth, the light symbolized by the Word. For this important task, upon which he starts forth gropingly, falteringly, doubtingly, in want and in weakness, he is prepared by a purification of the heart, and is invested with a first substitute for the true Word, which, like the pillar that went before the Israel- ites in the wilderness, is to guide him onwards in his weary journey. He is directed to take, as a staff and scrip for his journey, all those virtues which expand the heart and dignify the soul. Secrecy, obedience, humility, trust in God, purity of conscience, economy of time, are all inculcated by impressive types and symbols, which connect the first degree with the period of youth.
And then, next in the degree of Fellow Craft, he fairly enters upon his journey. Youth has now passed, and manhood has come on. New duties and increased obli- gations press upon the individual. The thinking and working stage of life is here symbolized. Science is to be cultivated ; wisdom is to be acquired ; the lost Word — divine truth — is still to be sought for. But even yet it is not to be found.
And now the Master Mason comes, with all the sym- bolism around him of old age — trials, sufferings, death. And here, too, the aspirant, pressing onward, always
308 THE LOST WORD.
ontvard, still cries aloud for u light, more light." The search is almost over, but the lesson, humiliating to human nature, is to be taught, that in this life — gloomy and dark, earthly and carnal — pure truth has no abiding place ; and contented with a substitute, and to that second temple of eternal life, for that true Word, that divine Truth, which will teach us all that we shall ever learn of God and his emanation, the human soul.
So, the Master Mason, receiving this substitute for the lost Word, waits with patience for the time when it shall be found, and perfect wisdom shall be attained.
But, work as we will, this symbolic Word — this knowledge of divine Truth — is never thoroughly at- tained in this life, or in its symbol, the Master Mason's lodge. The corruptions of mortality, which encumber and cloud the human intellect, hide it, as with a thick veil, from mortal eyes. It is only, as I have just said, beyond the tomb, and when released from the earthly burden of life, that man is capable of fully receiving and appreciating the revelation. Hence, then, when we speak of the recovery of the Word, in that higher degree which is a supplement to Ancient Craft Masonry, we inti- mate that that sublime portion of the masonic system is a symbolic representation of the state after death. For it is only after the decay and fall of this temple of life, which, as masons, we have been building, that from its ruins, deep beneath its foundations, and in the profound abyss of the grave, we find that divine truth, in the search for which life was spent, if not in vain, at least without success, and the mystic key to which death only could supply.
And now we know by this symbolism what is meant
THE LOST WORD.
309
by masonic labor, which, too, is itself but another form of the same symbol. The search for the Word — to find divine Truth — this, and this only, is a mason's work, and the WORD is his reward.
Labor, said the old monks, is worship — laborare est orare ; and thus in our lodges do we worship, working for the Word, working for the Truth, ever looking forward, casting no glance behind, but cheerily hoping for the con- summation and the reward of our labor in the knowledge which is promised to him who plays no laggard's part.
Goethe, himself a mason and a poet, knew and felt all this symbolism of a mason's life and work, when he wrote that beautiful poem, which Carlyle has thus thrown into his own rough but impulsive language.
"The mason's ways are A type of existence, — And to his persistence Is as the days are Of men in this world.
"The future hides in it Gladness and sorrow; We press still thorow, Nought that abides in it Daunting us — onward.
"And solemn before us Veiled the dark portal, Goal of all mortal ; Stars silent rest o'er us Graves under us silent.
"While earnest thou gazest Come, boding of terror, Comes phantasm and error, Perplexing the bravest With doubt and misgiving.
310 THE LOST WORD.
" But heard are the voices, Heard are the sages, The worlds and the ages ; ' Choose well ; your choice is Brief and yet endless.
" In eternity's stillness ; Here is all fullness, Ye, brave to reward you ; Work and despair not.*"
And now, in concluding this work, so inadequate to the importance of the subjects that have been discussed, one deduction, at least, may be drawn from all that has been said.
In tracing the progress of Freemasonry, and in detailing its system of symbolism, it has been found to be so inti- mately connected with the history of philosophy, of religion, and of art, in all ages of the world, that the conviction at once forces itself upon the mind, that no mason can expect thoroughly to comprehend its nature, or to appreciate its character as a science, unless he shall devote himself, with some labor and assiduity, to this studv of its system. That skill which consists in repeating, with fluency and precision, the ordinary lectures, in complying with all the ceremonial requisitions of the ritual, or the giving, with sufficient accuracy, the ap- pointed modes of recognition, pertains only to the very rudiments of the masonic science.
But there is a far nobler series of doctrines with which Freemasonry is connected, and which it has been my object, in this work, to present in some imperfect way. It is these which constitute the science and the philosophy
THE LOST WORD. 31 1
of Freemasonry, and it is these alone which will return the student who devotes himself to the task, a sevenfold reward for his labor
Freemasonry, viewed no longer, as too long it has been, as a merely social institution, has now assumed its original and undoubted position as a speculative science. While .the mere ritual is still carefully preserved, as the casket should be which contains so bright a jewel ; while its charities are still dispensed as the necessary though inci- dental result of all its moral teachings ; while its social tendencies are still cultivated as the tenacious cement which is to unite so fair a fabric in symmetry and strength, the masonic mind is everywhere beginning to look and ask for something, which, like the manna in the desert, shall feed us, in our pilgrimage, with intel- lectual food. The universal cry, throughout the masonic world, is for light ; our lodges are henceforth to be schools ; our labor is to be study ; our wages are to be learning; the types and symbols, the myths and allego- ries, of the institution are beginning to be investigated with reference to their ultimate meaning; our history is now traced by zealous inquiries as to its connection with antiquity ; and Freemasons now thoroughly understand that often quoted definition, that " Masonry is a science of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols." Thus to learn Masonry is to know our work and to do :: well. What true mason would shrink from the task?
SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
PAGB
A B. The Hebrew word £&, AB, signifies * i father," and was among the Hebrews a title of honor. From it, by the addition of the possessive pronoun, is compounded the word Abif, sig- nifying " his father," and applied to the Temple Builder. . 56 ABIF. See Hiram Abif.
ABNET. The band or apron, made of fine linen, variously wrought, and worn by the Jewish priesthood. It seems to have been borrowed directly from the Egyptians, upon the representations of all of whose gods is to be found a simi- lar girdle. Like the zennaar, or sacred cord of the Brah- mins, and the white shield of the Scandinavians, it is the analogue of the masonic apron. ...... 130
ACACIA, SPRIG OF. No symbol is more interesting to the ma- sonic student than the sprig of acacia. .... 247
It is the 'mimosa nilotica of Linnseus, the shittah of the He- brew writers, and grows abundantly in Palestine. . . 2^0 It is preeminently the symbol of the immortality of the soul. 251 It was for this reason planted by the Jews at the head of a
grave 252
This symbolism is derived from its never-fading character as
an evergreen 253
It is also a symbol of innocence, and this symbolism is de- rived from the double meaning of the word uxuxia, which in Greek signifies the plant, and innocence ; in this point of view Hutchinson has Christianized the symbol. . . . 254
sis
314 . SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
It is, lastly, a symbol of initiation. 256
This symbolism is derived from the fact that it is the sacred plant of Masonry ; and in all the ancient rites there were sacred plants, which became in each rite the respective sym- bol of initiation into its Mysteries ; hence the idea was bor- rowed by Freemasonry 257
ADONIA. The Mysteries of Adonis, principally celebrated in Phoenicia and Syria. They lasted for two days, and were commemorative of the death and restoration of Adonis. The ceremonies of the first day were funereal in their char- acter, and consisted in the lamentations of the initiates for the deatli of Adonis, whose picture or image was carried in procession. The second day was devoted to mirth and joy for the return of Adonis to life. In their spirit and their mystical design, these Mysteries bore a very great resem- blance to the third degree of Masonry, and they are quoted to show the striking analogy between the ancient and the modern initiations. . . . . . . .42
ADONIS. In mythology, the son of Cinyras and Myrrha, who was greatly beloved by Venus, or Aphrodite. He was slain by a wild boar, and having descended into the realm of Pluto, Persephone became enamoured of him. This led to a contest for him between Venus and Persephone, which was finally settled by his restoration to life upon the con- dition that he should spend six months upon earth, and six months in the inferior regions. In the mythology of the phi- losophers, Adonis was a symbol of the sun; but his death by violence, and his subsequent restoration to life, make him the analogue of Hiram Abif in the masonic system, and identify the spirit of the initiation in his Mysteries, which was to teach the second life with that of the third degree of Freemasonry. ....... 42
AHRIMAN, or ARIMANES. In the religious system of Zoroaster, the principle of evil, or darkness, which was perpetually opposing Ormuzd, the principle of good, or light. See Zo- roaster. .......... 154
ALFADER. The father of all, or the universal Father. The
principal deity of the Scandinavian mythology. . . 184 The Edda gives twelve names of God, of which Alfader is the first and most ancient, and is the one most generally used.
ALGABIL. One of the names of the Supremo Being among the Cabalists. It signifies "the Master Builder," and is equiv-
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 315
alent to the masonic epithet of "Grand Architect of the Universe." 122
ALLEGORY. A discourse or narrative, in which there is a literal and a figurative sense, a patent and a concealed meaning; the literal or patent sense being intended by analogy or com- parison to indicate the figurative or concealed one. Its der- ivation from the Greek a/Ao? and uyo^tiv, to say something different, that is, to say something where the language is one thing, and the true meaning different, exactly expresses the character of an allegory. It has been said in the text that there is no essential difference between an allegory and a symbol. There is not in design, but there is this in their character : An allegory may be interpreted without any pre- vious conventional agreement, but a symbol cannot. Thus the legend of the third degree is an allegory evidently to be interpreted as teaching a restoration to life ; and this we learn from the legend itself, without any previous under- standing. The sprig of acacia is a symbol of the immor- tality of the soul. But this we know only because such meaning had been conventionally determined when the sym- bol was first established. It is evident, then, that an alle- gory which is obscure is imperfect. The enigmatical mean- ing should be easy of interpretation ; and hence Lemiere, a French poet, has said, " L'allegorie habite un palais dia- phane " — Allegory lives in a transparent palace. All the legends of Freemasonry are more or less allegorical, and whatever truth there may be in some of them in an histor- ical point of view, it is only as allegories, or legendary sym- bols, that they are important. . . . . . .75
ALL-SEEING EYE. A symbol of the third degree, of great an- tiquity. See Eye.
ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY. The first three degrees of Free- masonry; viz., Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason. They are so called because they alone are supposed to have been practised by the ancient craft. In the agreement between the two grand lodges of England in 1813, the definition was made to include the Royal Arch de- gree. Now if by the " ancient craft " are meant the workmen at the first temple, the definition will be wrong, because the Royal Arch degree could have had no existence until the time of the building of the second temple. But if by the "ancient craft" is meant the I ody of workmen who intro- duced the rites of Masonry into Europe in the early ages of
SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
the history of the Order, then it will be correct: because the Royal Arch degree always, from its origin until the middle of the eighteenth century, formed a part of the Master's. " Ancient Craft Masonry," however, in this country, is gen- erally understood to embrace only the first three degrees. . 124
ANDERSON. James Anderson, D. D., is celebrated as the com- piler and editor of "The Constitutions of the Freemasons," published by order of the Grand Lodge of England, in 1723. A second edition was published by him in 1738. Shortly after, Anderson died, and the subsequent editions, of which there are several, have been edited by other persons. The edition of 1723 has become exceedingly rare, and copies of it bring fancy prices among the collectors of old masonic books. Its intrinsic value is derived only from the fact that it contains the first printed copy of the "Old Charges," and also the "General Regulations." The history of Ma- sonry which precedes these, and constitutes the body of the work, is fanciful, unreliable, and pretentious to a degree that often leads to absurdity. The craft are greatly indebt- ed to Anderson for his labors in reorganizing the institu- tion, but doubtless it would have been better if he had con- tented himself with giving the records of the Grand Lodge from 1717 to 1738 which are contained in his second edition, and with preserving for us the charges and regulations, which without his industry might have been lost. No masonic writer would now venture to quote Anderson as authority for the history of the Order anterior to the eighteenth cen- tury. It must also be added that in the republication of the old charges in the edition of 1738, he made several impor- tant alterations and interpolations, which justly gave some offence to the Grand Lodge, and which render the second edition of no authority in this respect. .... 228
ANIMAL WORSHIP. The worship of animals is a species of idol- atry that was especially practised by the ancient Egyptians. Temples were erected by this people in their honor, in which they were fed and cared for during life ; to kill one of them was a crime punishable with death; and after death, they were embalmed, and interred in the catacombs. This wor- ship was derived first from the earlier adoration of the stars, to certain constellations of which the names of animals had been given ; next, from an Egyptian tradition that the gods, being pursued by Typhon, had concealed themselves under the forms of animals ; and lastly, from the doctrine of the
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 3! 7
metempsychosis, according to which there was a continual circulation of the souls of men and animals. But behind the open and popular exercise of this degrading worship the priests concealed a symholism full of philosophical concep- tions. How this symbolism was corrupted and misinter- preted by the uninitiated people, is shown by Gliddon, and quoted in the text 78
APHANISM (Greek a(/n*r/io>, to conceal). In each of the initia- tions of the ancient Mysteries, there was a scenic repre- sentation of the death or disappearance of some god or hero, whose adventures constituted the legend of the Mystery. That part of the ceremony of initiation which related to and represented the death or disappearance was called the aph- anism. .......... 44
Freemasonry, which has in its ceremonial form been framed after the model of thece ancient Mysteries, has also its aph- anism in the third degree. ....... 233
APORRHETA (Greek anotjtjfTa). The holy things in the ancient Mysteries wrhich were known only to the initiates, and were not to be disclosed to the profane, were called the aporrheta. What are the aporrheta of Freemasonry? what are the arcana of which there can be no disclosure ? is a question that for some years past has given rise to much discussion among the disciples of the institution. If the sphere and number of these aporrheta be very considerably extended, it is evident that much valuable investigation by public dis- cussion of the science of Masonry will be prohibited. On the other hand, if the aporrheta are restricted to only a few points, much of the beauty, the permanency, and the effica- cy of Freemasonry, which are dependent on its organiza- tion as a secret and mystical association, will be lost. We move between Scylla and Charybdis, and it is difficult for a masonic writer to know how to steer so as, in avoiding too frank an exposition of the principles of the Order, not to fall by too much reticence into obscurity. The European Masons are far more liberal in their views of the obligation of secrecy than the English or the American. There are few things, indeed, which a French or German masonic writer will refuse to discuss with the utmost frankness. It is now beginning to be very generally admitted, and English and American writers are acting on the admission, that the only real aporrheta of Freemasonry are the modes of rec- ognition, and the peculiar and distinctive ceremonies of the
318 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
Order ; and to these last it is claimed that reference may be publicly made for the purposes of scientific investigation, provided that the reference be so made as to be obscure to the profane, and intelligible only to the initiated. . . 148
APRON. The lambskin, or white leather apron, is the peculiar
and distinctive badge of a mason. ..... 131
Its color must be white, and its material a lambskin. . . 132 It is a symbol of purity, and it derives this symbolism from its color, white being symbolic of purity ; from its material, the lamb having the same symbolic character ; and from its use, which is to preserve the garments clean. .... 135
The apron, or abnet, worn by the Egyptian and the Hebrew priests, and which has been considered as the analogue of the masonic apron, is supposed to have been a symbol of authority ; but the use of the apron in Freemasonry origin- ally as an implement of labor, is an evidence of the deriva- tion of the speculative science from an operative art. . .138 APULEIUS. Lucius Apuleius, a Latin writer, born at Medaura, in Africa, flourished in the reigns of the emperors Antoni- nus and Marcus Atirelius. His most celebrated book, en- titled " Metamorphoses, or the Golden Ass," was written, Bishop Warburton thinks, for the express purpose of rec- ommending the ancient Mysteries. He had been initiated into many of them, and his descriptions of them, and espe- cially of his own initiation into those of the Egyptian Isis, are highly interesting and instructive, and should be read by every student of the science of masonic symbolism. . 48 ARCHETYPE. The principal type, figure, pattern, or example, whereby and whereon a thing is formed. In the science of symbolism, the archetype is the thing adopted as a symbol, whence the symbolic idea is derived. Thus w^e say the tem- ple is the archetype of the lodge, because the former is the sj'mbol whence all the temple symbolism of the latter is de- rived 162
ARCHITECTURE. The art which teaches the proper method of constructing public and private edifices. It is to Freema- sonry the " ars artium," the art of arts, because to it the institution is indebted for its origin in its present organiza- tion. The architecture of Freemasonry is altogether relat- ed to the construction of public edifices, and principally sacred or religious ones, — such as temples, cathedrals, churches, — and of these, masonically, the temple of Solo- mon is the archetype. Much of the symbolism of Freema-
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 319
sonry is drawn from the art of architecture. While the improvements of Greek and Roman architecture are recog- nized in Freemasonry, the three ancient orders, the Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian are alone symbolized. No symbolism attaches to the Tuscan and Composite. .... 222
ARK OP THE COVENANT. One of the most sacred objects among the Israelites. It was a chest made of shittim wood, or acacia, richly decorated, forty-five inches long, and eigh- teen inches wide, and contained the two tables of stone on which the ten commandments were engraved, the golden pot that held manna, and Aaron's rod. It was placed in the holy of holies, first of the tabernacle, and then of the tem- ple. Such is its masonic and scriptural history. The idea of this ark was evidently borrowed from the Egyptians, in whose religious rites a similar chest or coffer is to be found. Herodotus mentions several instances. Speaking of the fes- tival of Papremis, he says (ii. 63) that the image of the god was kept in a small wooden shrine covered with plates of gold, which shrine was conveyed in a procession of the priests and people from the temple into a second sacred building. Among the sculptures are to be found bass reliefs of the ark of Isis. The greatest of the religious ceremonies of the Egyptians was the procession of the shrines mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and which is often found depicted on the sculptures. These shrines were of two kinds, one a can- opy, but the other, called the great shrine, was an ark or sacred boat. It was borne on the shoulders of priests by means of staves passing through rings in its sides, and was taken into the temple and deposited on a stand. Some of these arks contained, says Wilkinson (Notes to Herod. II. 58, n. 9), the elements of life and stability, and others the sacred beetle of the sun, overshadowed by the wings of two figures of the goddess Thmei. In all this we see the type of the Jewish ark. The introduction of the ark into the cer- emonies of Freemasonry evidently is in reference to its loss and recovery; and hence its symbolism is to be interpreted as connected with the masonic idea of loss and recovery, which always alludes to a loss of life and a recovery of im- mortality. In the first temple of this life the ark is lost ; in the second temple of the future life it is recovered. And thus the ark of the covenant is one of the many masonic symbols of the resurrection. ...... 81
ARTS AND SCIENCES, LIBERAL. In the seventh century, and
32O SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
for many centuries afterwards, all learning was limited to and comprised in what were called the seven liberal arts and sciences ; namely, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. The epithet " liberal " is a fair translation of the Latin " ingenuus," which means "free-born;" thus Cicero speaks of the "artes ingenuaB," or the arts befitting a free-born man ; and Ovid says in the well-known lines, —
" Ingenuas didicisse fideliter artes Emollit mores nee sinit esse feros," —
To have studied carefully the liberal arts refines the man- ners, and prevents us from being brutish. And Phillips, in his " New World of Words " (1706), defines the liberal arts and sciences to be " such as are fit for gentlemen and schol- ars, as mechanic trades and handicrafts for meaner peo- ple." As Freemasons are required by their landmarks to be free-born, we see the propriety of incorporating the arts of free-born men among their symbols. As the system of Masonry derived its present form and organization from the times when the study of these arts and sciences constituted the labors of the wisest men, they have very appropriately been adopted as the symbol of the completion of human learning. .......... 223
ASHLAR. In builders' language, a stone taken from the quar- ries. ........... 90
ASHLAR, PERFECT. A stone that has been hewed, squared, and polished, so as to be fit for use in the building. Masonical- ly, it is a symbol of the state of perfection attained by means of education. And as it is the object of Speculative Ma- sonry to produce this state of perfection, it may in that point of view be also considered as a symbol of the social character of the institution of Freemasonry. . . .90
ASHLAR, ROUGH. A stone in its rude and natural state. Ma- sonically, it is a symbol of men's natural state of ignorance. But if the perfect ashlar be, in reference to its mode of prep- aration, considered as a symbol of the social character of Freemasonry, then the rough ashlar must be considered as a symbol of the profane world. In this species of symbol- ism, the rough and perfect ashlars bear the same relation to each other as ignorance does to knowledge, death to life, and light to darkness. The rough ashlar is the profane, the perfect ashlar is the initiate. »y
SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
32I
ASHMOLE, ELIAS. A celebrated antiquary of England, who was born in 1617. He has written an autobiography, or rather diary of his life, which extends to within eight years of his death. Under the date of October 16, 1640, he has made the following entry : " I was made a Free-Mason at War- rington, in Lancashire, with Col. Henry Mainwaring, of Car- ticham, in Cheshire ; the names of those that were then at the lodge : Mr. Richard Penket, warden ; Mr. James Col- lier, Mr. Richard Sankey, Henry Littler, John Ellam and Hugh Brewer." Thirty-six years afterwards, under date of March 10, 1682, he makes the following entry : "I received a summons to appear at a lodge to be held the next day at Masons' Hall, in London. 11. Accordingly I went, and about noon was admitted into the fellowship of Freemasons by Sir William Wilson, Knight, Captain Richard Borthwick, Mr William Woodman, Mr. William Grey, Mr. Samuel Taylour, and Mr. William Wise. I was the senior fellow among them (it being thirty-five years since I was admit- ted) ; there was present beside myself the fellows after named : Mr. Thomas Wise, master of the Masons' Compa- ny this year ; Mr. Thomas Shorthose, Mr. Thomas Shad- bolt, Waidsffbrd, Esq., Mr. Nicholas Young, Mr. John
Shorthose, Mr. William Hamon, Mr. John Thompson, and Mr. William Stanton. We all dined at the Half-Moon Tav- ern, in Cheapside, at a noble dinner prepared at the charge of the new-accepted Masons." The titles of some of the persons named in these two receptions confirm what is said in the text, that the operative was at that time being superseded by the speculative element. It is deeply to be regretted that Ashmole did not carry out his projected de- sign of writing a history of Freemasonry, for which it is said that he had collected abundant materials. His History of the Order of the Garter shows what we might have ex- pected from his treatment of the masonic institution. . . 66
ASPIRANT. One who aspires to or seeks after the truth. The
title given to the candidate in the ancient Mysteries. . . 43
ATHELSTAN. King of England, who ascended the throne in 924. Anderson cites the old constitutions as saying that he en- couraged the Masons, and brought many over from France and elsewhere. In his reign, and in the year 926} the cele- brated General Assembly of the Craft was held in the city of York, with Prince Edward, the king's brother, for Grand 21
322 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
Master, when new constitutions were framed. From this assembly the York Rite dates its origin 64
AUTOPSY (Greek aviowiu, a seeing with one's own eyes}. The complete communication of the secrets in the ancient Mys- teries, when the aspirant was admitted into the sacellum, or most sacred place, and was invested by the Hierophant with all the aporrheta, or sacred things, which constituted the perfect knowledge of the initiate. A similar ceremony in Freemasonry is called the Rite of Intrusting. . . .44
AUM. The triliteral name of God in the Brahminical mysteries, and equivalent among the Hindoos to the tetragrammaton of the Jews. In one of the Puranas, or sacred books oi the Hindoos, it is said, " All the rites ordained in the Vedas, the sacrifices to fire, and all other solemn purifications, shall pass away ; but that which shall never pass away is the word AUM, for it is the symbol of the Lord of all things." . . 183
B
BABEL. The biblical account of the dispersion of mankind in consequence of the confusion of tongues at Babel, has been incorporated into the history of Masonry, The text has shown the probability that the pure and abstract principles of the Primitive Freemasonry had been preserved by Noah and his immediate descendants ; and also that, as a conse- quence of the dispersion, these principles had been lost or greatly corrupted by the Gentiles, who were removed from the influence and teachings of the great patriarch. . . 13 Now there was in the old rituals a formula in the third de- gree, preserved in some places to the present day, which teaches that the candidate has come from, the tower of Babel, where language was confounded and Masonry lost, and that he is travelling to the threshing-floor of Oman the Jebusite, . where language was restored and Masonry found. An at- tentive perusal of the nineteen propositions set forth in the preliminary chapter of this work will furnish the reader with a key for the interpretation of this formula. The prin- ciples of the Primitive Freemasonry of the early priesthood were corrupted or lost at Babel by the defection of a portion of mankind from Noah, the conservator of those principles. Long after, the descendants of this people united with those of Noah at the temple of Solomon, whose site was the thresh- ing-floor of Oman the Jebusite, from whom it had been
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 323
bought by David ; .and here the lost principles were restored by this union of the Spurious Freemasons of Tyre with the Primitive Freemasons of Jerusalem. And this explains the latter clause of the formula. . . . . . .28
BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY. When the city and temple of Jerusa- lem were destroyed by the army of Nebuchadnezzar, and the inhabitants conveyed as captives to Babylon, we have a right to suppose, — that is to say, if there be any truth in ma- sonic history, the deduction is legitimate, — that among these captives were many of the descendants of the workmen at the temple. If so, then they carried with them into captiv- ity the principles of Masonry which they had acquired at home, and the city of Babylon became the great seat of Spec- ulative Masonry for many years. It was during the captivity that the philosopher Pythagoras, who was travelling as a seeker after knowledge, visited Babylon. With his ardent thirst for wisdom, he would naturally hold frequent inter- views with the leading Masons among the Jewish captives. As he suifered himself to be initiated into the Mysteries of Egypt during his v;sit to that country, it is not unlikely that he may have sought a similar initiation into the masonic Mysteries. This would account for the many analogies and resemblances to Masonry that we find in the moral teach- ings, the symbols, and the peculiar organization of the school of Pythagoras — resemblances so extraordinary as to have justified, or at least excused, the rituals for calling the sage of Samos " our ancient brother.'* . . . .54
BACCHUS. One of the appellations of the " many-named" god Dionysus. The son of Jupiter and Semele was to the Greeks Dionysus, to the Romans Bacchus. . . .46
BARE FEET. A symbol of reverence when both feet are uncov- ered. Otherwise the symbolism is modern ; and from the ritualistic explanation which is given in the first degree, it would seem to require that the single bare foot should be interpreted as the symbol of a covenant. . . . 125
BLACK. Pythagoras called this color the symbol of the evil principle in nature. It was equivalent to darkness, which is the antagonist of light. But in masonic symbolism the interpretation is different. There, black is a symbol of grief, and always refers to the fate of the temple-builder. . 154
BRAHMA. In the mythology of the Hindoos there is a trimurti, or trinity, the Supreme Being exhibiting himself in three manifestations ; as, Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Pre-
324 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
server, and Siva the Destroyer, — the united godhead being
a symbol of the sun 28
Brahma was a symbol of the rising sun, Siva of the sun at meridian, and Vishnu of the setting sun. .... 108
BRUCE. The introduction of Freemasonry into Scotland has been attributed by some writers to King Robert Bruce, who is said to have established in 1314 the Order of Herodom, for the reception of those Knights Templars who had taken refuge in his dominions from the persecutions of the Pope and the King of France. Lawrie, who is excellent author- ity for Scottish Masonry, does not appear, however, to give any credit to the narrative. Whatever Bruce may have done for the higher degrees, there is no doubt that Ancient Craft Masonry was introduced into Scotland at an earlier period. See Kil winning. Yet the text is right in making Bruce one of the patrons and encouragers of Scottish Freemasonry. . 64
BRYANT. Jacob Bryant, frequently quoted in this work, was a distinguished English antiquary, born in the year 1715, and deceased in 1804. His most celebrated work is " A New System of Ancient Mythology," which appeared in 1773-76. Although objectionable on account of its too conjectural character, it contains a fund of details on the subject of sym- bolism, and may be consulted with advantage by the ma- sonic student 41
BUILDER. The chief architect of the temple of Solomon is often called "the Builder." But the word is also applied generally to the craft; for every Speculative Mason is as much a builder as was his operative predecessor. An Amer- ican writer (F. S. Wood, of Arkansas) thus alludes to this symbolic idea. " Masons are called moral builders. In their rituals, they declare that a more noble and glorious purpose than squaring stones and hewing timbers is theirs, fitting immortal nature for that spiritual building not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." And he adds, "The builder builds for a century ; masons for eternity." In this sense, " the builder" is the noblest title that can be bestowed upon a mason . .52
BUNYAN, JOHN. Familiar to every one as the author of the "Pilgrim's Progress." He lived in the seventeenth centu- ry, and was the most celebrated allegorical writer of Eng- land. His work entitled "Solomon's Temple Spiritual- ized" will supply the student of masonic symbolism with many valuable suggestions. ....... 87
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 325
c
CABALA. The mystical philosophy of the Jews. The word which is derived from a Hebrew root, signifying to receive^ has sometimes been used in an enlarged sense, as compre- hending all the explanations, maxims, and ceremonies which have been traditionally handed down to the Jews ; but in that more limited acceptation, in which it is intimately con- nected with the symbolic science of Freemasonry, the cab- ala may be denned to be a system of philosophy which em- braces certain mystical interpretations of Scripture, and metaphysical speculations concerning the Deity, man, and spiritual beings. In these interpretations and speculations, according to the Jewish doctors, were enveloped the most profound truths of religion, which, to be comprehended by finite beings, arc obliged to be revealed through the medi- um of symbols and allegories. Buxtorf (Lex. Talm.) de- fines the Cabala to be a secret science, which treats in a mystical and enigmatical manner of things divine, angelical, theological, celestial, and metaphysical, the subjects being enveloped in striking symbols and secret modes of teaching. 154
CABALIST. A Jewish philosopher. One who understands and teaches the doctrines of the Cabala, or the Jewish philoso- • phy 154
CABIRI. Certain gods, whose worship was first established in the Island of Samothrace, where the Cabiric Mysteries were practised until the beginning of the Christian era. They were four in number, and by some are supposed to have referred to Noah and his three sons. In the Mysteries there was a legend of the death and restoration to life of Atys, the son of Cybele. The candidate represented Cadmillus, the youngest of the Cabiri, who was slain by his three breth- ren. The legend of the Cabiric Mysteries, as far as it can be understood from the faint allusions of ancient authors, was in spirit and design very analogous to that of the third degree of Masonry 256
CADMILLUS. One of the gods of the Cabiri, who was slain by his brothers, on which circumstance the legend of the Ca- biric or Samothracian Mysteries is founded. He is the ana- logue of the Builder in the Hiramic legend of Freemasonry. 256
CAIRNS. Heaps of stones of a conical form, erected by the Dru- ids. Some suppose them to have been sepulchral monu- ments, others altars. They were undoubtedly of a religious
336 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
character, since sacrificial fires were lighted upon them, and processions were made around them. These processions were analogous to the circumambulations in Masonry, and were conducted like them with reference to the apparent course of the sun 145
CASSIA. A gross corruption of Acacia. The cassia is an aro- matic plant, but it has no mystical or symbolic character. . 248
CELTIC MYSTERIES. The religious rites of ancient Gaul and
Britain, more familiarly known as Druidism, which see. . 109
CEREMONIES. The outer garments which cover and adorn Free- masonry as clothing does the human body 10
Although ceremonies give neither life nor truth to doctrines or principles, yet they have an admirable influence, since by their use certain things are made to acquire a sacred char- acter which they would not otherwise have had ; and hence Lord Coke has most wisely said that " prudent antiquity did, for more solemnity and better memory and observation of that which is to be done, express substances under ceremo- nies." 171
CERES. Among the Romans the goddess of agriculture; but among the more poetic Greeks she became, as Demeter, the symbol of the prolific earth. See Demeter. . . .36
CHARTER OF COLOGNE. A masonic document of great celebri- ty, but not of unquestioned authenticity. It is a declara- tion or affirmation of the design and principles of Freema- sonry, issued in the year 1535, by a convention of masons who had assembled in the city of Cologne. The original is in the Latin language. The assertors of the authenticity of the document claim that it was found in the chest of a lodge at Amsterdam in 1637, and afterwards regularly transmit- ted from hand to hand until the year 1816, when it was pre- sented to Prince Frederick of Nassau, through whom it was at that time made known to the masonic world. Others as- sert that it is a forgery, which was perpetrated about the year 1816. Like the Leland manuscript, it is one of those vexed questions of masonic literary history over which so much doubt has been thrown, that it will probably never be sat- isfactorily solved. For a translation of the charter, and copious explanatory notes, by the author of this work, the reader is referred to the "American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry," vol. ii. p. 52. ...... 64
CHRISTIANIZATION OF FREEMASONRY. The interpretation of its symbols from a Christian point of view. This is an error
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 327
4»
into which Hutchinson and Oliver in England, and Scott and one or two others of less celebrity in this country, have fallen. It is impossible to derive Freemasonry from Chris- tianity, because the former, in point of time, preceded the latter. In fact, the symbols of Freemasonry are Solomonic, and its religion was derived from the ancient priesthood. . 237 The infusion of the Christian element was, however, a natural result of surrounding circumstances ; yet to sustain it would be fatal to the cosmopolitan character of the institution. . 238 Such interpretation is therefore modern, and does not belong to the ancient system. ........ 246
CIRCULAR TEMPLES. These were used in the initiations of the religion of Zoroaster. Like the square temples of Masonry, and the other Mysteries, they were symbolic of the world, and the symbol was completed by making the circumference of the circle a representation of the zodiac. . . . 108
CIRCUMAMBULATION. The ceremony of perambulating the lodge, or going in procession around the altar, which was univer- sally practised in the ancient initiations and other religious ceremonies, and was always performed so that the persons moving should have the altar on their right hand. The rite was symbolic of the apparent daily course of the sun from the east to the west by the way of the south, and was un- doubtedly derived from the ancient sun-worship. . . 139
CIVILIZATION. Freemasonry is a result of civilization, for it exists in no savage or barbarous state of society ; and in re- turn it has proved, by its social and moral principles, a means of extending and elevating the civilization which gave it
birth 221
Freemasonry is therefore a type of civilization, bearing the same relation to the profane world that civilization does to the savage state. . . . • 222
COLLEGES OF ARTIFICERS. The Collegia Fabrorum, or Work- men's Colleges, were established in Rome by Numa, who for this purpose distributed all the artisans of the city into companies, or colleges, according to their arts and trades. They resembled the modern corporations, or guilds, which sprang up in the middle ages. The rule established by their founder, that not less than three could constitute a college, — "ires faciunt collegium" — has been retained in the regu- lations of the third degree of masonry, to a lodge of which these colleges bore other analogies. . . . . .18
COLOGNE, CHARTER OF. See Charter of Cologne.
328 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
COMMON GAVEL. See Gavel.
CONSECRATION. The appropriating or dedicating, with certain ceremonies, anything to sacred purposes or offices, by sepa- rating it from common use. Masonic lodges, like ancient temples and modern churches, have always been consecrated. Hobbes, in his Leviathan (p. iv. c. 44), gives the best defi- nition of this ceremony. " To consecrate is in Scripture to offer, give, or dedicate, in pious and decent language and gesture, a man, or any other thing, to God, by separating it from common use." ........ 172
CONSECRATION, ELEMENTS OF. Those things, the use of which in the ceremony as constituent and elementary parts of it, are necessary to the perfecting and legalizing of the act of consecration. In Freemasonry, these elements of conse- cration are corn, wine, and oil, — which see. . . . 172
CORN. One of the three elements of masonic consecration, and as a symbol of plenty it is intended, under the name of the " corn of nourishment," to remind us of those temporal blessings of life, support, and nourishment which we receive from the Giver of all good. ....... 173
CORNER STONE. The most important stone in the edifice, and in its symbolism referring to an impressive ceremony in the first degree of Masonry. ....... 159
The ancients laid it with peculiar ceremonies, and among the
Oriental nations it was the symbol of a prince, or chief. . 160 It is one of the most impressive symbols of Masonry. . .161 It is a symbol of the candidate on his initiation. . . . 162
As a symbol it is exclusively masonic, and confined to a tem- ple origin. . 175
COVERING OF THE LODGE. Under the technical name of the "clouded canopy or starry-decked heavens," it is a symbol of the future world, — of the celestial lodge above, where the G. A. O. T. U. forever presides, and which constitutes the "foreign country" which every mason hopes to reach. . 117
CREUZER. George Frederick Creuzer, who was born in Ger- many in 1771, and was a professor at the University of Hei- delberg, devoted himself to the study of the ancient reli- gions, and with profound learning, established a peculiar system on the subject. Many of his views have been adopt- ed in the text of the present work. His theory was, that the religion and mythology of the ancient Greeks were bor- rowed from a far more ancient people, — a body of priests coming from the East, — who received them as a revelation.
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 329
The myths and traditions of this ancient people were adopted by Hesiod, Homer, and the later poets, although not with- out some misunderstanding of them, and they were final- ly preserved in the Mysteries, and became subjects of investigation for the philosophers. This theory Creuzer has developed in his most important work, entitled " Sym- bolik und Mythologie der alten V olker, besonders der Greich- en," which was published at Leipsic in 1819. There is no translation of this work into English, but Guigniaut pub- lished at Paris, in 1824, a paraphrastic translation of it, under the title of " Religions de PAntiquite considtrees principale- ment dans leur Formes Symboliques et Mythologiques." Creuzer's views throw much light on the symbolic history
of Freemasonry 37
CROSS. No symbol was so universally diffused at an early pe- riod as the cross. It was, says Faber (Cabir. ii. 390), a symbol throughout the pagan world long previous to its be- coming an object of veneration to Christians. In ancient symbology it was a symbol of eternal life. M. de Mortillet, who in 1866 published a work entitled " Le Signe de la Croix avant le Christianisrne," found in the very earliest epochs three principal symbols of universal occurrences; viz., the circle, the pyramid, and the cross. Leslie (Man's Origin and Destiny, p. 312), quoting from him in reference to the ancient worship of the cross, says " It seems to have been a worship of such a peculiar nature as to exclude the worship of idols." This sacredness of the crucial symbol may be one reason why its form was often adopted, especially by the Celts in the construction of their temples, though I have admitted in the text the commonly received opinion that in cross-shaped temples the four limbs of the cross referred to the four elements. But in a very interesting work lately published — "The Myths of the New World" (N. Y., 1803) — Mr. Brinton assigns another symbolism. " The symbol," says this writer, 4i that beyond all others has fascinated the human mind, THE CROSS, finds here its source and mean- ing. Scholars have pointed out its 'sacredness in many nat- ural religions, and have reverently accepted it as a mystery, or offered scores of conflicting, and often debasing, inter- pretations. It is but another symbol of the four cardinal points, the four winds of heaven. This will luminously ap- pear by a study of its use and meaning in America." (p. 95.) And Mr. Brinton gives manv instances of the religious use
33° SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
of the cross by several of the aboriginal tribes of this con- tinent, where the allusion, it must be confessed, seems evi- dently to be to the four cardinal points, or the four winds, or four spirits, of the earth. If this be so, and if it is prob- able that a similar reference was adopted by the Celtic and other ancient peoples, then we would have in the cruciform temple as much a symbolism of the world, of which the four cardinal points constitute the boundaries, as we have in the square, the cubical, and the circular. . . . 107
CTEIS. A representation of the female generative organ. It was, as a symbol, always accompanied by the phallus, and, like that symbol, was extensively venerated by the nations of antiquity. It was a symbol of the prolific powers of na- ture. See Phallus 113
CUBE. A geometrical figure, consisting of six equal sides and six equal angles. It is the square solidified, and was among the ancients a symbol of truth. The same symbolism is recognized in Freemasonry. 163
D
DARKNESS. It denotes falsehood and ignorance, and was a very
universal symbol among the nations of antiquity. . . 149 In all the ancient initiations, the aspirant was placed in dark- ness for a period differing in each, — among the Druids for three days, among the Greeks for twenty-seven, and in the
Mysteries of Mithras for fifty 155
In all of these, as well as in Freemasonry, darkness is the symbol of initiation not complete 156
DEATH. Because it was believed to be the entrance to a better and eternal life, which was the dogma of the Mysteries, death became the symbol of initiation ; and hence among the Greeks the same word signified to die, and to be initiat- ed. In the British Mysteries, says Davies (Mythol. of the British Druids), the novitiate passed the river of death in the boat of Garanhir, the Charon of the Greeks ; and before he could be admitted to this privilege, it was requisite that he should have been mystically buried, as well as mystically dead 157
DEFINITION OF FREEMASONRY. The definition quoted in the textT that it is a science of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols, is the one which is given in the Eng- lish lectures. 10
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 33!
