EAST PORT.
An error in the Lansdowne Manuscript, where the expression "the city of East Port" occurs as a corruption of "the cities of the East."
EAVESDROPPER.
A listener. The punishment which was directed in the old lectures, at the revival of Freemasonry in 1717, to be inflicted on a detected cowan was: "To be placed under the eaves of the house in rainy weather, till the water runs in at his shoulders and out at his heels." The French inflict a similar punishment: "On le met sous une gouttiere, une pompe, ou une fontaine, jusqu'à ce qu'il soit mouillé depuis la tete jusqu'aux pieds," meaning They put him under the rain-spout, a pump, or a fountain, until he is drenched from head to feet. Hence a listener is called an eavesdropper. The word is not, as has by some been supposed, a peculiar Masonic term, but is common to the language. Skinner gives it in his Etymologicon, and approvingly calls it vox sane elegantissima, aptly sound word; and Blackstone (Com, mentaries iv, 13) thus defines it:
Eavesdroppers, or such as listen under walls, or windows, or the eaves of a houses to hearken after discourse and thereupon to frame slanderous and mischievous tales, are a common nuisance and presentable at the court leet- or are indictable at the sessions. and punishable by fine and finding sureties for their good behavior.
EBAL.
According to Mackenzie, Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia, the following was introduced into the lectures of Freemasonry in the eighteenth century:
Moses commanded Israel that as soon as they had passed the Jordan, they should go to Sheehem, and divide into two bodies, each composed of six tribes one placed on, that is, adjacent to, Mount Ebal: the other on, or adjacent to, Mount Gerizim.
The six tribes on or at Gerizim were to pronounce blessings on those who should faithfully observe the law; and the six on Mount Ebal were to pronounce curses against those who should violate it.
This Joshua executed. Moses enjoined them to erect an altar of unhewn stones on Mount Ebal, and to plaster them over, that the law might be written on the altar. Shechem is the modern Nabious (see also Deuteronomy xxvii, and Joshua viii, 30-35).
EBEN BOHAN.
The stone which Bohan set up as a witness-stone, and which afterwards served as a boundary-mark on the frontier between Judah and Benjamin (see Joshua xv, 6, and xvii, 17).
EBEN-EZER.
Hebrew, xxx, pronounced, Eh'-ben haw-é-zer, and meaning stone of help. A stone set up by Samuel between Mizpeh and Shen in testimony of the Divine assistance obtained against the Philistines (see First Samuel vii, 12).
EBLIS.
The Arabian name of the prince of the apostate angels, exiled to the infernal regions for refusing to worship Adam at the command of the Supreme, Eblis claiming that he had been formed of ethereal fire, while Adam was created from clay. The Mohammedans assert that at the birth of their prophet the throne of Eblis was precipitated to the bottom of hell. Eblis of the Mohammedans is the Azazel in Hebrew, the desert spirit to whom one of the two goats was sent, laden with the sins of the people (see the Revised Version of the Bible, Leviticus xvi, 8, 10, 26). The word in the King James Version is scapegoat but in the original the word Azazel is a proper name.
EBONY BOX.
A symbol, in the advanced Degrees, of the human heart, which is intended to teach reserve and taciturnity, which should be inviolably maintained in regard to the incommunicable secrets of the Order. When it is said that the ebony box contained the plans of the Temple of Solomon, the symbolic teaching is, that in the human heart are deposited the secret designs and motives of our conduct by which we propose to erect the spiritual temple of our lives.
ECBATANA.
