REESE LIBRARY OF THK UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2007 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/arcanasaiticabriOOgilerich .^. ^ '^>>>V c 5^ "^' Ircana Saitica « BRIEFLY DISCUSSED I X THREK ESSAYS ON Tili^: 4^. t nmu III) I BUS. /'^ AMOY: PRINTED BY A. A. MARCAL, 1879. ~^^ ■ ' ■ ■>?. MW% - .. "::M^:r:3^ IN AMOREM FRATRIS CARISSIMI E. "*®-rr:^^^'^nrrJ5*^ TSTontrum illuminati quambi^ prope lurtm j^rtmtig. <=3er".^r3tr5^:^'3>c. §RCANA |aITICA BRIEFLY DISCUSSED 1 N THREE ESSAYS ON THE umK nmu boards. •^^ AMOY: PRINTED BY A. A. MARCAL, 1879. I UNIVERSITY "lAl.il^OH^ RfFSE Pllfl IN defence of the following short essays I will only say that my attention being drawn to the explana- tions given in the established lectures on Masonic trac- ing boards I set myself to investigate their accuracy, with what result I shall presently show. I do not claim any originality for what I have written: it is simply the result of a considerable amount of, unhappily, somewhat desultory reading; and those who have happened to study the w^orks of Dulavire, Dupuis, Sainte Croix, Knight, Faber, Higgins, Inman, Cory and many others treating on kindred subjects will be at no loss to discover whence I have drawn my information. 1 believe that to a large number of Masons the eso- teric meanino" of the svmbols and ceremonies in constant use and practice amongst us is either unknown or dis- regarded; but it surely cannot be uninteresting, even as a matter of history, to know whence they were derived, and to see how, even in our ancient and honourable Society, the jewel truth has become encrusted until to outward view it is like the pebble ignorance. Finally, I would urge that the mission of Masonry is not yet ended; its practical services in preserving knowledge in days when the possession of such know- ledge was too often the passport to a shameful death deserve to be ever kept in remembrance, and even now it may be that in a Lodge close tiled we can impart to each other matters of deep interest which yet it may not be well to publish for the indiscriminate use of the outer world. The mission of masonry is search after Liglit in- V effable — after perfect Truth. 11195G Wlint s:iith Hermes?— As below, so above — and as above, below. Snith riciis of Mirandula, — Who ki ows himself knows all things in himself. Saitli Abi[)ili, — I aclin(j:u>h thee, whosoever thou art that desircst to dive into the inmost part of nature; if that thou .seek est thou fmdest not within thee thou wilt never find it without thee. Saith Pletho,— Invoke not the self eonspicuous image of nature. Saitli Synesius, — To these he gave the abihty of reeeiving the knowledge of light; Those that were asleep he made fruitful from his own strength. [ Time was; Time is; Time will be. There was no beginning, there will be no end — Force; all pervading. A. U. M. Motion perpetual and rhythmical, the time alone varying. Matter eternal, in forms infinite. After excitement, birth: then repose, after calm, refructification. Death, concentration; Life, expansion. Yet Death the beginning of Life and Life the forerunner of Death. The circles infinite, boundless, from the centre-force so to infinity. The centre omnipresent, the circumference non-existent. Curve and recurve from the moneron up to tlic essence. World without end. THE FIRST DEGREE. rpHE usual lecture on the first Tracing Board is so JL well known that I need only refer to it by name, and I do not noAV propose to enlarge upon the moral maxims beautiful as they are which are commonly de- duced from the symbols we know so well; they are too trite, too well worn to need further re-iteration. The explanations usually given moreover, are those which lie immediately on the surface of freemasonry; and did freemasonry go no farther, were there no more interest- ing secrets hidden in its depths; it would indeed be a most paltry study; a valuable charitable organization, vast in extent, far reaching in its aims and power, but most empty and unsatisfying to those who have joined our body in the hope of extending their knowledge. It is usually stated in the above named lecture, that Freemasonry is a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols. This is partly true; nor is the veil to be lifted or the symbols understood without some trouble, it is however some- thing more than this for those who have the patience to study and the wit to comprehend the mysteries which lie hid in symbols, words and ceremonies often apparently meaningless or trivial. To those for whom it is merely a system of morality we can leave the Masonry of aprons and badges, the dull changeless ritual connected with the worship of an Anthropomor- phic Deity and the fanciful titles of a tinsel rank — they can never understand the nature of the mystic tie which binds those even, who have but just passed the threshold of the real temple, with the dwellers in the adytum, infinite as is the distance between the initiate and the adept. [ (i ] First as to the antiquity of Masonry. While tliere is no reasonable doubt tiiat secret societies for the pre- servation and extension of knowledge have existed from prehistoric times, and that much of the sym- bolism in our Lodges is derived froui Egyptian, Chal- daic and l^abylonian sources, it is at the same time beyond question that many of the statements iu our ritual have little furtlier warranty than the opinions of those who drew it up about IGO years ago wdien in A, D. 1717 the descendants of the Building fraternities laid aside their ])urely operative character and Freemasonry assumed somewhat of its present form. I need not ])ause to consider how mucli w^eight should be allowed to the theological opinions of brothers wlio could believe that at the command of a certain mythical Joshua the earth's movements were stop])ed in order to further the marauding of an obscure tribe of Asiatics, but will only premise that in speaking of the origin of Freeuiasonry I refer to the times and opinions whence our oldest ceremonies are derived. For the origin of Freemasonry regarded in this light, w^e must go back to that dim twnlight of the ages of wdiich no w^ritten record now remains; it existed seons before the word from which some derive its name (the *Hebrew^ Massan or Massang, a stone quarry) w^as formed, and w^as but a branch of the knowledge, which was then so jealously guarded by its possessors. At a very early period the necessity of imparting knowledge to those alone w^ho could fitly use it, in fact of not trusting a child with edged tools, was recognized by the master minds among men — " non cuivis homini contingit adire Corinthum;" — and to go no farther back than some 4000 years, from which date at any rate certain of our ceremonies have existed (the forms of course being modified by time), w^e may readily * Higgins suggests. * Maia sons ' — among other fanciful