THE BUILDER MAGAZINE
december 1915
volume 1 - number 12
THE HOUSE OF THE TEMPLE
BY THE EDITOR
WITH ceremonies solemn
and impressive, yet simple in spirit and eloquent in form, the new House
of the Temple was dedicated in Washington
city, October 18th, the home of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite in its
Southern Jurisdiction. It was a lovely day, and more than five thousand people,
including distinguished Masons from all over the country, witnessed the
consecration of one of the most unique and imposing build ings on this continent
- at once a monument to the founders of the Order and an emblem of the influence
and power of the Rite. As the Grand Prior sprinkled the oil, consecrating the
Temple to "Mutual Concession, Charitable Judgment, and Toleration," a White Dove
flew from across the street, entered the building, then returned to the bright
sunlight amid the acclaim of the assembly who interpreted it as a token in
accord with the Spirit of Masonry and the eternal fitness of things.
Our Frontispiece shows
the House of the Temple from the outside, and the accompanying illustrations
disclose two of its stately chambers; but to describe such a building in a few
words is too daring a thing to attempt. Truly, it is Freemasonry carved in
stone; a great Symbol in itself, epitomizing by virtue of its Simplicity in
Magnificence, its Grandeur and Beauty of conception, the Faith, the Philosophy,
the Genius and the Prophecy of the Order - cemented here, once for all, in a
noble emblem destined to withstand the storms of time and the mutations of human
tortune. In design it is a Square crowned by a Triangle, approached by Three,
Five, Seven and Nine steps, its gate guarded by a Sphinx on either side,
bespeaking the Wisdom and Power of God; and so it will stand as one generation
cometh and another generation goeth, a mute but eloquent witness of the truth
that, if Man would build for Eternity, he must imitate on earth the House not
made with hands. With right was it dedicated -
"To Purity, Innocence
of Act, Word, and Thought; to Mutual Concession, Charitable Judgment, and
Toleration; to Charity, Compassion, and Sympathy; to Justice, Night, and Truth;
to Universal Benevolence and Good Will Towards Men; to Wise Legislation, Good
Faith, Stainless Loyalty, and Honor; a Symbol of Gratitude, Veneration, and Love
of God, and a pledge of Future Fidelity and Performance of Duty.
Masons of every land,
of every Rite, will join in the words of the Sovereign Grand Commander - grave
words fitly spoken - in which Prayer is blended with Prophecy, and Aspiration
with Resolution, when he said:
"May guile and deceit,
false pretense and hypocrisy never intrude within these doors; but let there
always stand as vigilent tilers, sincerity and frankness, plaindealing and
earnestness to forbid the approach of any unclean visitor. For the increase of
loving kindness, which is the soul of all religion, to be the shrine of honor
and duty, inseparable as the Dioscuri; for the glorifying and magnifying of
truth, which, sown in whatever barren and rocky soil, springs up and yields a
hundredfold for use and blessing; for the conquest everywhere of the hydra of
tolerance, hatred and persecution; for toleration to which Masonry erects its
altars, garlanded with flowers; and to aid in establishing everywhere the
dominion of God and faith in human nature, of hope, the chief blessing bestowed
by Providence on man, and of charity, divinest of all the virtues, this House of
the Temple has been consecrated."
SYMBOLISM, THE HIRAMIC LEGEND, AND THE MASTER'S WORD
BY BRO. J. OTIS BALL, ILLINOIS
It sometimes seems that the foundation of all that has been
written on any subject may be found in Plato. The careful Emerson says, "Plato
only, is entitled to Omar's fanatical remark, 'Burn the libraries; for their
value is in this book.'" In Plato's Phaedrus, we find the fundamental principles
of public address, and one of the first principles given, is for the speaker to
clearly define his terms in order that there be no misunderstanding or
disagreement at the start.
I was very much impressed with Brother Gage's definition of
Symbolism at the beginning of his talk on Symbolism of the First Degree, and it
will probably be well for us to briefly review his definition. We may be able to
make it clearer in our minds, or perhaps add some thought of value. Brother Gage
dwelt upon the derivation and meaning of the word symbol. He found that the word
came from the Greek, meaning to compare. A symbol is an expression of an idea by
comparison. Abstract ideas are often best conveyed by comparison with concrete
objects.