An ancient city of great interest to those who study the history of the rebuilding of the Temple. Its several names were Agbatana, Hagmatana, and Achmeta. Tradition attributes the founding of the city to Solomon, Herodotus to Deioces, 728 B.C., the Book of Judith to Arphaxad. It was the ancient capital of Media. Vast quantities of rubbish now indicate where the palace and citadel stood. The Temple of the Sun crowned a conical hill enclosed by seven concentric walls. According to Celsus, there was thus exhibited a scale composed of seven steps or stages, with an eighth at the upper extremity. The first stage was composed of lead, and indicated Saturn; the second, of tin, denoted Venus; the third, of copper, denoted Jupiter; the fourth, of iron, denoted Mars; the fifth, of divers metals, denoted Mercury; the sixth, of silver, denoted the Moon: the seventh, of gold, denoted the Sun; then the highest, Heaven. As they rose in gradation toward the pinnacle, all the gorgeous battlements represented at once—in Sabean fashion—the seven planetary spheres. The principal buildings were the Citadel, a stronghold of enormous dimensions, where also the archives were kept, in which Darius found the edict of Cyrus the Great concerning the rebuilding of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
ECHANGES D' ENFANTS, BUREAU MAÇONNIQUE GRATUIT POUR LES.
See Children's Exchange Bureau.
ECLECTIC BUND.
See Eclectic Union.
ECLECTIC FREEMASONRY.
From the Greek, eklektikos, which means selecting. Those philosophers who, in ancient times, selected from the various systems of philosophy such doctrines as appeared most conformable to truth were called Eclectic Philosophers. So the Confederation of Freemasons in Germany, which consisted of Lodges that selected the Degrees which they thought most conformable to ancient Freemasonry, was called the Eclectic Union, and the Freemasonry which it adopted received the name of Eclectic Freentasonry (see Eclectic Union).
ECLECTIC RITE.
The Rite practiced by the Eclectic Union, which see.
ECLECTIC UNION.
The fundamental idea of a union of the German Lodges for the purpose of purifying the Masonic system of the corruptions which had been introduced by the numerous Degrees founded on alchemy, theosophy, and other occult sciences which at that time flooded the continent of Europe, originated, in 1779, with the Baron Von Ditfurth, who had been a prominent member of the Rite of Strict Observance; although Lenning attributes the earlier thought of a circular letter to Von Knigge. But the first practical step toward this purification was taken in 1783 by the Provincial Grand Lodges of Frankfort-on-the-Main and of Wetzlar. These two Bodies addressed an encyclical letter to the Lodges of Germany, in which they invited them to enter into an alliance for the purpose of "re-establishing the Royal Art of Freemasonry." The principal points on which this union or alliance was to be founded were:
- 1. That the three symbolie Degrees only were to be acknowledged by the united Lodges.
- 2. That each Lodge was permitted to practise for itself such high Degrees as it might select for itself, but that the recognition of these was not to be made compulsory on the other Lodges.
- 3. That all the united Lodges were to be equal, none being dependent on any other.
These propositions were accepted by several Lodges, and thence resulted the Eklectischer Bund, or Eclectic Union of Germany, at the head ot which was established the Mother Grand Lodge of the Eclectic Union at Frankfort-on-the-Main. The system of Freemasonry practised by this union is called the Eclectic System, and the Rite recognized by it is the Eclectic Rite, which consists of only the three Degrees of Apprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Mason.
ECOSSAIS. .-.
- ECOSSAIS ANGLAIS SUBLIME.
- ECOSSAIS ARCHITECT, PERFECT.
- ECOSSAIS D'ANGERS or ECOSSAIS D'ALCIDONY.
- ECOSSAIS DES LOGES MILITAIRES.
- ECOSSAIS, ENGLISH.
- ECOSSAIS, FAITHFUL.
- ECOSSAIS, FRENCH.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND ARCHITECT.
- ECOSSAIS, GRAND MASTER.
- ECOSSAIS, KNIGHT.
- ECOSSAIS, MASTER.
- ECOSSAIS NOVICE.
- ECOSSAIS OF CLERMONT.
- ECOSSAIS OF ENGLAND.
- ECOSSAIS OF FRANVILLE.
- ECOSSAIS OF HIRAM.
- ECOSSAIS OF MESSINA.
- ECOSSAIS OF MONTPELLIER.
- ECOSSAIS OF NAPLES.
- ECOSSAIS OF PERFECTION.
- ECOSSAIS OF PRUSSIA.