deriva- tions — Mackenzie — the niediasval latin Ma^onner, to build; or perhaps the old gernian Metzen, to cut (R. M. Cyclopaedia.) [< ] conceive tliat the miinher of men who were then cap- able of nnderstnndint;' tlie liichlen nivsteries of nntnre was small indeed. I^aw could hardly he said to exist, or at best it was the law of the strongest, and each secret therefore which patient toil and clnmsy a])])li- ances liad wrested from the bosom of nature, was, for the benefit of the finder and his associates, disguised in symbols and its a])plicati()n veiled in allegory. As a result of this habit many valuable discoveries were lost and we are even now in these later days redisco- vering much which ages ago formed part of the lore of the Chaldees. It is unnecessary to discuss the fable that the world w^as created from nothing in seven days eiuling on a Friday evening 4000 years B. C. This figment has served to satisfy the curiosity of the ignorant and vulgar for a considerable time, but in a Lodge just ])erfect and regular we need not so degrade The Gicat Architect of the Universe as to fashion him aiter our puny likenesses. The theory of the constitution of this ])]anet and its place in the solar system, was doubtless to some- extent recognized from very early times ; it was l)elieved, at the earliest date from which we can take a departure, that this system is buta])art of others too vast for our ken and that all go through the same endless round, travelled alike by the earth and by the bodies we now inhabit, of expansion, contraction, and re-expansion, all in strict obedience to fixed natural law. Naturally however, the demonstration of this theory could then be comjn-ehended by but few% and in these later days when thought and enquiry are com- paratively free, I shall be pardoned, I hope for the tiite remark, that the Klohistic and Jehovistic accounts of Genesis to be found in the Hebrew ^vri tings Ave call the Volume of Sacred Law — are simply l>road allegoric; 1 statements, of doubtful authorship, poetical, and like all good ])oetry containing ])erliaps an elenu iit ( f truth in the kernel, if we have onl\- wit to ciack tiic nut. [ H ] It may also not be out of place here to state briefly what meanini>; the word '' God " is intended to convey in the following pages. Pari passu with the evolution of the human race there has apparently been developed an anthropomor- phic tendency which has led to the conception of a man-like being of illimitable powers to whose agency is to be ascribed the existence of every thing. The names given to this being are too numerous for recapitulation here, they refer to every known vice or virtue in its highest form of development. Masonically speaking however the only profession of belief required at the hands of a Mason is one in the omnipresent existence of a Force which we agree to designate God; whose infinite attributes we reverently investigate, seeking always to improve those faculties Avhich alone enable us to make any progress how^ever slow, and liowever infinitesmal, in comparison with the vastness of the subject, towards the Light. At the door of the Lodge the Mason leaves all religious questions, but Masonry precludes no man from following the faith of his fathers, if it so seems good to him, or the convictions of his heart, his consci- ence or his reason. In the terms I used just now, to wit Elohistic and Jehovistic as distinguishing two different theories of evolution, lies concealed an important fact. They are in truth two theories, one propounded by a writer who symbolized the creative force of nature under the name "El," the other by a follower of " Jah": — Whether of these twain is the more ancient is by no means certain, and at any rate we need not enter into the question in this place. Elohim " is a modern Hebrew corruption of Aleim " the plural of '' Al " or " El " which in Chaldee is the sun, the creator, masculine — it is made feminine in the plural and under this Symbol the femi- nine element, the preserver, was joined to it and the God became androoynoiis. i Jehovali — so pronounced according to the Maso- retic |)U!ictuation, or more correctly Jahveh was an- ciently written Jod-lie-vau-lie or leue, is identical with '' love " of the Latins and Etruscans — it is light sym- h')Iized l)y the letters Jod and Aleph, it is Alpha "and ( )niega, Jali — it refers to the male power exclusively. The two cults are frequently confounded one with another in the Hehrew traditions, but it may be broad- ly stated that the worship of Jahveh refers to a belief in one (h)minant force and that of Elohim to the deifi- cation of the separate manifestations of that force. There is not much to be said for the morality of either, but at anv rate while the latter deo-enerated into nature worship, devil worship and the lowest of superstitions, the former by virtue of its monotheistic basis had within it a germ of truth and with it we are principally concerned. From the earliest days, so soon as man had evolved the power of grouping facts and drawing inferences from them, it may be supposed that he experienced a natural craving to find some explanation of the system he saw in universal operation around him. Ceaselessly he saw the sun apparently rise and set, the moon wax and wane, the stars in their courses all obedient to some un- changing law, the seasons in endless succession produc- ing, ripening, dying and reproducing and he found him- self, in obedience to natural instincts, the active agent in reproducing his own species. He must have quickly noticed the close analogy existing between all forms of life from the lowest to the highest, so far as he was capable of ol)serving them, and with dimly awakened mind he ascribed it all to the operation of some mys- terious being, invisible, infinitely powerful, eternal. Unable as yet to conceive all attributes united in one force he symbolized each manifestation under appro- priate forms. But, while he, the initiated, and his fellows with intellects sharpened by use never committed the [10] mistake of confounding the creature with the creator, it was not so with the outside workl; tlieji came to adore the symbol instead of tlie force symbolized, and quickly perceiving the power which knowledge gave and at the same time how dangerous a weapon it was to intrust to the brute force of the mas.ses, the w^ise men, Magi, sons of Maia, Masons, kept their lore a profound secret from all hut the initiated. To keep their discoveries ever freshly in their minds they instituted mysteries or secret festivals witli many precautions against the intrusion of the profane; from these, w^ere in time developed the Eleusinian and other mysteries, of which more anon, and of these mysteries masonry formed a branch, but be it remem- beredj there were chapters within chapters; not even to every high priest of Isis was all the lore so