A symbol is also a sign, and the words sign and symbol are
especially synonymous in their Masonic connection. The symbols of Masonry are
the signs which guide the traveler along his journey through life and point to
his destination. In olden times, when the weary pilgrims journeyed to the city
of their desire--whether it was Mecca where the Mohammedans went to greet the
rising sun, or Jerusalem where the Christians journeyed that they might walk
upon the ground made holy by the foot-falls of the man of Nazareth--the signs
along the way meant much to them. It is the same in Masonry. It is with a
certain satisfaction and joy that we find these signs or symbols which point out
the right road to travel and mark our moral and spiritual progress--much
the-same as the signs along the way, marked the pilgrim's progress in former
times.
The study of these signs or symbols is called Symbolism,
and the man who endeavors to find these signs in Masonry and to read them
aright, is called a Symbolist. A Symbolist, in trying to understand the symbols
of Masonry, not only benefits himself but he may also aid some other tired and
weary pilgrim in his journey through life. Let us therefore, approach this
subject of Symbolism in a thoughtful way; for if the symbols of Masonry are
guide posts that will assist us in our earthly pilgrimage, then indeed, the
effort is worth while.
In addition to defining Symbolism as the study of these
signs in Masonry, let us also attempt to define Masonry. If each of us were
handed a piece of paper and wrote a definition of Masonry, we would probably be
surprised at the various ideas. Let us then, as Plato suggests, agree upon a
definition. It has been said that one of the best ways to clearly fix in the
mind what anything is, is to find out some of the things which it is not. We
should have no difficulty in agreeing that Masonry is not politics, although
some of the recent activities in our fraternity make us feel that there are
those among our number who are attempting to make a political organization of
the fraternity. While might makes right, we will hear brethren boast of the
political achievements of the Masonic Fraternity and encourage hatred and
prejudice, but politics is not Masonry.
There is a very great difference between Masonry and the
Masonic Fraternity. The Masonic Fraternity is made up of men who follow, or who
are supposed to follow, the teachings of Masonry; but men are prone to err. The
fraternity is apt to wander from the fundamental principles of Masonry, and the
mistakes are due to the frailty of man and the errors of his judgment, rather
than to the principles of Masonry. In speaking of Masonry therefore, both of its
history and characteristics, I do not refer to the Masonic fraternity.
If Masonry then, is not the fraternity, what is it? In
referring to our Illinois monitor, we find the following sentence in the
Secretary's lecture, given in the ante-room before the candidate is admitted to
the lodge: "Masonry consists of a course of ancient, hieroglyphic, moral
instruction, taught agreeably to ancient customs by types, emblems, and
allegorical figures." This is beautiful English, but is its full import
immediately clear ?
The peculiar characters cut upon the rocks in the tombs of
the ancient Egyptians are hieroglyphics. For many centuries they stood as the
mute unknown secrets of ages past and gone. Modern researchers, however,
successfully patched together and deciphered them, and the hieroglyphics and
signs were finally read and understood. They were found to be clear pictorial
representations of events and ideas, full of meaning-- but only to those who
understood them. Masonry, being hieroglyphic, is taught by a system of signs or
symbols which mean something to those who have studied them, but to others they
mean nothing.
Why is Masonry hieroglyphic? Perhaps it is because of that
old principle that something which we get for very little effort, is usually
very little valued; but something for which we are required to expend more
effort, we believe to be of more value. Just as the etymologist discovers the
meaning of an old Egyptian hieroglyphic, after months of careful study and
search; so do we find truth after careful thought. As our Ancient brother
Pythagoras is said to have discovered the forty-seventh problem of Euclid, only
after weary and tedious toil; so will we discover the secrets of Masonry only
after we seek for them. Masonry, therefore, is hieroglyphic for the good reason
founded upon a fundamental truth, that something which we get for nothing is
worth nothing.
Masonry is moral, because it is in perfect accord with the
established principles of truth--and that is real morality. We learn that this
hieroglyphic, moral system is taught by types, emblems and allegorical figures.
We speak of a man of a certain type, meaning that he has certain characteristics
in common with men of the same class or type. Types are expressions of
classification, by which we are able to fix general truths or characteristics in
our minds and draw conclusions from them. Emblems are signs or symbols visible
to the eye, which stand for something in addition to themselves, and they create
in the mind a flow of thought. The square, for instance, in all ages has been an
emblem of Masonry, but its use has become so common that "to be on the square"
has a meaning to others than Masons.
Allegories are parables. In seeking why Masonry is taught
in allegories instead of by logical statements of truth in direct form, we may
answer that in many ages truth has been taught by allegories and parables, in
order that the mind may conceive great and fundamental truths by comparison with
simple things. Some think that Masonry is taught by types, emblems, and
allegorical figures in order to conceal the thought, but it seems to me that
they reveal the truth and make it clear and understandable. In the wonderful
parable of the Sower, we learn of the seed that fell on fertile ground, the seed
that fell among thistles, and the seed that fell on the rocks and stony places.