But a more comprehensive and exact definition is, that it is a science which is engaged in the search after divine truth. . 303
DELTA. In the higher degrees of Masonry, the triangle is so called because the Greek letter of that name is of a triangu- lar form. .......... 195
It is a symbol of Deity, because it is the first perfect figure in geometry ; it is the first figure in which space is enclosed by lines 196
DEMETER. Worshipped by the Greeks as the symbol of the pro- lific earth. She was the Ceres of the Romans. To her is attributed the institution of the Eleusinian Mysteries in Greece, the most popular of all the ancient initiations. . 36
DESIGN OF FREEMASONRY. It is not charity or almsgiving. . 264 Nor the cultivation of the social sentiment ; for both of these
are merely incidental to its organization. .... 265 But it is the search after truth, and that truth is the unity of God, and the immortality of the soul. ..... 303
DIESEAL. A term used by the Druids to designate the circum- ambulation around the sacred cairns, and is derived from two words signifying " on the right of the sun," because the circumambulation was always in imitation of the course of the sun, with the right hand next to the cairn or altar. . 145
DIONYSIAC ARTIFICERS. An association of architects who pos- sessed the exclusive privilege of erecting temples and other public buildings in Asia Minor. The members were distin- guished from the uninitiated inhabitants by the possession of peculiar marks of recognition, and by the secret charac- ter of their association. They were intimately connected with the Dionysiac Mysteries, and are supposed to have fur- nished the builders for the construction of the temple of Solomon. .......... 45
DIONYSIAC MYSTERIES. In addition to what is said in the text, I add the following, slightly condensed, from the pen of that accomplished writer, Albert Pike: "The initiates in these Mysteries had preserved the ritual and ceremonies that ac- corded with the simplicity of the earliest ages, and the man- ners of the first men. The rules of Pythagoras were fol- lowed there. Like the Egyptians, who held wool unclean, they buried no initiate in woollen garments. They abstained from bloody sacrifices, and lived on fruits or vegetables. They imitated the life of the contemplative sects of the Ori- ent. One of the most precious advantages promised by their initiation was to put man in communion with the gods
332 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
by purifying his soul of all the passions that interfere with that enjoyment, and dim the rays of divine light that are com- municated to every soul capable of receiving them. The sacred gates of the temple, where the ceremonies of initia- tion were performed, were opened but once in each year, and no stranger was allowed to enter. Night threw her veil over these august Mysteries. There the sufferings of Dio- nysus were represented, who, like Osiris, died, descended to hell, and rose to life again ; and raw flesh was distributed to the initiates, which each ate in memory of the death of the deity torn in pieces by the Titans." . . . .45
DIONYSUS. Or Bacchus ; mythologically said to be the son of Zeus and Semele. In his Mysteries he was identified with Osiris, and regarded as the sun. His Mysteries prevailed in Greece, Rome, and Asia, and were celebrated by the Di- onysiae artificers — those builders who united with the Jews in the construction of King Solomon's temple. Hence, of all the ancient Mysteries, they are the most interesting to the masonic student. ........ 45
DISSEVERANCE. The disseverance of the operative from the speculative element of Freemasonry occurred at the begin- ning of the eighteenth century 66
DISCALCEATION, RITE OF. The ceremony of uncovering the feet, or taking off the shoes ; from the Latin discalceare. It is a symbol of reverence. See Bare Feet. .... 125
DRUIDICAL MYSTERIES. The Celtic Mysteries celebrated in Britain and Gaul. They resembled, in all material points, the other mysteries of antiquity, and had the same design. The aspirant was subjected to severe trials, underwent a mystical death and burial in imitation of the death of the god Hu, and was eventually enlightened by the communi- cation to him of the great truths of God and immortality, which it was the object of all the Mysteries to teach. . . 155
DUALISM. A mythological and philosophical doctrine, which supposes the world to have been always governed by two antagonistic principles, distinguished as the good and the evil principle. This doctrine pervaded all the Oriental re- ligions, and its influences are to be seen in the system of Speculative Masonry, where it is developed in the symbol- ism of Light and Darkness. ...... 153
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 333
E
EAST. That part of the heavens where the sun rises ; and as the source of material light to which we figuratively apply the idea of intellectual light, it has been adopted as a sym- bol of the Order of Freemasonry. And this symbolism is strengthened by the fact that the earliest learning and the earliest religion came from the east, and have ever been
travelling to the west 1C6
In Freemasonry, the east has always been considered the most sacred of the cardinal points, because it is the place where light issues ; and it was originally referred to the primitive religion, or sun-worship. But in Freemasonry it refers especially to that east whence an ancient priesthood first disseminated truth to enlighten the world; wherefore the east is masonically called "the place of light." . . . 203
EGG. The mundane egg is a well-recognized symbol of the world. "The ancient pagans," says Faber, "in almost every part of the globe, were wont to symbolize the world by an egg. Hence this symbol is introduced into the cos- mogony of nearly all nations ; and there are few persons, even among those who have not made mythology their study, to whom the Mundane Egg is not perfectly familiar. It was employed not only to represent the earth, but also the uni- verse in its largest extent." Origin of Pag. Idolatry, i. 175 107
EGG AND LUNETTE. The egg, being a symbol not only of the resurrection, but also of the world rescued from destruc- tion by the Noachic ark, and the lunette, or horizontal cres- cent, being a symbol of the Great Father, represented by Noah, the egg and lunette combined, which was the hiero- glyphic of the god Lunus, at Heliopolis. was a symbol of the world proceeding from the Great Father. . . . 107
EGYPT. Egypt has been considered as the cradle not only of the sciences, but of the religions of the ancient world. Al- though a monarchy, widi a king nominally at the head of the state, the government really was in the hands of the priests, who were the sole depositaries of learning, and were alone acquainted with the religious formularies that in Egypt controlled all the public and private actions of the life of every inhabitant. ......... 78
ELEPHANTA. An island in the Bay of Bombay, celebrated for the stupendous caverns artificially excavated out of the solid
334 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
rock, which were appropriated to the initiations in the an- cient Indian Mysteries. 108
ELEUSINIAN MYSTERIES. Of all the Mysteries of the ancients these were the most popular. They were celebrated at the village of Eleusis, near Athens, and were dedicated to De- meter. In them the loss and the restoration of Persephone were scenically represented, and the doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul were taught. See Demeter 36
ENTERED APPRENTICE. The first degree of Ancient Craft Ma- sonry, analogous to the aspirant in the Lesser Mysteries. . 93 It is viewed as a symbol of childhood, and is considered as a preparation and purification for something higher. . .218
EPOPT. (From the Greek f TTOTITJ/C, an eye witness.) One who, having been initiated in the Greater Mysteries of paganism, has seen the aporrheta. 44
ERA OF MASONRY. The legendary statement that the origin of Masonry is coeval with the beginning of the world, is only a philosophical myth to indicate the eternal nature of its principles. .......... 211
ERICA. The tree heath ; a sacred plant among the Egyptians, and used in the Osirian Mysteries as the symbol of immor- tality, and the analogue of the masonic acacia. . . . 258
ESSENES. A society or sect of the Jews, who combined labor with religious exercises, whose organization partook of a secret character, and who have been claimed to be the de- scendants of the builders of the temple of Solomon. . . 18
EUCLID. The masonic legend which refers to Euclid is alto- gether historically untrue. It is really a philosophical myth intended to convey a masonic truth. ..... 208
EURESIS. (From the Greek cifgetr/g, a discovery.) That part of the initiation in the ancient Mysteries which represented the finding of the body of the god or hero whose death was the subject of the initiation. ...... 44
The euresis has been adopted in Freemasonry, and forms an essential part of the ritual of the third degree. . . . 234
EVERGREEN. A symbol of the immortality of the soul. . .251 Planted by the Hebrews and. other ancient peoples at the heads of graves. .......... 252
For this purpose the Hebrews preferred the acacia, because its wood was incorruptible, and because, as the material of the ark, it was already considered as a sacred plant. . . 252
EYE, ALL-SEEING. A symbol of the omniscient and watchful
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 335
providence of God. It is a very ancient symbol, and is sup- posed by some to be a relic of the primitive sun-worship. Volney says (Les Ruines, p. 186) that in most of the an- cient languages of Asia, the eye and the sun are expressed by the same word. Among the Egyptians the eye was the symbol of their supreme god, Osiris, or the sun. . . 192
FABER. The works of the Rev. G. S. Faber, on the Origin of Pagan Idolatry, and on the Cabiri, are valuable contributions to the science of mythology. They abound in matters of interest to the investigator of masonic symbolism and phi- losophy, but should be read with a careful view of the pre- conceived theory of the learned author, who refers every- thing in the ancient religions to the influences of the Noachic cataclysm, and the arkite worship which he sup- poses to have resulted from it. . . . . . . 256
FELLOW CRAFT. The second degree of Ancient Craft Masonry,
analogous to the mystes in the ancient Mysteries. . . 94 The symbol of a youth setting fortli on the journey of life. . 218
FETICHISM. The worship of uncouth and misshapen idols, practised only by the most ignorant and debased peoples, and to be found at this day among some of the least civil- ized of the negro tribes of Africa. "Their fetiches," says Du Chaillu, speaking of some of the African races, " con- sisted of fingers and tails of monkeys ; of human hair, skin, teeth, bones ; of clay, old nails, copper chains ; shells, feath- ers, claws, and skulls of birds ; pieces of iron, copper, or wood; seeds of plants, ashes of various substances, and I cannot tell what more." Equatorial Africa., p. 93. . . 24
FIFTEEN. A sacred number, symbolic of the name of God, be- cause the letters of the holy name j-p, JAH, are equal, in the Hebrew mode of numeration by the letters of the alphabet, to fifteen; for h is equal to ten, and j-j is equal to five. Hence, from veneration for this sacred name, the Hebrews do not, in ordinary computations, when they wish to express the number 15, make use of these two letters, but of two others, which are equivalent to 9 and 6. .... 225
FORTY-SEVENTH PROBLEM. The forty-seventh problem of the first book of Euclid is, that in any right-angled triangle the square which is described upon the side subtending the right angle is equal to the squares described upon the sides which
SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
contain the right angle. It is said to have been discovered by Pythagoras while in Egypt, but was most probably taught to him by the priests of that country, in whose rites he had been initiated ; it is a symbol of the production of the world " by the generative and prolific powers of the Creator; hence the Egyptians made the perpendicular and base the repre- sentatives of Osiris and Isis, while the hypothenuse repre- sented their child Horus. Dr. Lardner says (Com. on Eu- clid, p. 60) of this problem, "Whether we consider the forty- seventh proposition with reference to the peculiar and beautiful relation established by it, or to its innumerable uses in every department of mathematical science, or to its fertility in the consequences derivable from it, it must cer- tainly be esteemed the most celebrated and important in the whole of the elements, if not in the whole range of mathe- matical science." ......... 193
FOURTEEN. Some symbologists have referred the fourteen pieces into which the mutilated body of Osiris was divided, tind the fourteen days during which the body of the builder was buried, to the fourteen days of the disappearance of the moon. The Sabian worshippers of " the hosts of heaven" were impressed with the alternate appearance and disappear- ance of the moon, which at length became a symbol of death and resurrection. Hence fourteen was a sacred number. As such it was viewed in the Osirian Mysteries, and may have been introduced into Freemasonry with other relics of the old worship of the sun and planets 40
FREEMASONRY, DEFINITION OF. See Definition.
FREEMASONS, TRAVELLING. The travelling Freemasons were a society existing in the middle ages, and consisting of learned men and prelates, under whom were operative masons. The operative masons performed the labors of the craft, and travelling from country to country, were engaged in the con- struction of cathedrals, monasteries, and castles. "There are few points in the history of the middle ages," says God- win, "more pleasing to look back upon than the existence of the associated masons ; they are the bright spot in the general darkness of that period ; the patch of verdure when all around is barren." The Builder, ix. 463. . . .62
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 337
G
G. The use of the letter G in the Fellow Craft's degree is an anachronism. It is really a corruption of, or perhaps rather a substitution for, the Hebrew letter h (yod), which is the initial of the ineffable name. As such, it is a symbol of the life-giving and life-sustaining power of God. . . 190
G. A. O. T. U. A masonic abbreviation used as a symbol of the name of God, and signifying the Grand Architect of the Universe. It was adopted by the Freemasons in accordance with a similar practice among all the nations of antiquity of noting the Divine Name by a symbol. ..... 189
GAVEL. What is called in Masonry a common gavel is a stone- cutter's hammer ; it is one of the working tools of an En- tered Apprentice, and is a symbol of the purification of the heart 92
GLOVES. On the continent of Europe they are given to candi- dates at the same time that they are invested with the apron ; the same custom formerly prevailed in England ; but al- tt ough the investiture of the gloves is abandoned as a cere- mony both there and in America, they are worn as a part of masonic clothing. ........ 137
They are a symbol of purification of life. .... 138
In the middle ages gloves were worn by operative masons. . 139
GOD, UNITY or. See Unity of God.
GOD, NAME OF. See Name.
GOLGOTHA. In Hebrew and Syriac it means a skull ; a name of Mount Calvary, and so called, probably, because it was the place of public execution. The Latin Calvaria, whence Mount Calvary, means also a skull. ..... 242
GRAVE. In the Master's degree, a symbol which is the analogue
of the pastes, or couch, in the ancient Mysteries. . . 239 The symbolism has been Christianized by some masonic wri- ters, and the grave has thus been referred to the sepulchre of Christ 240
GRIPS AND SIGNS. They are valuable only for social purposes
as modes of recognition. ....... 213
H
HAND. The hand is a symbol of human actions ; pure hands symbolize pure actions, and impure or unclean hands sym- bolize impure actions. ........ 139
22
338 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
HARE. Among the Egyptians the hare was a hieroglyphic of eyes that are open, and was the symbol of initiation into the Mysteries of Osiris. The Hebrew word for hare is arnabet, and this is compounded of two words that signify to behold the light. The connection of ideas is apparent. . . . 150
HELLENISM. The religion of the Helles, or ancient Greeks who immediately succeeded the Pelasgians in the settlement of that country. It was, in consequence of the introduction of the poetic element, more refined than the old Pelasgic wor- ship for which it was substituted. Its myths were more phil- osophical and less gross than those of the religion to which it succeeded. 47
HERMJE. Stones of a cubical form, which were originally un- hewn, by which the Greeks at first represented all their dei- ties. They came in the progress of time to be especially dedicated by the Greeks to the god Hermes, whence the name, and by the Romans to the god Terminus, who pre- sided over landmarks. ........ 164
HERO WORSHIP. The worship of men deified after death. It is a theory of some, both ancient and modern writers, that all the pagan gods were once human beings, and that the legends and traditions of mythology are mere embellish- ments of the acts of these personages when alive. It was the doctrine taught by Euhemerus among the ancients, and has been maintained among the moderns by such distin- guished authorities as Bochart, Bryant, Voss, and Banier.
HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY. The system of the Alchemists, the Adepts, or seekers of the philosopher's stone. No system has been more misunderstood than this. It was secret, eso- teric, and highly symbolical. No one has so well revealed its true design as E. A. Hitchcock, who, in his delightful work entitled "Remarks upon Alchemy and the Alche- mists," says, " The genuine Alchemists were religious men, who passed their time in legitimate pursuits, earning an honest subsistence, and in religious contemplation, study- ing how to realize in themselves the union of the divine and human nature, expressed in man by an enlightened submis- sion to God's will ; and they thought out and published, after a manner of their own, a method of attaining or entering upon this state, as the only rest of the soul." There is a very great similarity between their doctrines and those of the Freemasons ; so much so that the two associations have sometimes been confounded 273
SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
339
HIEROPHANT. (From the Greek fpnoc, holy, sacred, and , to show.) One who instructs in sacred things ; the explain- er of the aporrlieta, or secret doctrines, to the initiates in the ancient Mysteries. He was the presiding officer, and his rank and duties were analogous to those of the master of a masonic lodge.
HIRAM ABIF. The architect of Solomon's temple. The word " Abif" signifies in Hebrew "his father," and is used by the writer of Second Chronicles (iv. 16) when he says, "These things did Hiram his father [in the original Hiram Abif~\ do for King Solomon." . . . . . . .56
The legend relating to him is of no value as a mere narrative, but of vast importance in a symbolical point of view, as illustrating a great philosophical and religious truth; name- ly, the dogma of the immortality of the soul. . . . 207
Hence, Hiram Abif is the symbol of man in the abstract sense, or human nature, as developed in the life here and in the life to come 231
HIRAM OF TYRE. The king of Tyre, the friend and ally of King Solomon, whom he supplied with men and materials for building the temple. In the recent, or what I am in- clined to call the grand lecturer's symbolism of Masonry (a sort of symbolism for which I have very little veneration), Hiram of Tyre is styled the symbol of strength, as Hiram Abif is of beauty. But J doubt the antiquity or authentici- ty of any such symbolism. Hiram of Tyre can only be considered, historically, as being necessary to complete the myth and symbolism of Hiram Abif. The king of Tyre is an historical personage, and there is no necessity for trans- forming him into a symbol, while his historical character lends credit and validity to the philosophical myth of the third degree of Masonry 51
HIRAM THE BUILDER. An epithet of Hiram Abif. For the full
significance of the term, see the word Builder, . . .55
HO-HI. A cabalistic pronunciation of the tetragrammaton. or ineffable name of God ; it is most probably the true one ; and as it literally means HE-SHE, it is supposed to denote the hermaphroditic essence of Jehovah, as containing within himself the male and the female principle, — the generative and the prolific energy of creation. ..... 187
He. The sacred name of God among the Druids. Bryant sup- poses that by it they intended the Great Father Noah; but it is very possible that it was a modification of the Hebrew
34-O SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
tetragrammaton, being the last syllable read cabalistic ally (see ho-hi} ; if so, it signified the great male principle of nature. But Hu, in Hebrew ain» i§ claimed by Talmudic writers to be one of the names of God ; and the passage in Isaiah xlii. 8, in the original ani Jehovcih, Hu shemi, which is in the common version "I am the LORD; that is my name," they interpret, "I am Jehovah; my name is Hu." 185 HUTCHINSON, WILLIAM. A distinguished masonic writer of Eng- land, who lived in the eighteenth century. He is the author of " The Spirit of Masonry," published in 1775. This was the first English work of any importance that sought to give a scientific interpretation of the symbols of Freemasonry ; it is, in fact, the earliest attempt of any kind to treat Free- masonry as a science of symbolism. Hutchinson, however, has to some extent impaired the value of his labors by con- tending that the institution is exclusively Christian in its character and design. ........ 235
i
IH-HO. See Ho-Jii.
IMMORTALITY or THE SOUL. This is one of the two religious dogmas which have always been taught in Speculative Ma- sonry. ........... 22
It was also taught in all the Rites and Mysteries of antiquity. 229 The doctrine was taught as an abstract proposition by the an- cient priesthood of the Pure or Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity, but was conveyed to the mind of the initiate, and impressed upon him by a scenic representation in the an- cient Mysteries, or the Spurious Freemasonry of the ancients. 230
INCOMMUNICABLE NAME. The tetragrammaton, so called be- cause it was not common to, and could not be bestowed upon, nor shared by, any other being. It was proper to the true God alone. Thus Drusius (Tetragrammaton, sive de No- mine Dei proprio, p. 108) says, "Nomen quatuor literarum proprie et absolute non tribui nisi Deo vero. Unde doctores catholic! dicunt incommunicable [not common] esse crea- turaa." 175
INEFFABLE NAME. The tetragrammaton. So called because it
is incffdbile, or unpronounceable. See Tetragrammaton. 175
INTRUSTING, RITE OF. That part of the ceremony of initiation which consists in communicating to the aspirant or candi- date the aporrheta, or secrets of the mystery. . . . 147
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 341
INUNCTION. The act of anointing. This was a religious cere- mony practised from the earliest times. By the pouring on of oil, persons and things were consecrated to sacred pur- poses. ........... 174
INVESTITURE, RITE OF. That part of the ceremony of initiation which consists of clothing the candidate masonically. It is a symbol of purity. ........ 130
ISH CHOTZEB. Hebrew 2XH E5*i&» hewers of stones. The Fel- low Crafts at the temple of Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.) . 91
ISH SABAL. Hebrew ^QQ "HD"1^ bearers of burdens. The Ap- prentices at the temple of Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.) . 91
JAH. It is in Hebrew ;-p5 whence Maimonides calls it " the two- lettered name," and derives it from the tetragrammaton, of which it is an abbreviation. Others have denied this, and assert that Jah is a name independent of Jehovah, but ex- pressing the same idea of the divine essence. See Gataker, De Norn. Tetrag. 176
JEHOVAH. The incommunicable, ineffable name of God, in He- brew nifP» an^ called, from the four letters of which it con- sists, the tetragrammaton, or four-lettered name. . . 177
\BOii. Since the article on the Symbolism of Labor was writ- ten, I have met with an address delivered in 1868 by brother Troue, before St. Peter's Lodge in Martinico, which con- tains sentiments on the relation of Masonry to labor which are well worth a translation from the original French. See Bulletin du Grand Orient de France, December, 1868.
" Our name of Mason, and our emblems, distinctly announce that our object is the elevation of labor.
" We do not, as masons, consider labor as a punishment in- flicted on man ; but on the contrary, we elevate it in our thought to the height of a religious act, which is the most acceptable to God because it is the most usefnl to man and to society.
" We decorate ourselves with the emblems of labor to affirm that our doctrine is an incessant protest against the stigma branded on the law of labor, and which an error of appre- hension, proceeding from the ignorance of men in primitive
342 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
times has erected into a dogma ; an error that has resulted in the production of this anti-social phenomenon which we meet with every day ; namely, that the degradation of the workman is the greater as his labor is more severe, and the elevation of the idler is higher as his idleness is more com- plete. But the study of the laws which maintain order in nature, released from the fetters of preconceived ideas, has led the Freemasons to that doctrine, far more moral than the contrary belief, that labor is not an expiation, but a law of harmony, from the subjection to which man cannot be released without impairing his own happiness, and deran- ging the order of creation. The design of Freemasons is, then, the rehabilitation of labor, which is indicated by the apron which we wear, and the gavel, the trowel, and the level, which are found among our symbols." Hence the doctrine of this work is, that Freemasonry teaches
not only the necessity, but the nobility, of labor. . . 263 And that labor is the proper worship due by man to GodI . 265
LADDER. A symbol of progressive advancement from a lower to a higher sphere, which is common to Masonry, and to many, if not all, of the ancient Mysteries. . . . .18
LADDER, BRAHMINICAL. The symbolic ladder used in the Mys- teries of Brahma. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven worlds of the Indian universe 118
LADDER, MITHRAITIC. The symbolic ladder used in the Persian Mysteries of Mithras. It had seven steps, symbolic of the seven planets and the seven metals. . . . . .116
LADDER, SCANDINAVIAN. The symbolic ladder used in the Gothic Mysteries. Dr. Oliver refers it to the Yggrasil, or sacred ash tree. But the symbolism is either very abstruse or very doubtful 119
LADDER, THEOLOGICAL. The symbolic ladder of the masonic Mysteries. It refers to the ladder seen by Jacob in his vis- ion, and consists, like all symbolical ladders, of seven rounds, alluding to the four cardinal and the three theologi- cal virtues 118
LAMB. A symbol of innocence. A very ancient symbol. . . 134
LAMB, PASCHAL. See Paschal Lamb.
LAMBSKIN APRON. See Apron.
LAW, ORAL. See Oral Law.
LEGEND. A narrative, whether true or false, that has been tra- ditionally preserved from the time of its first oral communi- cation. Such is the definition of a masonic legend. The
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 343
authors of the Conversations-Lexicon, referring to the monk- ish Lives of the Saints which originated in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, say that the title legend was given to all fictions which make pretensions to truth. Such a re- mark, however correct it may be in reference to these monk- ish narratives, which were often invented as ecclesiastical exercises, is by no means applicable to the legends of Free- masonry. These are not necessarily fictitious, but are either based on actual and historical facts which have been but slightly modified, or they are the offspring and expansion of some symbolic idea, in which latter respect they differ entirely from the monastic legends, which often have only the fertile imagination of some studious monk for the basis of their construction. ........ 198
LEGEND OF THE ROYAL ARCH DEGREE. Much of this legend is a mythical history ; but some portion of it is undoubtedly a philosophical myth. The destruction and the ree'difica- tion of the temple, the captivity and the return of the cap- tives, are matters of history ; but many of the details have been invented and introduced for the purpose of giving form to a symbolic idea. ........ 212
LEGEND OF THE THIRD DEGREE. In all probability this legend is a mythical history, in which truth is very largely and pre- ponderatingly mixed with fiction. . . . . .212
It is the most important and significant of the legendary sym- bols of Freemasonry- ........ 228
Has descended from age to age by oral tradition, and has been preserved in every masonic rite. ...... 229
No essential alteration of it has ever been made in any ma- sonic system, but the interpretations of it have been various ; the most general one is, that it is a symbol of the resurrec- tion and the immortality of the soul. ..... 234
Some continental writers have supposed that it was a symbol of the downfall of the Order of Templars, and its hoped-for restoration. In some of the high philosophical degrees it is supposed to be a symbol of the sufferings, death, and resur- rection of Christ. Ilutchinson thought it a symbol of the decadence of the Jewish religion, and the rise of the Chris- tian on its ruins. Oliver says that it symbolically refers to the murder of Abel, the death of our race through Adam, and its restoration through Christ. ..... 285
Kagon thinks that it is a symbol of the sun shorn of its vigor by the three winter months, and restored to generative
344 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
power by the spring. And lastly, Des Etangs says that it is a symbol of eternal reason, whose enemies are the vices that deprave and finally destroy humanity. .... 236 But none of these interpretations, except the first, can be sus- tained 237
LETTUCE. The sacred plant of the Mysteries of Adonis ; a
symbol of immortality, and the analogue of the acacia. . 257 LEVEL. One of the working tools of a Fellow Craft. It is a
symbol of the equality of station of all men before God. . 95 LIBERAL ARTS AND SCIENCES. In the seventh century, all learning was limited to the seven liberal arts and sciences; their introduction into Freemasonry, referring to this theo- ry, is a symbol of the completion of human learning. . 223 LIGHT. It denotes truth and knowledge, and is so explained in all the ancient systems; in initiation, it is not material but intellectual light that is sought. ...... 148
It is predominant as a symbol in all the ancient initiations. . 149 There it was revered because it was an emanation from the sun, the common object of worship ; but the theory advanced by some writers, that the veneration of light originally pro- ceeded from its physical qualities, is not correct. . . 151 Pythagoras called it the good principle in nature ; and the Cab- alists taught that eternal light filled all space before the crea- tion, and that after creation it retired to a central spot, and became the instrument of the Divine Mind in creating mat- ter 154
It is the symbol of the autopsy, or the full perfection and fru- ition of initiation. . . . . . . . .156
It is therefore a fundamental symbol in Freemasonry, and contains within itself the very essence of the speculative
science 1£8
LINGAM. The phallus was so called by the Indian nations of the
East. Sec Phallus 113
LODGE. The place where Freemasons meet, and also the con- gregation of masons so met. The word is derived from the lodges occupied by the travelling Freemasons of the mid- dle ages 63
It is a symbol of the world, or universe. .... 101
Its form, an oblong square, is symbolic of the supposed ob- long form of the world as known to the ancients. . . 102 LOST WORD. There is a masonic myth that there was a certain
word which was lost and afterwards recovered. . . .26 It is not material what the word was, nor how lost, nor when
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 345
recovered : the symbolism refers only to the abstract idea of a loss and a recovery. ........ 264
It is a symbol of divine truth. 266
The search for it was also made by the philosophers and priests in the Mysteries of the Spurious Freemasonry. . 268
LOTUS. The sacred plant of the Brahminical Mysteries, and
the analogue of the acacia 257
It was also a sacred plant among the Egyptians. . . . 258
LUSTRATION. A purification by washing the hands or body in consecrated water, practised in the ancient Mysteries. See Purification.