patiently accumulated, so hardly w^on, revealed. Seed so pre- cious was not to be sown in unkindly soil and many tailed, many fainted by the way, more had not the requisite powers of mind to attain to eminence. Naturally the first object wdiich would strike the mind of primeval man with wonder, was the sun; impersonated as a male it was considered a God whose ])rincipal attribute was that of kindling life; it was the sun who enirendered the blade of corn within the l)odv O ..." of the Earth; he was the life giver, he it was who j)Linted the point or speck or seed of life within the circle or womb of the universe, that centre which is every where, that circumference wdiich is nowhere. AVitli the sun's name were comjiounded adjectives sig- nifying strength warmth, fruitfulness, brightness. He was rhra-on, Bra, Tra. — the chief Pharaoh. He is the most striking aiul important object depicted on this tracing board. The analogy between him and man's own power of reproducing his species soon became a|)parent and he was worship])ed under the symbol of the phallus or linga; in this form he was [II] c illed bv some Prbipus /". e. Plmi-ab, ])ra-ab, pra-apis, ab ine;ininii- tbe fatber, licnce in its full ineaning "tbe 81111 tbe fatlier." lluw tbis worsbii) was develoj^ed, fell into extremes of coarseness, and finally was strip])ed of tbat coarseness and clotbed in symbols till tbe real meaning is difficult to find, we sball see later; for tbe present 1 would only name tbat tbe rude stone column or pillar wbicb was an emblem of tbe sun, by degrees ])ecame symbolically ornamented until we bave tliree orders of arcbitecture you see on tbe board before you. I may bere name tbat tbe words pillar, pole, and tbeir congeners are derived from tbe Sanscrit ^ pbal ' to burst, to ])roduce, to be fruitful, also a plougbsbare, bence Pballus means be breaks tbrougb or passes into, and worsbi]) of tbe God under tbis form is us|^aliy known as Pballic Worsbij); it is common to all coun- tries, all ages and exists still among our neighbours tbe Japanese and Hindus in nearly its pristine forms. Every tem])le was originally a microcosm of tbe uni- verse as tben understood, in imitation of wbicb tbey were surrounded witb pillars recording astronomical observations. Tbe most usual number was 40, as at Stonebenge and Abury, two of wbicb as in tbose Druidic circles were distinguisbed from tbe otbers, standing at tbe porcb, as emblems of tbe male and female principles; tbey were in fact Jacbin and Boaz; tbe real meaning of tbe former is Jab strengtbens. Jab is bot Avitb des'ire, and Boaz bas tlie same pballic meaning referring to tbe otber sex; tbe signification of pillars bowever and tbe astronomical knowledge tbey preserved belong more fitly to anotber place. To tbe point witbin tbe circle I bave already alluded, it was doubtless meant to symbolize tbe act of generation — tbe union of tbe pballus and tbe Yoni — and tbe mosaic ])avement next calls for notice. Tbis was framed witb no idle idea of beauty, furtber tban tbat all knowledo-e is in a sense beautiful. [12] but was probably connected with some practical use in the art of counthig. I need scarcely say that when our mysteries were first celebrated, the Arabic nume- rals were unknown and the Chaldee must have required some such contrivance as the Chinese swan- pan to make them available for purposes of calcuhition, add(^d to which the arts of writing and aritlmietic were originally one, and one of the most valuable of the secrets of the initiated. To give an instance of the attainments of the ancient mathematicians I would name that 350 years B. C. the philosopher Callisthenes, grandson of Aristotle, who accompanied Alexander on his Asiatic expedition obtained in Babylon a series of astronomical observations ranging back through 1903 years, and Professor Draper states that the Babylonian estimate of the value of the cycle of the Saros (more than 6585 days, was within nineteen and a half minutes of the truth. The mosaic pavement was |)robably an enormous abacus or counting board the squares or " chequers " of which were utilized in calculation: the word che- quers still survives in our '• Court of the Exchequer " the floor of which was originally in chequers also. The history of the shape of the Lodge and of the blazing star in the centre of the board belong more properly to the consideration of the lecture in the next degree, (though as regards the former I find I nnist here make some brief mention) so that there remains now but one important feature to notice namely tlie 72 triangles w^ith their points outward or downward which surround the board, known as the indented or tesselated border. The number 72 is a survival of an ancient myth. The Sun-god was thought to have divided the year into 12 months, with 12 signs, into each of which lie ])assed successively; the whole year was divided into two hemispheres of six months each, light and dark- [13] ness; expansion, contraction; life, death; during; one of Avhich the Genius of good or light prevailed, and during the other, the power of darkness or evil. Each month was divided into 12 ])arts, assigned to the attendants of the disciple, or vice-god who ruled the month and these multiplied by six for the hemisphere oave 72, a mvstic nimiber, which will further be explained hereafter; it referred to the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes about which I hope to speak when considering the lecture in the third degree. The triangular form has been chosen by all an- cient nations as a symbol of deity — the equilateral triangle being regarded as the most perfect of figures from the consideration that it could not be resolved any farther — it had also a special signification with w^hich we are more inunediately concerned viz: — The letter Delta, a triangle standing on its base was used by the Greeks, wdio brought the idea from the East, to express the pudendum muliebre. Daleth in Hebrew and Delta in Greek signify the door of a house, also the outlet of a river, while the figure re- versed, i. €. standing on its apex, was held to represent the overshadow^ing fringe and w^as an emblem of secrecv.