Does the parable conceal the thought ? On the contrary, the parable or allegory
makes the thought clear to the thinking mind, but only after a certain effort in
thinking the thing through.
Call Masonry, then, a philosophy, a science, an art, or
even a religion if you please, but retain the idea of a system of hieroglyphic
moral instruction taught by types, emblems, and allegorical figures. In this
sense Masonry is indeed ancient, and we may trace four ideas in this peculiar
system through many ages. These four principle ideas might even be called
Land-marks. They are: a belief in one God, a teaching of Immortality, a symbolic
idea of building, and a seeking after something which was lost.
We find these characteristics in Masonry from the time of
the Ancient Egyptians in the mysteries of Osiris, where it is said Moses was
initiated into the solemn rites which antedated the return of the chosen people
of God; in the old Persian Mysteries of Mithras, where we find traces of an
unusually clear conception of a life after death; and in Syria where we find the
Dionysian Mysteries which came from Greece and were probably carried by the
workmen of Tyre into Jerusalem when Solomon's temple was built on Mount Moriah.
We also find these four characteristics in the mysteries of Bacchus in early
Rome; later in the Roman Collegia of Builders; and in the teachings of the
peaceful Essenes along the Jordan, where some authorities conjecture that Jesus
was initiated before the beginning of his ministry. In the middle ages we find
this hieroglyphic moral system taught by types, emblems and allegories, among
the Cathedral Builders; in the dark ages, we find it among the Comacine Masters
on the little island in Lake Como; and we may trace it through the guilds of
travelling Masons, to the Speculative Masonry of 1717, which we substantially
teach today.
Our Iconoclastic friends, who are interested in the history
of the fraternity, may smile at the dream of a symbolist, but bear in mind that
we are not speaking of the fraternity when we use the word Masonry; we are
speaking of that hieroglyphic, moral system taught agreeably to ancient customs
by types, emblems and allegorical figures; and having four principal ideas: a
belief in one God, a life after death, a symbolical idea of building, and the
seeking after something which was lost. It is true that the careful student
finds clouds of darkness occasionally hiding these real intents and purposes. At
times we read of the ceremonies degenerating into the common and vulgar, as in
the case of the mysteries of Bacchus at Rome. But like the hidden river which
disappears under ground, only to flow out fresh and pure farther on; so we find
these fundamental characteristics of Masonry occasionally hidden, but later
coming to light.
Considerable has been written on all of these four
characteristics, especially on the belief in one God and on the idea of
building. Let us also look into the subjects of immortality and the seeking
after something which was lost. These two subjects are so closely akin to the
legends of Hiram and of the Master's Word in our Masonry of today, that it may
be well for us to see what meaning these two symbols had in the Masonry of
Antiquity.
In the ancient Egyptian Mysteries, Osiris represented the
spirit of the Sun, the principle of light and life. He was assailed by the
powers of evil and was killed, and apparently the forces of darkness ruled. Isis
went out to seek for him, and Osiris was later resurrected and brought to life.
This story was portrayed in dramatic form in the Egyptian mysteries. The facts
are verified by Plutarch, Plato, Epictetus, and others. Substantially the same
story was told by Mithras in the old Persian Mysteries, of Dionysus in the
Grecian and Syrian Mysteries, and of Bacchus in the early Roman rites. All were
slain and then sought for, and finally raised or brought to life. A death and a
life after death has been one of the fundamental teachings of Masonry in all
ages. These old mysterious ceremonies have been an expression of that idea of
immortality which seems to be ever present in the heart of man from remotest
antiquity.
The ancient sun-worshipers saw the sun retire in the Fall
and reach the Winter solstice. If, as some antiquarians think, the sun worship
had its beginning in the far north, the old Norseman on the shores of the Arctic
seas experienced a long period of night during the Winter. In the Spring, they
saw the sun's resplendant rays again light and warm the earth. The old legend
was that the sun was slain and that during the period of darkness, the sun was
dead; and that later the sun, as in the case of Osiris, Mithras, and Dionysus,
was brought to life again and there was light and life. Ceremonies were
instituted and the lesson of a life after death, was taught by a dramatic
portrayal very similar in character to that of the legend of Hiram today.