Lux (light). One of the appellations bestowed upon Freema- sonry, to indicate that it is that sublime doctrine of truth by which the pathway of him who has attained it is to be illu- mined in the pilgrimage of life. Among the Rosicrucians, light was the knowledge of the philosopher's stone ; and Mosheim says that in chemical language the cross was an emblem of light, because it contains within its figure the forms of the three figures of which LVX, or light, is com- posed 148
Lux E TENEBRIS (light out of darkness). A motto of the Ma- sonic Order, which is equivalent to " truth out of initiation ; " light being the symbol of truth, and darkness the symbol of initiation commenced 157
M
MAN. Repeatedly referred to by Christ and the apostles as the
symbol of a temple. ........ 98
MASTER MASON. The third degree of Ancient Craft Masonry,
analogous to the epopt of the ancient Mysteries. . -. 96
MENATZCHIM. Hebrew t3"n5Z!3?2j superintendents, or overseers. The Master Masons at the temple of Solomon. (2 Chron. ii. 2.)
MENU. In the Indian mythology, Menu is the son of Brahma, and the founder of the Hindoo religion. Thirteen other Menus are said to exist, seven of whom have already reigned on earth. But it is the first one whose instructions consti- tute the whole civil and religious polity of the Hindoos. The code attributed to him by the Brahmins has been translated by Sir William Jones, with the title of " The Institutes of Menu." 156
MIDDLE CHAMBER. A part of the Solomonic temple, which was
346 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
approached by winding stairs, but which was certainly not appropriated to the purpose indicated in the Fellow Craft's degree. .......... 210
The legend of the Winding Stairs is therefore only a philo- sophical myth 214
It is a symbol of this life and its labors. ..... 226
MISTLETOE. The sacred plant of Druidism ; commemorated also in the Scandinavian rites. It is the analogue of the acacia, and like all the other sacred plants of antiquity, is a symbol of the immortality of the soul. Lest the language of the text should be misunderstood, it may be remarked here that the Druidical and the Scandinavian rites are not identical. The former are Celtic, the latter Gothic. But the fact that in both the mistletoe was a sacred plant affords a violent presumption that there must have been a common point from which both religions started. There was, as I have said, an identity of origin for the same ancient and gen- eral symbolic idea. ........ 260
MITHRAS. He was the god worshipped by the ancient Persians, and celebrated in their Mysteries as the symbol of the sun. In the initiation in these Mysteries, the candidate passed through many terrible trials, and his courage and fortitude were exposed to the most rigorous tests. Among others, after ascending the mystical ladder of seven steps, he passed through a scenic representation of Hades, or the infer- nal regions ; out of this and the surrounding darkness he was admitted into the full light of Elysium, where he was obligated by an oath of secrecy, and invested by the Archi- magus, or High Priest, with the secret instructions of the rite, among which was a knowledge of the Ineffable Name. 26
MOUNT CALVARY. A small hill of Jerusalem, in a westerly di- rection, and not far from Mount Moriah. In the legends of Freemasonry it is known as "a small hill near Mount Moriah," and is referred to in the third degree. This "small hill " having been determined as the burial-place of Jesus, the symbol has been Christianized by many modern
masons 241
There are many masonic traditions, principally borrowed from the Talmud, connected with Mount Calvary; such as, that it was the place where Adam was buried, &c. . . . 242
MOUNT MOIIIAH. The hill in Jerusalem on which the temple of Solomon was built.
MYRTLE. The sacred plant in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and, as
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 347
symbolic of a resurrection and immortality, the analogue of the acacia. .......... 260
MYSTERIES. A secret worship paid by the ancients to several of the pagan gods, to which none were admitted but those who had been solemnly initiated. The object of instruction in these Mysteries was, to teach the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. They were divided into Lesser and Greater Mysteries. The former were merely prepara- tory. In the latter the whole knowledge was communicated. Speaking of the doctrine that was communicated to the initiates, Philo Judaeus says that "it is an incorruptible treasure, not like gold or silver, but more precious than everything beside; for it is the knowledge of the Great Cause, and of nature, and of that which is born of both." And his subsequent language shows that there was a confra- ternity existing among the initiates like that of the masonic institution ; for he says, with his peculiar mysticism, " If you meet an initiate, besiege him with your prayers that he con- ceal from you no new mysteries that he may know ; and rest not until you have obtained them. For me, although I was initiated into the Great Mysteries by Moses, the friend of God, yet, having seen Jeremiah, I recognized him not only as an Initiate, but as a Hierophant ; and I followed his school." So, too, the mason acknowledges every initiate as his brother, and is ever ready and anxious to receive all the light that can be bestowed on the Mysteries in which he has been indoctrinated. ........ 38
MYSTES. (From the Greek wt/w, to shut the eyes.) One who had been initiated into the Lesser Mysteries of paganism. He was now blind, but when he was initiated into the Greater Mysteries he was called an Epopt, or one who saw. . . 44
MYTH. Grote's definition of the myth, which is cited in the text, may.be applied without modification to the myths of Freemasonry, although intended by the author only for the myths of the ancient Greek religion. . . . . .56
The myth, then, is a narrative of remote date, not necessarily true or false, but whose truth can only be certified by inter- nal evidence. The word was first applied to those fables of the pagan gods which have descended from the remotest an- tiquity, and in all of which there prevails a symbolic idea, not always, however, capable of a positive interpretation. As applied to Freemasonry, the words myth and legend are synonymous. ......... 200
348 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
From this definition it will appear that the myth is really only the interpretation of an idea. But how we are to read these myths will best appear from these noble words of Max Miil- ler : ''Everything is true, natural, significant, if we enter with a reverent spirit into the meaning of ancient art and ancient language. Everything becomes false, miraculous, and unmeaning, if we interpret the deep and mighty words of the seers of old in the shallow and feeble sense of mod- ern chroniclers." (Science of Language, 2d Ser. p. 578.) . 213
MYTH, HISTORICAL. An historical myth is a myth that has a known and recognized foundation in historical truth, but with the admixture of a preponderating amount of fiction in the introduction of personages and circumstances. Be- tween the historical myth and the mythical history, the dis- tinction as laid down in the text cannot always be preserved, because we are not always able to determine whether there is a preponderance of truth or of fiction in the legend or narrative under examination. ...... 205
MYTHICAL HISTORY. A myth or legend in which the historical and truthful greatly preponderate over the inventions of fic- tion . 205
MYTHOLOGY. Literally, the science of myths ; and this is a very appropriate definition, for mythology is the science which treats of the religion of the ancient pagans, which was almost altogether founded on myths, or popular tradi- tions and legendary tales ; and hence Keightly (Mythol. of Ancient Greece and Italy, p. 2) says that "mythology may be regarded as the repository of the early religion of the people." Its interest to a masonic student arises from the constant antagonism that existed between its doctrines and those of the Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity and the light that the mythological Mysteries throw upon the an- cient organization of Speculative Masonry. . . .56
MYTH, PHILOSOPHICAL. This is a myth or legend that is almost wholly unhistorical, and which has been invented only for the purpose of enunciating and illustrating a particular thought or dogma 205
N
NAME. All Hebrew natnes are significant, and were originally imposed with reference to some fact or feature in the history or character of the persons receiving them. Camden says
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 349
that the same custom prevailed among all the nations of an- tiquity. So important has this subject been considered, that " Onomastica," or treatises on the signification of names have been written by Eusebius and St. Jerome, by Simonis and Hillerus, and by several other scholars, of whom Eu- sebe Salverte is the most recent and the most satisfactory. Shuckford (Connect, ii. 377) says that the Jewish Kabbins thought that the true knowledge of names was a science preferable to the study of the written law. .... 181
NAME OF GOD. The true pronunciation, and consequently the signification, of the name of God can only be obtained through a cabalistical interpretation. ..... 187
It is a symbol of divine truth. None but those who are famil- iar with the subject can have any notion of the importance bestowed on this symbol by the Orientalists. The Arabians have a science called Ism Allah, or the science of the name of God ; and the Talmudists and Rabbins have written copi- ously on the same subject. The Mussulmans, says Sal- verte (Essai sur les Nonas, ii. 7), have one hundred names of God, which they repeat while counting the beads of a rosary. 197
NEOPHYTE. (From the Greek ri»v and who has been recently initiated in the Mysteries. St. Paul uses the same word (1 Tim. iii. 6) to denote one who had been recently converted to the Christian faith. . . . 162
NOACHID^E. The descendants of Noah, and the transmitters of his religious dogmas, which were the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. The name has from the earliest times been bestowed upon the Freemasons, who teach the same doctrines. Thus in the " old charges," as quoted by Anderson (Const, edit. 1738, p. 143), it is said, "A mason is obliged by his tenure to observe the moral law as a true No- achidae." .22
NOACHITES. The same as Noachidce, which see.
NORTH. That part of the earth which, being most removed from the influence of the sun at his meridian height, is in Free- masonry called " a place of darkness." Hence it is a sym- bol of the profane world. ....... 167
NORTH-EAST CORNER. An important ceremony of the first de- gree, which refers to the north-east corner of the lodge, is explained by the symbolism of the corner-stone. . . 159
The corner-stone of a building is always laid in the north-east corner, for symbolic reasons. ...... 165
350 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
The north-east point of the heavens was especially sacred among the Hindoos 165
In the symbolism of Freemasonry, the north refers to the outer or profane world, and the east to the inner world of Masonry; and hence the north-east is symbolic of the double position of the neophyte, partly in the darkness of the former, partly in the light of the latter. . . . 167
NUMBERS. The symbolism of sacred numbers, which prevails very extensively in Freemasonry, was undoubtedly bor- rowed from the school of Pythagoras ; but it is just as likely that he got it from Egypt or Babylon, or from both. The Pythagorean doctrine was, according to Aristotle (Met. xii. 8), that all things proceed from numbers. M. Dacier, how- ever, in his life of the philosopher, denies that the doctrine of numbers was taught by Pythagoras himself, but attributes it to his later disciples. But his arguments are not conclu- sive or satisfactory. ........ 225
o
OATH OF SECRECY. It was always administered to the candi- date in the ancient Mysteries. ...... 43
ODD NUMBERS. In the system of Pythagoras, odd numbers were symbols of perfection. Hence the sacred numbers of Free- masonry are all odd. They are 3, 5, 7, 9, 15, 27, 33, and 81. 219
OIL. An element of masonic consecration, and, as a symbol of prosperity and happiness, is intended, under the name of the " oil of joy," to indicate the expected propitious results of the consecration of any thing or person to a sacred pur- pose 174
OLIVE. In a secondary sense, the symbol of peace and of vic- tory ; but in its primary meaning, like all the other sacred plants of antiquity, a symbol of immortality ; and thus in the Mysteries it was the analogue of the acacia of the Free- masons 255
OLIVER. The Kev. George Oliver, D. D., of Lincolnshire, Eng- land, who died in 1868, is by far the most distinguished and the most voluminous of the English writers on Freemason- ry. Looking to his vast labors and researches in the arcana of the science, no student of masonry can speak of his name or his memory without profound reverence for his learning, and deep gratitude for the services that he has accomplished. To the author of this work the recollection will ever be
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 35!
most grateful that he enjoyed the friendship of so good and so great a man ; one of whom we may testify, as Johnson said of Goldsmith, that "nihil quod tetigit non ornavit." In his writings he has traversed the whole field of masonic literature and science, and has treated, always with great ability and wonderful research, of its history, its antiquities, its rites and ceremonies, its ethics, and its symbols. Of all his works, his "Historical Landmarks," in two volumes, is the most important, the most useful, and the one which will perhaps the longest perpetuate his memory. In the study of his works, the student must be careful not to follow too implicitly all his conclusions. These were in his own mind controlled by the theory which he had adopted, and which he continuously maintained, that Freemasonry was a Chris- tian institution, and that the connection between it and the Christian religion was absolute and incontrovertible. He followed in the footsteps of Hutchinson, but with a far more expanded view of the masonic system.
OPERATIVE MASONRY. Masonry considered merely as a useful art, intended for the protection and the convenience of man by the erection of edifices which may supply his intellectual, religious, and physical wants. . . ._ . .83
In contradistinction to Speculative Masonry, therefore, it is said to be engaged in the construction of a material temple. 161
ORAL LAW. The oral law among the Jews was the commen- tary on and the interpretation of the written contained in the Pentateuch; and the tradition is, that it was delivered to Moses at the same time, accompanied by the divine com- mand, "Thou shalt not divulge the words which I have said to thee out of my mouth." The oral law was, there- fore, never intrusted to books ; but being preserved in the memories of the judges, prophets, priests, and wise men, was handed down from one to the other through a long suc- cession of ages. But after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans under Adrian, A. D. 135, and the final disper- sion of the Jews, fears being entertained that the oral law would be lost, it was then committed to writing, and now constitutes the text of the Talmud.