* I have still to refer briefly to the shape of the Lodge which is stated in the usual Lecture to be of an oblong scjuare: in the length from East to West, in breadth between North and South, in depth from the surface of the earth to the centre and even as high * On the front of the temple of Isis at Sais was the following description of her, in the form of a V apex downwards in Seven lines: 1 Isis am all that has been that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever me unvei Ic d [11] as the lieavens. Why tiie lirotlicr or h ret 1 iron who are respoiisihle for our ritual shouhl have consicU'red these diuiensious t:) form an oblong- scjuare 1 cannot iinaoine hut at anv rate the meaning- given has nothing- whatever to do with the matter. The Lodge is no d(niht tlie Aik or sacred Arglia of the Hindus — this was an obh)ng- vessel of a sug- gestively sexual character u^^ed by the High ju'iests as a sacrificial chalice, in the worsliip of Isis, Astarte and similar deities. According to some of the most ancient theories the world was supposed to be destroyed and renewed at the end of certain ])eriods and this ])rocess was suj)posed to be of immense, j^erhaps eternal dura- tion. At the moment of destruction Brahme Maia w^as believed to be in a state of inaction or repose, and the male and female generative powers of nature were said to float or brood, in conjunction, on the surface of the viscous matter w^iich was held to be the matrix of all things. This operation of the two powers is described by tlie Linga or Phallus in the shape of a mast fixed in the Yoni in the shape of a boat, navis, nave, Argha or Ark, floating- in sj)ace. Emblems in this form are countless and it may be that the position of the Senior Warden's colunni during the time that the Lodge is at work is aniong the number. So in the centre of the Lodge, which is the Argha, the ark, the nave or ship as it would more correctly be painted, is the Sun, the Linga, giver of life; round the Lodge are the yonis the preservers of life, in their second capacity as guardians of his secrets, and how that life is best employed, hoAv to get the utmost benefit from that priceless outcome of ages of evolution, it is to be hoped we may learn from the lore which has been handed down to us b}^ our brethren in Freemasonry who have gone before. In conclusion let nic rccn])itulatetlie points wlici'cin I conceive that the lecture as usually (k'livered is wrong: l.y/. — Tenij)les were oiiginally in all j)r()bability round, or built in some shape more or less circular for purposes of recording astroiiomicjvi'discoveries. 2)1(1. — The three reasons given why the Lodge stands on lioly ground are inaccurate as they are drawn from the mythical history of a tribe of Asiatics of comparatively small real im|)ortance (though pufied up by bigoted priests and ])seudo historians to an enormous apparent size) and the history of our symbols long antedates the a])pearance of this tribe on the world's stage. P)7y/. — ^^The esoteric signification of the Pillars is phallic or referring to the mystery of reproduction. 4///. — The Hebrew scriptures should not be arrogantly called The Volume of the Sacred law inas- nuu'h as, for a Pai'see, the Zend Avesta and for a Buddhist, the Dhammapada, are equally volumes of the sacred law — the ()])ligations on each are ecpially binding, and both these two latter are well known by competent schoLirs to have been codified prior to the former. hfli. — The tesselated border refers to an astrono- mical calculation. 6///. — The ])()int within the circ^le had originally a more or less phallic signification. Ifh. — AVhile always c ireful to preserve the real ancient landmarks of our order I believe we should strive after further enlightenment rather than doggedly adhere to a ritual which tends to retain us in the prison of fgn oi a nee. THE SECOND DEGREE IX this degree as in others, the origin of certain symbols and ceremonies is customarily assigned to events as recorded in the Hebrew writings styled collectively The Bible and it will be well therefore here to state as concisely as possible what amount of credence is to be attached to these records viewed by the light of recent research. I may sum it up by saying, historically speaking, very little; scientifically, physically and morally, less; and as supernatural or divinely revealed, none at all — according to the con- clusions arrived at by Professor Duncker, Dr. Inmaii and many other eminent writers. The Jews can hardly be described as anything but a number of scattered bands of Asiatic thieves until the time when David consolidated them into a nation, and even then and at the highest point of their pros- perity as a nation, they were but a small tribe having little influence on the then known world. The tales of their grandeur and magnificence were mostly fictions invented in true oriental fashion, to flatter the pride and vanity of a weak people. After their consolidation under David, the Jewish nation, which by the way was largely composed of foreign mercenaries, had all the brutal propensities of a band of bravos; they were proud, sensual, ignorant, superstitious and cruel. The prowess of David and of one special band of cutthroats which he kept as a body guard (The Gibborim) was magnified by their successors who prided themselves upon a descent from these worthies and despised all others. [IS] So far as Moses and Joshua are concerned, there is good reason to believe that they are both mythical personages, and possibly both symbolical of the sun. The story of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses and the first seven books of the Old Testament were fabricated shortly after the Grecian captivity or say about B. C. 800 to 700 at about which period the pro- phecies of Joel, Amos, Obadiah and Micah were first written down, together with all the tales about Egypt &c. and the exj^ant traditions of David and his suc- cessors. Much of the Pentateuch including the giving of the Law was framed about Josiah's time, but all ejirly manuscripts (if any existed) were lost during the Babylonish captivity and when eventually committed to writing as spoken of above, the record so made was never public property but was altered from time to time to suit the priestly intrigue of the day. The Old Testament as we have it, amalgamates Grecian, Phoenician, Babylonian, and Persian mythology and rites of worship into a heterogeneous mass which forms the Hebrew religion and it is to be noted that there is an almost total absence of Egyptian elements in Jewish books and nomenclature such as could hardly fail to exist had the tribe ever really been in Egypt; the whole story of the journey thither and exodus was probably a fiction of the Ephrainitic writer who compiled the account. The origin ascribed to certain signs in this degree is therefore clearly erroneous and they are more pro- bably in part derivable from the Egyptian attitude of adoration if indeed they have any very ancient origin at all. The object to which our attention is according to ancient custom specially directed in this degree is a certain letter and in the established lecture commonlv [ly] delivered on the Tracing board of this degree you are told that this represents the great Architect of the Universe. In the various sections into which the usual Lecture is divided we are told that we are expected to make the liberal arts and sciences more expecially geometry, our study; various explanations of the constitution iji' the earth, &c. are also usually given, which we need no h>nger notice any more than it is in these days