In the legend of Hiram we may find the lesson of
immortality, and we may also find one of the greatest tragedies ever conceived
by man. Edwin Booth, the famous Shakespearian actor, referred to the legend of
Hiram as the most sublime tragedy; and said that in its portrayal in a Masonic
lodge, he would rather play that part without applause, than to play the
greatest tragedy Shakespeare ever wrote. We may find in the journey of Hiram the
symbol of Man's journey through life. In this journey, man encounters many
obstacles which may be symbolically referred to as enemies. They may be
considered as accosting him from the three aspects of his being--the mental,
spiritual and physical. Three of these enemies are Ignorance, Doubt, and
Prejudice.
The encounter with ignorance may be considered as
symbolical of the first effort made by man in his progress. Perhaps the
twenty-four inch gauge, as the weapon used by ignorance, is symbolical of the
mental and the idea that the knowledge which man already has, is sufficient. As
he presses on in his journey for further light, Doubt is encountered. The little
knowledge which man has, may be confined to material things, and there is doubt
about those things which are not material. Perhaps the square, symbolical of the
earth, may be used by Doubt and a correct understanding of great, eternal and
spiritual truths prevented by confusion with earthly things. If man still
presses onward, he may encounter a third and more deadly enemy--Prejudice--which
often slays him and stops his progress. The word prejudice comes from the Latin,
Prae meaning before, and Judicium meaning judgment. Prejudice is a previous
judgment, clung to even after contrary facts are disclosed. Our prejudices, or
previous judgments, often come from the passions. Fear, hatred, jealousy, and
love of the passionate sort, all engender prejudice. These passions have their
abiding place in the physical.
In addition to the universally taught lesson of
immortality, we find in the lodge a continued admonition to seek for the
Master's Word. But even after we have completed the several degrees, we do not
find the Master's Word. In the last degree of the Blue Lodge, we find that as
Master Masons, we will have to be content with a substitute. All through the
degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, we find further indications
of this continued seeking. At last, when a brother is made Sublime Prince of The
Royal Secret, he still receives an admonition to advance, to progress, and to
seek. "He is to advance and conquer in his heart those old enemies, Ignorance,
Doubt, and Prejudice, and to seek the Master's Word." That is the Royal Secret.
In the degree of the Royal Arch, we are told that in a book there is a key to
the Master's Word. The Master's Word is not a few meaningless syllables
whispered in the ear, neither is it a few arbitrary characters. Neither is it
the name of the Great Jehovah, unless it is considered in a symbolical sense, as
representing Truth and Perfection. The key to the Master's Word is in the book,
which to us is the Holy Bible, the Great Light in Masonry. There, we will find
the key to the Master's Word, but not the Master's Word itself.
What is this Master's Word, and why this continual search?
We find in the Masonic funeral service an allusion to a certain "pass" whereby
we may obtain entrance into the Grand Lodge above. What higher conception could
we have of the Master's Word, than the pass whereby we can find immortality and
entrance into the Grand Lodge on High? We are told that this pass is, "the pass
of a pure and blameless life." The symbolism is perfect. Now we know why we will
have to be content with a substitute, because on earth we will not attain the
Master's Word, "the pure and blameless life." We learn that Moses had this
Master's Word; his inspiration came direct from God himself. Solomon had the
Master's Word, until he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, then
he lost the Master's Word. It was buried amid the rubbish of his physical
temple.
But since we cannot attain this Master's Word, "the pure
and blameless life," why are we so continually admonished to seek for it ? Why
seek for that which we cannot find ? Why this ceaseless, endless search for
perfection and truth, only to receive a substitute ? Because in the very seeking
for the Master's Word, "a pure and blameless life," we come nearer to it. Like
the Cathedral Spires of Gothic Architecture, which point upward, although they
never reach heaven; we find that in our seeking after perfection, we come nearer
and nearer to it.
The seeking for the Master's Word, therefore, is the real
purpose of Masonry--that hieroglyphic moral system of types, emblems and
allegories. It should be the purpose and the object of every true and worthy
brother to find this Master's Word. With the thought of the unity of God, the
hope of immortality, and the seeking after the perfect life, we will build a
temple that will be eternal. We will also exercise that charity toward the
weaknesses and failings of others, which is incumbent on all Masons; and as
taught in the Council Degrees of Royal and Select Masters, we will deposit in
the secret vault true copies or counterparts of those sacred treasures of Mercy,
Justice, and Love, which are in the Sanctum Sanctorum above. Then, after the
destruction of this temple, the treasures or their counterparts will be found at
the building of a second temple not made with hands but eternal in the heavens,
and there we will find the true Master's Word, "the pure and blameless
life"--not here, but hereafter.