ORMUZD. Worshipped by the disciples of Zoroaster as the prin- ciple of good, and symbolized by light. See Ahriman. . 153
OSIRIS. The chief god of the ancient Egyptians, and wor- shipped as a symbol of the sun, and more philosophically as the male or generative principle. Isis, his wife, was the
35 2 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
female or prolific principle ; and Horus, their child, was matter, or the world — the product of the two principles. . 27
OSIRIS, MYSTERIES OF. The Osirian Mysteries consisted in a scenic representation of the murder of Osiris by Typhon, the subsequent recovery of his mutilated body by Isis, and his deification, or restoration to immortal life. . .39
OVAL TEMPLES. Temples of an oval form were representations
of the mundane egg, a symbol of the world. . . . 107
PALM TREE. In its secondary sense the palm tree is a symbol of victory ; but in its primary signification it is a symbol of the victory over death, that is, immortality. . . . 255
PARABLE. A narrative in which one thing is compared "with another. It is in principle the same as a symbol or an alle- gory. ........... 75
PARALLEL LINES. The lines touching the circle in the symbol of the point within a circle. They are said to represent St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist; but they really refer to the solstitial points Cancer and Capricorn, in the zodiac. . . . . . . . . . .115
PASTOS. (From the Greek TTUOTUC, a nuptial coucli.) The cof- fin or grave which contained the body of the god or hero whose death was scenically represented in the ancient Mys- teries. . . . . . . . . . . .44
It is the analogue of the grave in the third degree of Masonry. 239
PELASGIAN RELIGION. The Pelasgians were the oldest if not the aboriginal inhabitants of Greece. Their religion dif- fered from that of the Hellenes who succeeded them in be- ing less poetical, less mythical, and more abstract. We know little of their religious worship, except by conjecture ; but we may suppose it resembled in some respects the doc- trines of the Primitive Freemasonry. Creuzer thinks that the Pelasgians were either a nation of priests or a nation ruled by priests 230
PHALLUS. A representation of the virile member, which was venerated as a religious symbol very universally, and with- out the slightest lasciviousness, by the ancients. It was one of the modifications of sun worship, and was a symbol of the fecundating power of that luminary. The masonic point within a circle is undoubtedly of phallic origin. . .112
PHILOSOPHY OF FREEMASONRY. The dogmas taught in the ma-
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 353
sonic system constitute its philosophy. These consist in the contemplation of God as one and eternal, and of man as immortal. In other words, the philosophy of Freemasonry inculcates the unity of God and the immortality of the soul 11
PLUMB. One of the working tools of a Fellow Craft, and a
symbol of rectitude of conduct. . . . . . .95
POINT WITHIN A CIRCLE. It is derived from the ancient sun worship, and is in reality of phallic origin. It is a symbol of the universe, the sun being represented by the point, while the circumference is the universe. . . . .111
PORCH OF THE TEMPLE. A symbol of the entrance into life. . 220
PRIMITIVE FREEMASONRY. The Primitive Freemasonry of the antediluvians is a term for which we are indebted to Oliver, although the theory was broached by earlier writers, and among them by the Chevalier Ramsay. The theory is, that the principles and doctrines of Freemasonry existed in the earliest ages of the world, and were believed and practised by a primitive people, or priesthood, under the name of Pure or Primitive Freemasonry. That this Freemasonry, that is to say, the religious doctrine inculcated by it, was, after the flood, corrupted by the pagan philosophers and priests, and, receiving the title of Spurious Freemasory, was exhibited in the ancient Mysteries. The Noachidae, how- ever, preserved the principles of the Primitive Freemasonry, and transmitted them to succeeding ages, when at length they assumed the name of Speculative Masonry. The Prim- itive Freemasonry was probably without ritual or symbol- ism, and consisted only of a series of abstract propositions derived from antediluvian traditions. Its dogmas were the unity of God and the immortality of the soul. . . .29
PROFANE. One who has not been initiated as a Freemason. In the technical language of the Order, all who are not Free- masons are profanes. The term is derived from the Latin words pro fano, which literally signify " in front of the tem- ple," because those in the ancient religions who were not initiated in the sacred rites or Mysteries of any deity were not permitted to enter the temple, but were compelled to remain outside, or in front of it. They were kept on the outside. The expression a profane is not recognized as a noun substantive in the general usage of the language ; but it has been adopted as a technical term in the dialect of Free-
23
354 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
masonry, in the same relative sense in which the word lay- man is used in the professions of law and divinity. . .168
PURE FREEMASONRY OF ANTIQUITY. The same as Primitive Freemasonry, — which see.
PURIFICATION. A religious rite practised by the ancients, and which was performed before any act of devotion. It con- sisted in washing the hands, and sometimes the whole body, in lustral or consecrated water. It was intended as a sym- bol of the internal purification of the heart. It was a cere- mony preparatory to initiation in all the ancient Mysteries. 93
PYTHAGORAS. A Grecian philosopher, supposed to have been born in the island of Samos, about 584 B. C. He trav- elled extensively for the purpose of acquiring knowledge. In Egypt he was initiated in the Mysteries of that country by the priests. He also repaired to Babylon, where he be- came acquainted with the mystical learning of the Chalde- ans, and had, no doubt, much communication with the Israel- itish captives who had been exiled from Jerusalem, and were then dwelling in Babylon. On his return to Europe he es- tablished a school, which in its organization, as well as its doctrines, bore considerable resemblance to Speculative Ma- sonry ; for which reason he has been claimed as " an ancient friend and brother" by the modern Freemasons. . . 60
K
RESURRECTION. This doctrine was taught in the ancient Mys- teries, as it is in Freemasonry, by a scenic representation. The initiation was death, the autopsy was resurrection. Freemasonry does not interest itself with the precise mode of the resurrection, or whether the body buried and the body raised are in all their parts identical. Satisfied with the general teaching of St. Paul, concerning the resurrection that "it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body,'' Freemasonry inculcates by its doctrine of the res- urrection the simple fact of a progressive advancement from a lower to a higher sphere, and the raising of the soul from the bondage of death to its inheritance of eternal life. . 157
RITUAL. The forms and ceremonies used in conferring the de- grees, or in conducting the labors, of a lodge are called the ritual. There are many rites of Freemasonry, which differ from each other in the number and division of the degrees, and in their rituals, or forms and ceremonies. But the great
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 355
principles of Freemasonry, its philosophy and its symbol- ism, are alike in all. It is evident, then, that in an investi- gat^on of the symbolism of Freemasonry, we have no con- cern with its ritual, which is but an outer covering that is intended to conceal the treasure that is within. . . .11
ROSICRUCIANS. A sect of hermetical philosophers, founded in the fifteenth century, who were engaged in the study of ab- struse sciences. It was a secret society much resembling the masonic in its organization, and in some of the subjects of its investigation; but it was in no other way connected with Freemasonry. It is, however, well worth the study of the masonic student on account of the light that it throws upon many of the masonic symbols. ..... 156
ROYAL ART. Freemasonry is so called because it is supposed to have been founded by two kings, — the kings of Israel and Tyre, — and because it has been subsequently encour- aged and patronized by monarchs in all countries. . . 69
s
SABIANISM, or SABAISM. The worship of the sun, moon, and stars, the fcifticn &C£> TSABA Hashmaim, "the host of heaven." It was practised in Persia, Chaldea, India, and other Oriental countries, at an early period of the world's history. Sun-worship has had a powerful influence on sub- sequent and more rational religions, and relics of it are to be found even in the symbolism of Freemasonry. . . 26
SACELLCJM. A sacred place consecrated to a god, and contain- ing an altar. ......... 149
SAINTE CROIX. The work of the Baron de Sainte Croix, in two volumes, entitled, " Recherehes Historiques et Critiques sur les Mysteres du Paganisme," is one of the most valuable and instructive works that we have in any language on the ancient Mysteries, — those religious associations whose his- tory and design so closely connect them with Freemasonry. To the student of masonic philosophy and symbolism this work of Sainte Croix is absolutely essential. . . .16
SALSETTE. An island in the Bay of Bombay, celebrated for stu- pendous caverns excavated artificially out of the solid rock, and which were appropriated to the initiations in the ancient Mysteries of India 108
SENSES, FIVE HUMAN. A symbol of intellectual cultivation. . 222
SETH. It is the masonic theory that the principles of the Pure
356 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
or Primitive Freemasonry were preserved in the race of Seth, which had always kept separate from that of Cain, but that after the flood they became corrupted, by a seces- sion of a portion of the Sethites, who established the Spu- rious Freemasonry of the Gentiles.
SEVEN. A sacred number among the Jews and the Gentiles,
and called by Pythagoras a "venerable number." . . 120
SHEM HAMPHORASH. fe^pD^Ji t3'I5> ^e declaratory name.') The tetragrammaton is so called, because, of all the names of God, it alone distinctly declares his nature and essence as self-existent and eternal. ....... 181
SHOE. See Investiture, Rite of.
SIGNS. There is abundant evidence that they were used in the ancient Mysteries. They are valuable only as modes of recognition. But while they are absolutely conventional, they have, undoubtedly, in Freemasonry, a symbolic refer- ence 213
SIVA. One of the manifestations of the supreme deity of the
Hindoos, and a symbol of the sun in its meridian. . . 108
SONS OF LIGHT. Freemasons are so called because Lux, or
Light, is one of the names of Speculative Masonry. . . 158
SOLOMON. The king of Israel, and the founder of the temple of
Jerusalem and of the temple organization of Freemasonry. 81 That his mind was eminently symbolic in its propensities, is evident from all the writings that are attributed to him. . 82
SPECULATIVE MASONRY. Freemasonry considered as a science which speculates on the character of God and man, and is engaged in philosophical investigations of the soul and a future existence, for which purpose it uses the terms of an operative art. ......... 84
It is engaged symbolically in the construction of a spiritual
temple 161
There is in it always a progress — an advancement from a lower to a higher sphere 261
SPIRITUAL TEMPLE. The body of man; that .temple alluded to by Christ and St. Paul ; the temple, in the construction of which the Speculative Mason is engaged, in contradistinc- tion to that material temple whick occupies the labors of the Operative Mason. ........ 162
SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY OF ANTIQUITY. A term applied to the initiations in the Mysteries of the ancient pagan world, and to the doctrines taught in those Mysteries. See Mysteries. 32
SQUARE. A geometric figure consisting of four equal sides and
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 357
equal angles. In Freemasonry it is a symbol of morality, or the strict performance of every duty. The Greeks deemed it a figure of perfection, and the " square man " was a man of unsullied integrity. ........ 163
SQUARE, TRYING. One of the working-tools of a Fellow Craft,
and a symbol of morality 95
STONE OF FOUNDATION. A very important symbol in the ma- sonic system. It is like the word, the symbol of divine truth 281
STONE WORSHIP. A very early form of fetichism. The Pelas- gians are supposed to have given to their statues o/ the gods the general form of cubical stones, whence in Hellenic times came the Herrnse, or images of Hermes. .... 293
SUBSTITUTE WORD. A symbol of the unsuccessful search after divine truth, and the discovery in this life of only an approx- imation to it. . . . . . . . . . 268
SUN, RISING. In the Sabian worship the rising sun was adored on its resurrection from the apparent death of its evening setting. Hence, in the ancient Mysteries, the rising sun was a symbol of the regeneration of the soul. .... 231
SUN-WORSHIP. The most ancient of all superstitions. It pre- vailed especially in Phoenicia, Chaldea. and Egypt, and traces of it have been discovered in Peru and Mexico. Its influ- ence was felt in the ancient Mysteries, and abundant allu- sions to it are to be found in the symbolism of Freema- sonry. ........... 109
SWEDENBORG. A Swedish philosopher, and the founder of a re- ligious sect. Clavel, Ragon, and some other writers have sought to make him the founder of a masonic rite also, but without authority. In 1767 Chastanier established the rite of Illuminated Theosophists, whose instructions are derived from the writings of Swedenborg, but the sage himself had nothing to do with it. Yet it cannot be denied that the mind of Swedenborg was eminently symbolic in character, and that the masonic student may derive many valuable ideas from portions of his numerous works, especially from his " Celestial Arcana " and his " Apocalypse Revealed." . 274
SYMBOL. A visible sign with which a spiritual feeling, emotion, or idea is connected. — Midler. Every natural thing which is made the sign or representation of a moral idea is a symbol 73
SYMBOL, COMPOUND. A species of symbol not unusual in Free- masonry, where the symbol is to be taken in a double sense,
358 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
meaning in its general application one thing, and then in a special application another. ...... 306
SYMBOLISM, SCIENCE OF. To what has been said in the text, may be added the following apposite remarks of Squier: "In the absence of a written language or forms of expres- sion capable of conveying abstract ideas, we can readily comprehend the necessity, among a primitive people, of a symbolic system. That symbolism in a great degree re- sulted from this necessity, is very obvious ; and that, asso- ciated with man's primitive religious systems, it was afterwards continued, when in the advanced stage of the human mind, the previous necessity no longer existed, is equally undoubted. It thus came to constitute a kind of sacred language, and became invested with an esoteric sig- nificance understood only by the few." — The Serpent Sym- bol in America, p. 19. . . . . . . .71
TABERNACLE. Erected by Moses in the wilderness as a tempo- rary place for divine worship. Itr was the antitype of the temple of Jerusalem, and, like it, was a symbol of the universe. 79
TALISMAN. A figure either carved in metal or stone, or delineat- ed on parchment or paper, made with superstitious ceremo- nies under what was supposed to be the special influence of the planetary bodies, and believed to possess occult powers of protecting the maker or possessor from danger. The figure in the text is a talisman, and among the Orientals no talis- man was more sacred than this one where the nine digits are so disposed as to make 15 each way. The Arabians called it zahal, which was the name of the planet Saturn, because the nine digits added together make 45, and the letters of the word zahal are, according to the numerical powers of the Arabic alphabet, equivalent to 45. The cab- alists esteem it because 15 was the numerical power of the letters composing the word JAH, which is one of the names of God 225