necessary to enter into an elaborate disproof that the sun moves round the earth. They sufficed for a time when men were content to accept the theories of ancient writers, even more ignorant than they, as divinely inspired and therefore of necessity true; and unhappily our uninitiated forefathers neglected the Masonic axiom which should be Truth at any cost and made their facts and explanations to accord with their theories. But indeed as has been said by a learned bro- ther of our craft, all these apparent absurdities had an allegorical meaning; they do not. prove as some persons have imagined, the falsity of our religion; they only prove that the esoteric religion has not been throw^n open to the vulgar. The esoteric religion was a masonic mystery and all that will, may learn. As regards the aforesaid letter however. In ancient Lodges this was more probably written in the Hebrew form Jeue, Jod-he-vau-he or in Chaldee, Jod Aleph and Pe, for the Chaldeans adored the light and symbolized it by the letters Jod Aleph and Pe by which was meant the extreme terms of diffusion of matter in the seven planetary bodies. Jod answering to the sun, Aleph to the moon and Pe to Saturn. The connection between Jod and Jah \^ obvious and we may notice the sun rays which on our Tracing board are emblematical of the light, light intellectual. Jao, as the Linga, is also as may be noted placed in Daleth as the Yoni, knowledge, This name was symbolized [20] only, never written: for our ancient brethren, aware of human tendencies towards anthropomor])hisni, enjoined that the name of God should be kept a pro- fonnd secret and never uttered, lest men should attempt to define the indefinite, limit the illimitable, knov^ the unknowable, and so the creature be worshipped in the place of the creator. Of the two pillars Jachin and Boaz and their phallic meaning I have spoken in another place but these pillars and their congeners play such an important part in the history of ancient symbolism that I cannot refrain from again referring to them. Similar pillars appear to have been placed in front of temples of almost all generative gods of all nations in all climes and from the remotest antiquity, they seem not only to have been phallic emblems in wdiich capacity their form as symbolizing the male power is suflficiently suggestive but under the name of Thoth or Hermes they represented the god of Boundaries to offend whom by removing land marks was a capital crime. There are still remains of two pillars in front of the ruins of the temple of Ceres at Eleusis. There were two in front of the temple of Baal erected in Judea about the year 900 B. C. In an engraving from an old gnostic gem (vide Plates to Higgins Anacalypsis) representing Samson carrying ofiP the gates of Gaza, it may be seen that he is bearing two pillars. In the travels of Fa Hsien about A. D. 400, it is recorded that at Chu-sa-lo or Oude, the elder Hsii-ta built a shrine. On the eastern face he made the entrance, and on each side placed a stone pillar (Giles's Record of the Buddistic Kingdoms^ page 41 ) similar pillars may be commonly seen in the present day even, before the gates of temples all over the east. In the ancient mysteries it was said that under or in the shadow of these pillars the initiate not only sought but acquired his knowledge. It is possible this referred to the vow of continence required from the Ilierophants of Eleusis in entering [21]- Upon their obligations, wlio ns we learn from St. Jerome were accustomed to anoint themselves with hemlock juice to aid them in keeping their vows " Herbis etiam quibusdam emasculabantur: unde jam coire non poterant." — Students of psychology will be at no loss to perceive the connection between the repres- sion of sexual instincts while the senses were continually being affected by phallic emblems and ceremonies and cerebral excitement. The reason why the columns should have been in pairs however is by no means satisfactorily established. As we have before stated the Hebrew names imply different sexes but the symbolism in the case of the female sex seems very obscure. The reader may have heard in the explanation commonly given that they were adorned with two chapiters each five cubits high and enriched with net Avork, lilywork, and pomegranates, one hundred in each row, as well as with two spherical balls, of which adornments certain fiinciful explanations are usually given and I may as well name here that, (1) as regards the net work^ (which/ by the way we may further notice in the upper chamber of the Lodge painted on this board) it is intended to symbolize the barred access to knowledge which is not to be forced open without difficulty. Anciently this symbol is referred to euphe- mistically in the Ilebrew writings as a ' Grove;' it consisted of a simple pillar in the centre of a lozenge- like figure crossed Avith a lacing of cord tied up with 13 knots to represent the lunar months and was a symbol of Isis; universal mother yet still ' virgo intacta.' (2) Lilij work. The exact meaning of this is involved in some obscurity, but as in numerous ancient Assyrian gems the fleur de lys or lily is to be found used as an antithesis to the yoni it may be supposed to symbolize creative force, or we might perhaps more correctly say, evolution. (3) Fomegranate. From the shape of this fruit and the number of seeds which it contains it was selected as a fitting' emblem of the earth, the univei'sal [-22] mother; it was united with hells in the adornment of the rohes of the Jewish high priest. On Jachin and Boaz there were 100 pomegranates each with six leaves or rays at the top of the fruit (Parkhursf); on the high priest's robes there were 72 also each with six leaves; these two sets of numbers multiplied together give 600 and 432 respectively; the numbers of years in certain astronomical cycles of which more anon. I may further name that in Solomon's temple the pome- granate was united w-ith lilies and probably with the lotus, the latter still in Buddhist symbolism the mascu- line triad. Next as regards geometry and kindred studies; it w^ould be presumptuous in me to dilate on the pleasures to be found in the study of the exact sciences; all those who tread such ])aths know well what rich rewards the pursuit of knowdedge brings, it may however be of some interest to keep in mind, the painful strug- gles of our forefathers, by w^hose labours after light we in this day see less dimly, just as we may naturally liope that the names of those who now are engaged in a similar pursuit w^ill, in the ages yet to come, be honourably remembered; — so through their works to speak to millions yet unborn and thus achieve their noblest immortality. As regards the science of numbers; to quote from the late Mr. J. S. Mill, " the proposition that two and one are equal to three expresses merely a truth known to us by early and constant experience; an inductive truth, and such truths are the foundation of the science of number. The fundamental truths of that science all rest on the evidence of sense; they are proved by showing to our eyes and our fingers that any given number of objects, 10 balls for example, may be separa- tion and re-arrangement exhibit to our senses all the different sets of numbers the sum of which is equal to 10." [ -'^^ J Passing over the earliest struggles of primeval man with numbers, the most ancient division of time, though this too is prehistoric, was probably. 