- ECOSSAIS OF SAINT ANDREW.
- ECOSSAIS OF SAINT GEORGE.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE FORTY.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE LODGE OF PRINCE EDWARD
- ECOSSAIS OF THE SACRED VAULT OF JAMES VI.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE THREE J. J. J.
- ECOSSAIS OF THE TRIPLE TRIANGLE.
- ECOSSAIS OF TOULOUSE.
- ECOSSAIS PARFAIT MAITRE ANGLAIS.
- ECOSSAIS, PARISIAN.
- ECOSSAIS, PERFECT.
ECOSSAIS. .-.
This is a French word, pronounced a-ko-say, which Masonically is generally to be translated as Scottish Master. There are numerous Degrees under the same or a similar name; all of them, however, concurring in one particular, namely, that of detailing the method adopted for the preservation of the true Word. The American Freemason will understand the character of the system of Ecossaism, as it may be called, when he is told that the Select Master of his own Rite is really all Ecossais Degree. It is found, too, in many other Rites. Thus, in the French Rite, it is the Fifth Degree. In the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the Thirteenth Degree or Knights of the Ninth Arch is properly an Ecossais Degree. The Ancient York Rite is without an Ecossais Degree, but its principles are set forth in the instructions Of the Royal Arch. Some idea of the extent to which these Degrees have been multiplied may be formed from the fact that Oliver has a list of eighty of them; Ragon enumerates eighty-three; and the Baron Tschoudy, first rejecting twenty-seven which he does not consider legitimate, retains a far greater number to whose purity he does not object.
In the Ecossais system there is a legend, a part of which has been adopted in all the Ecossais Degrees, and which has in fact been incorporated into the mythical history of Freemasonry. It is to the effect that the builder of the Temple engraved the word upon a triangle of pure metal, and, fearing that it might be lost, he always bore it about his person, suspended from his neck, with the engraved side next to his breast. In a time of great peril to himself, he cast it into an old dry well, which was in the southeast corner of the Temple, where it was afterward found by three Masters. They were passing near the well at the hour of meridian, and were attracted by its brilliant appearance; whereupon one of them, descending with the assistance of his comrades, obtained it, and carried it to King Solomon. But the more modern form of the legend dispenses with the circumstance of the dry well, and says that the builder deposited it in the place which had been purposely prepared for it, and where centuries afterward it was found. And this amended form of the legend is more in accord with the recognized symbolism of the loss and the recovery of the Word.
The word Ecossais has several related meanings as follows:
- 1. The Fourth Degree of Ramsay's Rite, and the original whence all the Degrees of Ecossaism have sprung.
- 2 The Fifth Degree of the French Rite.
- 3 The Ecossais Degrees constitute the fourth class of the Rite of Mizraim—from the Fourteenth to the Twenty-First Degree.
In the accompanying articles only the principal Ecossais Degrees will be mentioned.
ECOSSAIS ANGLAIS SUBLIME.
Sublime English Scottish, the thirty-eighth grade, fifth series, Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS ARCHITECT, PERFECT.
The French expression is Ecossais Architecte Parfait. A Degree in the collection of M. Pyron.
ECOSSAIS D'ANGERS or ECOSSAIS D'ALCIDONY.
Two Degrees mentioned in a work entitled Philosophical Considerations on Freemasonry.
ECOSSAIS DES LOGES MILITAIRES.
French for Scottish (Degree) of Military Lodges, a grade in three sections in M. Pyron's collection.
ECOSSAIS, ENGLISH.
The French expression is Ecossais Anglais. A Degree in the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Rite.
ECOSSAIS, FAITHFUL.
The French expression is Ecossais Fidéle (see Vielle Bru).
ECOSSAIS, FRENCH.
The Thirty-fifth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS, GRAND.
The Fourteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite is so called in some of the French books.
ECOSSAIS, GRAND ARCHITECT.
The French expression is Grand Architecte Ecossais. The Fortyfifth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS, GRAND MASTER.