TALMUD. The mystical philosophy of the Jewish Rabbins is contained in the Talmud, which is a collection of books divided into two parts, the Mishna, which contains the rec- ord of the oral law, first committed to writing in the second or third century, and the Gemara, or commentaries on it. In
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 359
the Talmud much will be found of great interest to the ma- sonic student 285
TEMPLE. The importance of the temple in the symbolism of Freemasonry will authorize the following citation from the learned Montfaucon {Ant. ii. 1. ii. ch. ii.) : " Concerning the origin of temples, there is a variety of opinions. According to Herodotus, the Egyptians were the first that made altars, stat- ues, and temples. It does not, however, appear that there were any in Egypt in the time of Moses, for he never mentions them, although he had many opportunities for doing so. Lucian says that the Egyptians were the first people who built temples, and that the Assyrians derived the custom from them, all of which is, however, very uncertain. The first allusion to the subject in Scripture is the Tabernacle, which was, in fact, a portable temple, and contained one place within it more holy and secret than the others, called the Holy of Holies, and to which the adytum in the pagan temples cor- responded. The first heathen temple mentioned in Scrip- ture is that of Dagon, the god of the Philistines. The Greeks, who were indebted to the Phoenicians for many things, may be supposed to have learned from them the art of building temples ; and it is certain that the Romans bor- rowed from the Greeks both the worship of the gods and the construction of temples." 268
TEMPLE BUILDER. The title by which Hiram Abif is sometimes
designated 229
TEMPLE OF SOLOMON. The building erected by King Solomon on Mount Moriah, in Jerusalem, has been often called "the cradle of Freemasonry," because it was there that that union took place between the operative and speculative masons, which continued for centuries afterwards to present the true organization of the masonic system. ..... 16
As to the size of the temple, the dimensions given in the text may be considered as accurate so far as they agree with the description given in the First Book of Kings. Josephus gives a larger measure, and makes the length 105 feet, the breadth 35 feet, and the height 210 feet; but even these will not in- validate the statement in the text, that in size it was sur- passed by many a parish church. . . . . .81
TEMPLE SYMBOLISM. That symbolism which is derived from the temple of Solomon. It is the most fertile of all kinds of symbolism in the production of materials for the masonic science 85
360 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
TERMINUS. One of the most ancient of the Roman deities. He was the god of boundaries and landmarks, and his statue consisted only of a cubical stone, without arms or legs, to show that he was immovable. ...... 170
TETRACTYS. A figure used by Pythagoras, consisting of ten points, arranged in a triangular form so as to represent the monad, duad, triad, and quarterniad. It was considered as very sacred by the Pythagoreans, and was to them what the tetragrammaton was to the Jews. ..... 184
TETRAGRAMMATON. (From the Greek rtTQag, four, and yguu- ^«, a letter.) The four-lettered name of God in the He- brew language, which consisted of four letters, viz. f-nn% commonly, but incorrectly, pronounced Jehovah. As a sym- bol it greatly pervaded the rites of antiquity, and was per- haps the earliest symbol corrupted by the Spurious Freema- sonry of the pagan Mysteries. . . . . . .175
It was held by the Jews in profound veneration, and its origin supposed to have been by divine revelation at the burning bush 176
The word was never pronounced, but wherever met with Adonai was substituted for it, which custom was derived from the perverted reading of a passage in the Pentateuch. The true pronunciation consequently was utterly lost ; this is explained by the want of vowels in the Hebrew alphabet, so that the true vocalization of a word cannot be learned from the letters of which it is composed. .... 178
The true pronunciation was intrusted to the high priest; but lest the knowledge of it should be lost by his sudden death, it was also communicated to his assistant; it was known also, probably, to the kings of Israel. . . . 180
The Cabalists and Talmudists enveloped it in a host of super- stitions 181
It was also used by the Essenes in their sacred rites, and by the Egyptians as a pass-word 182
Cabalistically read and pronounced, it means the male and female principle of nature, the generative and prolific en- ergy of creation. ........ 185
THAMMCZ. A Syrian god, who was worshipped by those women of the Hebrews who had fallen into idolatry. The idol was the same as the Phoenician Adonis, and the Mysteries of the two were identical. ........ 42
TRAVELLING FREEMASONS. See Freemasons, Travelling. TRESTLE BOARD. The board or tablet on which the designs of
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 361
the architect are inscribed. It is a symbol of the moral law as set forth in the revealed will of God. . . . .88 Every man must have his trestle board, because it is the duty of every man to work out the task which God, the chief Architect, has assigned to him 263
TRIANGLE. A symbol of Deity. 181
This symbolism is found in many of the ancient religions. . 182 Among the Egyptians it was a symbol of universal nature, or of the protection of the world by the male and female en- ergies of creation. . . . . • . • . 195
TRIANGLE, RADIATED. A triangle placed within a circle of rays. In Christian art it is a symbol of God ; then the rays are called a glory. When they surround the triangle in the form of a circle, the triangle is a symbol of the glory of God. When the rays emanate from the centre of the triangle, it is a symbol of divine light. This is the true form of the masonic radiated triangle 195
TRILITERAL NAME. This is the word AUM, which is the ineffa- ble name of God among the Hindoos, and symbolizes the three manifestations of the Brahminical supreme god, Brah- ma, Siva, and Vishnu. It was never to be pronounced aloud, and was analogous to the sacred tetragrammaton of the Jews 183
TROWEL. One of the working tools of a Master Mason. It is
a symbol of brotherly love 97
TRUTH. It was not always taught publicly by the ancient phi- losophers to the people 33
The search for it is the object of Freemasonry. It is never found on earth, but a substitute for it is provided. . . 306
TUAPHOLL. A term used by the Druids to designate an unhal- lowed circumambulation around the sacred cairn, or altar, the movement being against the sun, that is, from west to east by the north, the cairn being on the left hand of the cir- cumambulator. ......... 140
TUBAL CAIN. Of the various etymologies of this name, only one is given in the text; but most of the others in some way identify him with Vulcan. Wellsford (Mithridates Minor> p. 4) gives a singular etymology, deriving the name of the Hebrew patriarch from the definite article n> converted into Fl , or T and Baal, " Lord," with the Arabic kayn, " a black- smith," so that the word would then signify " the lord of the blacksmiths." Masonic writers have, however, generally adopted the more usual derivation of Cain, from a word sig-
362 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
nifying possession ; and Oliver descants on Tubal Cain as a symbol of worldly possessions. As to the identity of Vul- can with Tubal Cain, we may learn something from the def- inition of the offices of the former, as given by Diodorus Siculus : "Vulcan was the first founder of works in iron, brass, gold, silver, and all fusible metals ; and he taught the uses to which fire can be applied in the arts." See Gen- esis : " Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron."
TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE. A two-foot rule. One of the working-tools of an Entered Apprentice, and a symbol of time well employed. ........ 92
TYPHON. The brother and slayer of Osiris in the Egyptian my- thology. As Osiris was a type or symbol of the sun, Ty- phon was the symbol of winter, when the vigor, heat, and, as it were, life of the sun are destroyed, and of darkness as opposed to light ^. .108
TYRE. A city of Phoenicia, the residence of King Hiram, the friend and ally of Solomon, whom he supplied with men and materials for the construction of the temple. . . 49
TYRIAN FREEMASONS. These were the members of the Society of Dionysiac Artificers, who at the time of the building of Solomon's temple flourished at Tyre. Many of them were sent to Jerusalem by Hiram, King of Tyre, to assist King Solomon in the construction of his temple. There, uniting with the Jews, who had only a knowledge of the speculative principles of Freemasonry, which had been transmitted to them from Noah, through the patriarchs, the Tyrian Free- masons organized that combined system of Operative and Speculative Masonry which continued for many centuries, until the beginning of the eighteenth, to characterize the institution. See Dionysiac Artificers. .... 269
u
UNION. The union of the operative with the speculative ele- ment of Freemasonry took place at the building of King Solomon's temple.
UNITY OF GOD. This, as distinguished from the pagan doctrine of polytheism, or a multitude of gods, is one of the two re- ligious truths taught in Speculative Masonry, the other being the immortality of the soul. . . , . . .22
SYNOPTICAL INDEX. 363
w
WEARY SOJOURNERS. The legend of the " three weary sojourn- ers " in the Royal Arch degree is undoubtedly a philosoph- ical myth, symbolizing the search after truth. . . . 212
WHITE. A symbol of innocence and purity. .... 132 Among the Pythagoreans it was a symbol of the good princi- ple in nature, equivalent to light 154
WIDOW'S SON. An epithet bestowed upon the chief architect • of the temple, because he was "a widow's son of the tribe of Naphthali." 1 Kings vii. 14. . . . . . .51
WINDING STAIRS, LEGEND OF. A legend in the Fellow Craft's degree having no historical truth, but being simply a philo- sophical myth or legendary symbol intended to communi- cate a masonic dogma 210
It is the symbol of an ascent from a lower to a higher sphere. 217 It commences at the porch of the temple, which is a symbol of the entrance into life. . ..... 218
The number of steps are always odd, because odd numbers are a symbol of perfection. ....... 219
But the fifteen steps in the American system are a symbol of the name of God, Jah. 225
WINE. An element of masonic consecration, and, as a symbol of the inward refreshment of a good conscience, is intended under the name of the "wine of refreshment," to remind us of the eternal refreshments which the good are to receive in the future life for the faithful performance of duty in the present. .......... 173
WORD. In Freemasonry this is a technical and symbolic term, and signifies divine truth. The search after this word con- stitutes the whole system of speculative masonry. . . 306
WORD, LOST. See Lost Word.
WORD, SUBSTITUTE. See Substitute Word.
WORK. In Freemasonry the initiation of a candidate is called work. It is suggestive of the doctrine that labor is a ma- sonic duty 266
YGGDRASIL. The sacred ash tree in the Scandinavian Myste- ries. Dr. Oliver propounds the theory that it is the ana- logue of the theological ladder in the Masonic Mysteries. But it is doubtful whether this theory is tenable. . .119
364 SYNOPTICAL INDEX.
YOD. A Hebrew letter, in form thus h, and about equivalent to the English I or Y. It is the initial letter of the tetragram- maton, and is often used, especially enclosed within a tri- angle, as a substitute for, or an abridgment of, that sacred
word 181
It is a symbol of the life-giving and sustaining power of God. 190
YONI. Among the nations and religions of India the yoni was the representation of the female organ of generation, and was the symbol of the prolific power of nature. It is the same as the cteis among the Occidental nations. . . .113
z
ZENNAAR. The sacred girdle of the Hindoos. It is supposed
to be the analogue of the masonic apron 131
ZOROASTER. A distinguished philosopher and reformer, whose doctrines were professed by the ancient Persians. The re- ligion of Zoroaster was a dualism, in which the two antago- nizing principles were Ormuzd and Ahriman, symbols of Light and Darkness. It was a modification and purification of the old fire-worship, in which the fire became a symbol of the sun, so that it was really a species of sun-worship. Mithras, representing the sun, becomes the mediator be- tween Ormuzd, or the principle of Darkness, and the world. 108
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WORKS OF STANDARD AUTHORITY
ON FREE-MASONRY.
BY DR. A. G. MACKEY.
I.
A Manual Of the Lodge ", Or, Monitorial Instructions in the Degrees of Entered Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason, arranged in ac- cordance with the American System of Lectures ; to which are added the Ceremonies of the Order of Past Master, relating to installations, dedica- tions, consecrations, laying of corner stones, &c., &c. By ALBERT G. MAC- KEY, M. D., General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. Author of Book of Chapter, &c., &c. One volume, 8vo, handsomely bound in blue. Price $1.60.
II.
The Book Of the Chapter ; Or, Monitorial Instructions in the De- grees of Mark, Past and Most Excellent Master, and the Holy Royal Arch. By ALBERT G. MACKEY, M. D., General Grand High Priest of the General Grand Chapter of the United States. Grand High Priest of the Grand Eoyal Arch Chapter of South Carolina, &c., &c. One volume, 12mo, hand- somely bound in scarlet. Price $1.60.
Many Masons, although willing, and indeed anxious, as soon as they are initiated, to learn some- thing more of the nature of the institution into which they have been introduced, and of the mean- ing of the ceremonies through which they have passed, are very often unable, from the want of time or means, to indulge this laudable curiosity. The information which they require is to be found only in the pages of various masonic treatises, and to be acquired only by careful and laborious study. Books are not always accessible, or, if accessible, leisure or inclination may be wanting to institute the necessary investigations.
But a " Monitor" is within every Mason's reach. It is the first book to which his attention is di- rected, and is often placed in his hands by the presiding officer, as a manual which he is recom- mended to study; and, accordingly, the Monitor is to many a Mason, emphatically his vade mecum. But unless he can find something more important in its pages than such works as those of WEBB and CROSS contain, he will scarcely arise from the perusal with increased store of knowledge. His want is for ' more light,11 not for a recapitulation of what he has already heard and seen, but for a rational explanation of the meaning of that through which he has passed,
To meet this want, and to place in the hands of every Royal Arch Mason a book in which he may find a lucid explanation, BO far as the laws of our institution will permit, of all that has excited his curiosity or attracted his interest in the Chapter degrees, and above all, to furnish an elementary treatise of easy comprehension on the Symbolism of Royal Arch Masonry, have been the objects of the author in the preparation of this work.
ni.
Cryptic fflaSOnry. A Manual of the Council : or Monitorial Instructions
in the degrees of Royal and Select Master : with an additional Section on
the Super Excellent Master's Degree. By ALBERT G. MACKEY, M, D.
Author of " Lexicon of Free-Masonry," " Manual of Lodge/' Book of the
Chapter," &c., &c. One volume, 12mo. Handsomely bound. Price $2.00.
No separate Monitor of the Council Degrees has ever before been published. This volume will be
found, like the preceding Monitors by Dr. Mackey, not a mere collection of scriptural passages and
charges to candidates, but to contain information on points of masonic science and history, a
knowledge of which is essentially necessary to a thorough comprehension of the moral design and
symbolism of these degrees.
IV.
A Text-Book of Masonic Jurisprudence; illustrating the
Written and Unwritten Law of Free-Masonry. By ALBERT G. MACKEY,