1 year =^12 months =^ 1 circle =12 signs 1 month = 30 days ^= 1 sign = 50 degrees 1 day = 60 hours = 1 degree = 60 hours 1 hour = 60 minutes = 1 liour = 60 minutes 1 minute= 60 seconds = 1 minute = 60 seconds and when man had anived at this point he must already have made considerable jn'ogress in astronomy, he must have discovered the lunar year of 13 periods each of about 28 days, which w(mld presumably be far nearer the truth than the solar year as up to that time known. He would have further divided the circle thus, takins: the five fint>ers of the hand as the initial means whereby such calculations were wrought out: — 5 degrees = 1 dodecan = 5 degrees 2 dodecans = 1 decan = 10 ,, 3 decans = 1 signs = 30 ,, 3 signs = 1 quadrant = 90 ,, 4 quadrants = 1 circle = 360 ,, The cycle of 432 years to which I have before alluded and which was the base of the great Indian cycles was arrived at in the following manner. In each sign there are 6 decans and 12 signs in the year or circle; therefore 72 became a sacred number refer- ring to the ordinary year and this again multiplied by 6 became the great year, of 432. The reader will recollect the 72 triangles formino* the tesselated border, which I referred to in a former place, and numberless other instances where 72 is found in ancient writings and mysteries will doubtless be called to mind. The cycle of the Neros, or of 600 years, arose in all probability later, i. e. so soon as it liad been disco- vered by astronomical observations that a prc^cession [ -'4 ] of tbe Equinoxes at the rate of about 1 degree in 72 years ( 50^' 9 '" f in a year) was nearly correct, or at any rate more nearly correct than the earlier calculation. The complete elucidation of these numbers in their different bearings would take too long for our present purpose and the calculations themselves are moreover Avithin the reach of all ; suffice it to say that the nnmbers 5, 7, (this latter number from the number of the planets, the Sun, the Moon, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Venus and Saturn) 12, 60, 72, 432, and 600 have from time immemorial been held sacred and will be found intimately connected with a very large proportion of the myths in which ancient scienti- fic discoveries were veiled. Their esoteric meanins: was known to the initiated and it is almost beyond question that in the most ancient times from which our order dates, the High priests of the Light that had no Avritten name, were themselves Arch Masons; who else indeed could have constructed the temples each of which was a microcosm of the universe so far as known and every detail of which recorded a discovery ? How the tide of knowledge ebbed and flowed just TtS victory inclined either to the side of brute ignorance, sensuality, and darkness, or to the side of truth and light is written in the history of every nation, and in the earliest times of which that history speaks we shall find the Brahme-Maia, Linga-Yoni, that is, the male and female principles in union, were the svmbol of the deitv adored. After a while came division; in the East the follow- ers of the Linga prevailed and the Yonijahs were driven westward; hence the wars of the Mahabharata, the fabled wars spoken of in the Greek myths, and other legends. Unhappily too not to end there, for the same contest has been waged but some few centuries apo. how cruellv let hecatombs of martvs tell, in our [25] own land between the followers of the Virgin the universal mother and the followers of the Creative power. No where has knowledge found a more bitter foe than among the ranks of the priesthood, the half- initiated, possessed of that little knowledge which is such a perilous acquisition, w^ho seeing, have not seen, and hearing, have not understood. It is against these, that we as Masons seeking after light have often to contend, though mindful always of the benefits wo owe them, for though done unwittingly, it is to them we owe the preservation of many of our mysteries. To paraphrase a saying of that great sage Con- fucius : — Man's highest knowledge is to gauge ance. ^ IN THE THIRD DEGREE. We now come to the tracing board of the third degree, fitly called the sublime degree of a M. M. in that we here touch the threshold of our knowledge, here complete the triune symbol of Force creative, Force preservative and Force destructive, the real trinit}^; so complete and interwoven that each act of either is Init the operation of all. Unlike the other Tracing boards, this one contains no symbol which is not self evident to every M. M. but it is not so generally known how the rites in which we have all taken part originated, or what they were originally intended to symbolize, and these points I will endeavour to explain as briefly as may be. It may perhaps not be uninteresting if before going farther I give as far as I am permitted a short account of the rite of initiation as anciently practised at least as far as the paralellism to our own third degree extends. Of the higher and more perfect rites I shall hope to speak on some future occasion. I have chosen the mysteries of Isis as an example as these have perhaps been more commented upon than others but those of Eleusis, Dionysos, of the Essenes and in the present day of certain Hindu sects might be described in almost the same words. MYSTERIES OF ISIS, The initiate was divested of all clothing, sprinkled with water by the priest, brought into the temple and placed in the East at the feet of the goddess where he remained in meditation for ten days, fasting from wine, flesh, fish, and all luxurious food, and preserving strict continence * After ten days he was clothed in a new linen garment and brought into the inner apartment of the sanctuarv where an oath of secrecv was exacted from him, he was then blindfolded and subjected to great torments, eventually being left, with the bandage indeed taken from his eyes, but in total darkness in the rock hewn labyrinth beneath the Temple. While he re- mained here his senses were appealed to by terrible sounds, flashes of lurid light, apparitions in horrible forms flitted by him, disgusting odours filled the air, until weary and worn out with fasting and excitement the neophyte believed himself on the borders of death, whence he was finally rescued, light restored to him and certain physical