Formerly the Sixth Degree of the Capitular system, practised in Holland.
ECOSSAIS, KNIGHT.
A synonym of the Ninth Degree of Illuminism. It is more commonly called Illuminatus Dirigens in Latin.
ECOSSAIS, MASTER.
The Fifth Degree of the Rite of Zinnendorf. It was also formerly among the high Degrees of the German Chapter and those of the Rite of the Clerks of Strict Observance. It is said to have been composed by Baron Hund.
ECOSSAIS NOVICE.
A synonym of the Eighth Degree of Illuminism. It is more commonly called IUuminatus Major in Latin.
ECOSSAIS OF CLERMONT.
The Thirteenth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF ENGLAND.
A Degree in the collection of M. Le Rouge.
ECOSSAIS OF FRANVILLE.
The Thirty-first Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF HIRAM.
A Degree in the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scotch Rite.
ECOSSAIS OF MESSINA.
A Degree in the nomenclature of M. Fustier.
ECOSSAIS OF MONTPELLIER.
The Thirtysixth Degree of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF NAPLES.
The Forty-second Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF PERFECTION.
The Thirtyninth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF PRUSSIA.
A degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
ECOSSAIS OF SAINT ANDREW.
A not unusual form of Ecossaism, and found in several Rites as follows:
- 1. The Second Degree of the Clerks of Strict Observanee.
- 2. The Twenty-first Degree of the Rite of Mizraim
- 3. The Twenty-ninth Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite is also an Ecossais of Saint Andrew.
- 4. The Sixty-third Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France is an Ecossais of Saint Andrew of Scotland.
- 5. The Seventy-fifth Degree of the same collection is called Ecossaxs of Saint Andrew of the Thistle.
ECOSSAIS OF SAINT GEORGE.
A Degree in the collection of Le Page.
ECOSSAIS OF THE FORTY.
The French expression is Ecossais des Quarante. The Thirty-fourth Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF THE LODGE OF PRINCE EDWARD.
A Degree in the collection of Pyron. This was probably a Stuart Degree, and referred to Prince Charles Edward, the young Pretender.
ECOSSAIS OF THE SACRED VAULT OF JAMES VI.
The title refers to the following:
- 1. The Thirtv-third Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of Franee, said to have been eomposed bs the Baron Tsehoudy.
- 2. The Twentieth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
- 3. In the Freneh work this name has been given to the Fourteenth Degree of the Scottish Rite.
Chemin Dupontes says that the Degree was a homage paid to the kings of Scotland. Nothing, however, of this can be found in its present form; but it is very probable that the Degree, in its first concept tion, and in some ritual that no longer exists, was an offspringg of the house of Stuart, of which James VI was the first English king.
ECOSSAIS OF THE THREE J. J. J.
This re fers to each of the following:
1. The Thirty-second Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France
v
2. The Nineteenth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
The three J. J. J. are the mutials of Jourdain, Jaho, Jachin.
ECOSSAIS OF THE TRIPLE TRIANGLE.
The Thirty-seventh Degree of the collection of the Metropolitan Chapter of France.
ECOSSAIS OF TOULOUSE.
A Degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
ECOSSAIS PARFAIT MAITRE ANGLAIS.
French for Scottish Perfect English Master, a grade given by Pyron.
ECOSSAIS, PARISIAN.
So Thory has it; but Ragon, and all the other nomenclators, give it as Ecossais Panissiere. The Seventeenth Degree of the Rite of Mizraim.
ECOSSAIS, PERFECT.
A Degree in the archives of the Mother Lodge of the Philosophic Scottish Rite.
ECOSSISM.
A name given by French Masonic writers to the thirty-three Degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite. This, in English, would be equivalent to Scottish Freemasonry, which see.
ECUADOR.
A republic of South America. In l857 the Grand Orient of Peru introduced Freemasonry to Ecuador by establishing Lodges at Quito and Guayaquil.