explanations of the symbolical ceremonies he had gone through were communicated to him. He was then arrayed in twelve stoles (emblema- tical of the months) on which were embroidered the signs of the zodiac, and the first part of the initiation then concluded with a feast. * This condition will be wondered at less when it is remembered that the temples of the gods were in many cases little else than public brothels as for instance: — The Jewish Temple in the time of Eli, the temples of Mylitta, Baal, Ceres and Laksmi Nayarana, with countless others — and enforced continence in the midst of such scenes as those by which he was surrounded might naturally lead to great cerebral excitement in the initiate and consequent hallucinations. [ 50 ] The second degree was also prefaced like the former one with a fast of ten days, but the neophyte does not appear to have been subjected to any terrify- ing experiences as in the case of his initiation. It should be named however that during the interval which had elapsed between his initiation and summons to enter further into the mysteries, he had been most carefully watched; his every movement, nay almost every thought spied out and unless the results of this espionage were eminently satisfactory, he received no summons and never made further progress towards the light. Few indeed were they who were admitted to the second degree and shared the orgies of Serapis. Fewer still they who made the final step which opened the door of the adytum. In the second degree, w^ere communicated the secrets of astronomy, the movements of the planets in relation to the sun, and the postulant was instructed in mathematics and kindred sciences. He further received a certain portion of the revenues of the temple and shared to some extent in the sacred services. He was still kept under the same strict surveillance, he was expected to fast often, to spend much of his time in meditation and introspection, when not engaged in studying the application of such formulae as had been entrusted to him, and finally if judged worthy he was summoned to the final initiation, the result of which was said to be either Death, Madness, or Mastery over matter. The oath of secrecy seems to have been exacted but once, the penalty attaching to the violation of it however was invariably carried out and involved the unlawfid recipient of the secret as well as the discloser. Hence, if it ever has been divulged no record remains of such an act of perfidy. The trials to which the postulant was subjected surpassed in severity all his previous experience, were of long duration, borne with complete abstinence from food [ •'" ] whetlier solid or liquid and all that can be gathered from such hints as have been dropped by those who have survived the trial, is, that after the last dread moment where human endurance had been taxed to its \itmost, a semi-stupor supervened and when conscious- ness returned — to quote a fragment of Strobeius mentioned by Dulaure, " Una lumiere miraculeuse et divine frappe les yeux; des plaines brillantes, des pres eraailles de fleurs se decouvrent de toutes parts; des hymnes et des choeurs de musique enchantent les oreilles. Les doctrines sublimes de la science sacree y font le sujet des entretiens. Des visions saintes et respectables tiennent les sens duns Tadmiration; I'initie est rendu parfait; desormais libre, il n'est plus asservi a aucune contrainte. Couronne, et triomphant, il se promene par les regions des bien heureux, et converse avec des hommes saintes et vertueux." To return however to the explanation of the symbols. In order to trace these it will be necessary to go back to the time when our forefathers invented the cycle of 4o2 years, from a consideration of which number it is evident by inspection that they had arrived at a point of astronomical knowledge which induced them to assign the period of 'JIG 'J years (5 times the above number) for the time occupied by the sun in his progress through one sign, this would give a precessional year of 25,920 years. In this progress and in the methods they employed to correct the error in their calculation lies a j)ortion of the secret of our rites. Asking pardon therefore for the recapitulation of fiicts so well known I would here name that the earth as our forefathers were well aware has three motions; that of revolution round the sun, its parent, that of revolution round its own axis and that which has been compared to the swaying motion of a top about to cease 'spinning — though in this simile there is one important difference. III a top about to cease spinning the conical rotation of the axis takes place in the same direction as the r(^tation of the toj) about the axis unless the centre ot gravity of the whole mass be depressed below the point of suspension, in which case as in the case of the earth, the pole of the axis will revolve about the pole of the ecliptic in an opposite direction to that in which it revolves about its own axis. This motion waxes and wanes, to and from a position of perfect parallelism to its own axis and the lime- occupied in so moving determines the precession of the equinoxes. If the constitution of the earth were such that the resultant of the attractions exerted on all its parts by any other body should always pass through a definite point in its mass, its diurnal rotation would not be affected by the attraction of any other bodies. If origin- ally revolving about a principal axis of inertia it would continue to do so and the direction of the axis would be constant. As a fact however, the attractions of various bodit-s, the sun and moon especially, on the oblate portion at the equator, tend to give it a rotation about an axis in the plane of the equator and the combination of these two rotations gives rise to a shifting of the ins- tantaneous axis of rotation in the earth and also in space. In fact the precession of the equinoxes is a slow retro- grade motion of the equinoctial points from E to W or contrary to the order of the signs i. e. from Aries to Pisces, and it is in consequence of this that the constel- lations have changed the position assigned to them by ancient astronomers. The equinoctial points during the time of Aristarchus (300 B. C.) were fixed on the first stars of Aries and Libra, but now the first star of Aries is in that portion of the ecliptic or great circle in which the sun appears to move, which is known as Taurus, the stars of Tauriri in Gemini and so on. [32] The stars therefore which in Aristarchiis' time were in conjuiiction with the sun when it was in the efjuinox are now a whole sign or 3('° to the eastward. The ecliptic is divided into 4 quadrants or ares of 1)^'° each, by the equinoctial points and solstices, (the latter being the periods when the sun is at its greatest distance from the equator viz: at 2'2nd June and '22nd December.) These quadrants