The Dictator of Ecuador wished at first to join the Brotherhood but when admission to the Craft was refused him he proved a very powerful enemy. . Not until after he was killed in 1875 were conditions at all favorable for the growth of the Craft in this district.
A Grand Lodge is said to have existed at Guayaquil but its history is obscure and nothing is known until the Grand Lodge of Ecuador was established there in 1918. It was formed on the lines of civil governments having executive, legislative and judicial departments, but it was not considered altogether regular by other Grand Lodges.
Lodges Luz de Guaya9, No. 10; Cinco de Junio, No. 29, and Oriente Ecuatoriano, No. 30, all chartered by the Grand Lodge of Peru, sent delegates to an assem bly at Guayaquil on March 5, 1921, to consider the establishment of a Grand Lodge. On June 19, 1921, by authority of the Grand Lodge of Peru, the Grand Lodge of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the Republic of Ecuador was constituted.
The Grand Orient of Italy has a Lodge at Guayaquil. There is also in this city the headquarters of the Supreme Council of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Ecuador.
EDDA.
An Icelandic word, literally translated great-grandmother, as referred to in Scandinavian poetry. There are in reality two books of this name which were deemed inspired by the ancient Germans, Norwegians, and Swedes, and there grew out so many myths from these canonical writings, that great difficulty is now experienced as to what were apocryphal. The myths springing from the old German theology are full of beauty; they pervade Freemasonry extensively and so intimately that they are believed by many of the best students to be the origin of a large number of its legends and symbols.
The older of the two, called The Edda of Samund the Learned, was written in a language existing in Denmark, Sweden and Norway as early as the eighth century. Samund Sigfusson, an Icelandic priest born in 1056, collected thirty-nine of these poems during the earlier portion of the twelfth century. The most remarkable of these poems is the Oracle of the Prophetess, containing the cosmogony, under the Scandinavian belief, from the creation to the destruction of the world. A well-preserved copy was found in Iceland in 1643.
The younger Edda is a collection of the myths of the gods, and of explanations of meters of Pagan poetry, and is intended for instruction of young scalds or poets. The first copy was found complete in 1628. The prologue is a curious compendium of Jewish, Greek, Christian, Roman, and Icelandic legend. Its authorship is ascribed to Snorro Sturleson, born in 1178; hence called Edda of Snorro.
EDICT OF CYRUS.
Five hundred and thirty six years before the Christian era, Cyrus issued his edict permitting the Jews to return from the captivity at Babylon to Jerusalem, and to rebuild the House of the Lord.
At the same time he restored to them all the sacred vessels and precious ornaments of the first Temple, which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar, and which were still in existence (see Cyrus). This is commemorated in the Royal Arch Degree of the York and American Rites.
It is also referred to in the Fifteenth Degree, or Enight of the East of the Scottish Rite.
EDICTS.
EDICT VON 1798
The decrees of a Grand Master or of a Grand Lodge are called Edicts, and obedience to them is obligatory on all the Craft.
EDINBURGH.
The capital of Scotland. The Lodge of Edinburgh, Mary's Chapel, is No. 1 on the "Roll of Lodges holding under the Grand Lodge of Scotland," and is described therein as instituted "Before 1598." Nothing more precise is known as to the date of its foundation, but it possesses Minutes commencing in July, 1599. It met at one time in a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and from this is derived the second part of its name. Its history has been written by Brother D. M. Lyon, 1873 (see Scotland).
EDINBURGH, CONGRESS OF.
It was convoked, in l736 by William Saint Clair of Roslin, Patron of the Freemasons of Scotland, whose Mother Lodge was Canongate Kilwinning, with the view of abdicating his dignity as hereditary Grand Patron, with all the privileges granted to the family of Saint Clair of Roslin by the Operative Masons of Scotland early in the seventeenth century (see Saint Clair Charters) and afterward to organize freemasonry upon a new basis. The members of thirty-three Lodges uniting for this purpose, constituted the new Grand Lodge of Scotland, and elected Saint Clair as Grand Master on November 30, 1736 (see Saint Clair).
|