are divided each into o arcs of o(»° each, called the signs of the Zodiac and the latter are named from the constellations which happened to be found in each when the division of the ecliptic was fir^t made. These divisions do not now cincide with the constellations owing to the retrograde movement spoken of, though the names are still preserved. Astronomical calculations are made from that point of intersection of the equator and ecliptic which is the ])osition of the sun in the heavens on the 21st March and which is known as the first point of Aries. The time occupied between the periods when the earth is parallel to its own axis i. e. the time occupied in the precession of the equinoxes, the great j'ear, is com- puted at 2r),s;68 years. Our foreftithers theref )re found hy observation that their calculations were out by a little more than a day an a quarter in each year. They took their departure as regards time from the beginning of the ])recessional year when by computing backwards they found that the sun entered the first ])oint of Aries about the 21 Ft of our March. This day they considered the aniversary of the birth of the Sun, the creator, the life giver, to accomplish which birth it was necessary that he should have first died ; they fixed the date of his death as after the 22nd or 25th of December or in the time of the winter solstice and figuratively spoke of the intercalary time as of a period when the sun wandered in Sheol the land of shadows, Hell, as early christian divines have rendered it. About the 23rd March at the vernal equinox when all nature rejoices [33] with retiinnng spring tliey celebrated the birth with annual rejoicing in allegorical ceremonies. T(^ these two festivals we owe tl.e myths of the births, deaths, descents into Sheol and resurrections of all the S.ivioiirs of mankind. Osiris, Ormuzd, Mithra, Adonis, Brahma, Cristna, Hercules, Buddha, Christ, of every one of whom the same story has been told with but the trifling variations in detail induced by the difference of locality. To show you more plainly the parallelism between the rites in which we have all participated and those of early Magi or Masons, let me briefly describe one scene the details of" which have been transmitted to us by an eyewitness after a lapse of nearly two thousand five hundred years. The scene is laid in Baalbec. The time, midnight on the 24th December some 450 years B. C. Far above the mighty city of Heliopolis low croucliing at its feet towered the temple of Baal, Lord of the sun. All through the starlit night there had been scarcely a break in the long line of worshippers thronging towards the grandest fane the world has ever seen, its origin lost in the mists of ages; which even now, in ruins mocks the greatest efforts of the mason of to-day — but then, in all its glory of hewn stone and carven pillar, of inlaid work and mystic emblem, was the seat of all the learning of the east, the repository of the lore of the Chaldees. In the peristyle of the temple were 54 columns. The outer court was about 300 feet in length by 160 feet in breadth and covered four acres of ground, leading at the nortlfern end into an octagonal court 160 feet in diameter. On the west, was the especial temple of Ra; on the east the smaller temple of Isis, this latter larger than the Parthenon of later days. Beneath the whole were subterranean chambers of vast extent wherein were celebrated the more hidden mysteries and wherein were held the highest chapters of the perfect arch-masons, high priests of Isis, Magi; around the great court ran double rows of pillars, in number recording the astronomical discoveries of the time. These were surmounted by a frieze on which were graven mystic signs referring also to the secrets of the initiated. The centre of the court was open to the vault of heaven. Through the long day, tlioiisands of priests had din n ted hymns in praise of Rn, standing in the octagonal temple wlierein was the altar of Isis, behind the altar a veil covering the Universal Mother; on her right the figure of Osiris, on her left the image of Typhon; the Mystic Trinity; Life, Preservation, Death; now however no priests stood within the inner temple and all the crowd in the outer court were hushed in silent expectation. Then from the aisles on either side stole files of white robed priests and from behind the altar came the high priest of Isis crying aloud Ilea?' ye People ! this night we mourn the death of our God Osiris. He, returning hither over the wine- dark sea after that lie had rescued the nations from darkness and the plagues sent by the angry Gods, after that he had taught them wisdom and given them light; was slain by Typhon dweller in darkness, jealous of the blessings given to mortals. His body, rent asunder, was scattered to the four winds, neither was the place of burial known, llim, sorrowing, Isis long sought; reverently she collected the members save only those devoured by the tish, and brought them hither. Far and wide her lamentations resounded to the blue vault of Heaven, nor was Ea unmindful of her prayers. Again he raised the dead to life and light returned to bless the dwellers on the earth. Then brought the acolytes the sacred ark and placed it before the high priest. In front of it came and stood a youth as beautiful as the day. Him the high priest smote till as one lifeless he fell into the ark, its door was closed upon his form, and then the h-gh priest rent his clothes and cried with a loud voice, Osiris our God is dead. Lights were put out and from all the people rose a great wail, as of a mother mourning for her first-born. All through the night, through the next day and till the morning of the third day, feigned the priests to search for. the limbs of the youth that had been slain. 'Jlien when the morning broke and all the people waited as before in the great court of the temple, came the liigh priest and raised the youth from out the ark saying. Rejoice O Sacred Initiated your God is risen, his death, his pains and sufferings have worked your salvation. And all the people shouted and sang praises to Osiris celebrating his new birth with great festivity. The connection of this myth with our mysteries is so obvious that I need say little more in expLiuation of the tracing board of this degree, but it may not unnatu- rally be demanded from those who show that the Hebrew Scriptures are no more divine than the Vedas, the [ 35 J Avesta, the Dhammapada or the Koran and tl.at the Mosaic cosmogony is but the unscientilic specuUuion of some literary Jew who lived about 80() or 90o years B. C. — that some better theory shall be supplied to fill tlie place of that which has been demonstrated to be f\dse. Such a task has been happily accomplished. Known or guessed at by the Magi of old, lo-t, when the tide of knowledge ebbed for nearly 1200 years, per- ceived by Kant, worke