BUILDING DESIGNS
BY BRO. ASAHEL W. GAGE, ILLINOIS
(If our readers are familiar with "Peer Gynt," by Ibsen,
they will recall that the lovable scapegrace who is the hero of that drama is a
man without a will, though kind of heart and full of dreams, and let his life go
to waste, as the old Button-Maker said, for lack of a design in his living.
Having no set purpose, no definite program of living, he followed the behest of
whim, fancy and passion, which led him into far-wanderings and many sorrows and
sins. Masonry, as Brother Gage points out, offers a man a life plan or design,
whereby he may organize his powers and build them into that greatest thing in
the world--a noble, strong, refined character; and more men fail for lack of
character than for lack of ability.-- The Editor.)
The designs in which all are most interested are those for
that spiritual building, that house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
What that house is, St. Paul clearly indicated when he said: "Know ye not that
ye are the Temple of God ?"
How to plan the erection of this temple, the Bible teaches
in its historical account of the erection of the material temple. Life is
grouped into three general divisions: youth, manhood, and old age. The
development of humanity may also be divided into symbolic epochs. These
divisions are typified by the three groups of laborers employed in the building
of Solomon's Temple.
The apprentices, or bearers of burdens, correspond to
youth, and symbolize man before he became the predominant creature. His whole
existence was a struggle against the inclemency of the elements, and the
ferocity of the wild beasts; when he worked with and developed strength,
symbolized by Thor's hammer. His mind was not the highly developed, complex
intelligence that it now is. He knew only simple and direct effort, symbolized
by the straight line of the twenty four inch gauge. The working tools of the
apprentice teach the necessity of directness of thought and strength of
character.
The fellowcrafts, or hewers, correspond to manhood, and
symbolize man in the second stage of development when he notes the orderly or
geometric processes of nature. He uses the plumb, square, and level, as working
tools. He experiments, tests, and tries, and by the aid of his working tools,
symbols of his faculties, he learns to use the materials and forces he finds
about him. The ability to work with the fellowcraft tools makes life easier and
more secure and gives opportunity for the development of the higher faculties.
The masters, or chiefs over the work, correspond to old
age, to man developed until he becomes a builder, a designer, a creator, he
molds all nature in forms of his own design. He grows corn of the quality he
wants, the orange without seed, and the rose of a color to suit his fancy. His
working tools are all implements, but more especially the trowel, the symbol of
cementing, of uniting, of building.
The stones of which the temple is composed are thoughts,
words, and deeds. The master with the trowel of constructive thought unites
these symbolic stones into a temple of character. The Bible teaches that these
stones must be perfected in the quarries where they are wrought. There will be
no tools to alter them later for neither hammer, nor ax, nor any tool of iron,
is heard in the house while it is in building. The necessity for perfection of
each thought, word, and act is therefore apparent.
The Biblical account of the building of Solomon's Temple is
most perfect symbolism. Being Truth, its application is universal and the
lessons to be learned from it are limited only by the ability to understand its
teachings. The benefits we receive are limited only by the ability to apply the
teachings to the problems of life.
THE PLUMB-LINE
BY BRO. WM. F. KUHN P. G. M., MISSOURI
"Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the Lord stood upon a wall
made by a plumb line, with a plumb-line in his hand. And the Lord said unto me,
Amos, what seest thou? And I said, a plumb-line. Then said the Lord, behold, I
will set a plumb-line in the midst of my people Israel; I will not again pass by
them any more." (Amos, VII: 7-8.)
The Degree of Fellow Craft deals with material interests of
life and man's intellectual nature. Its object is to stimulate every incentive
to pursue and attain those things that go to make up man's welfare and comfort
in material things and in his mental development and satisfaction. The Degree
addresses itself to the workman in the clay grounds, to the man who is engaged
in the realms of the intricate sciences, to the liberal arts, and to the
practical application of all scientific knowledge to a useful end.
The Scriptural Reading to this Degree is, often, an enigma;
and the only relation that this Reading bears to the Degree to the average
Mason, is the occurrence of the word "Plumb-Line" which somehow has something to
do with the erection of walls and buildings. To understand this Scriptural
Reading and its relations to the Degree of Fellow Craft, it is necessary to know
the history and the application of this vision of Amos.
Amos lived and taught in the year 787 B. C. during the
reign of Jereboam II of the Kingdom of Israel. The reign of Jereboam was chiefly
characterized by mere formal religion, the arrogant assumption of power, cruel
oppression for the accumulation of wealth for himself and Nobles. The poor could
not attain justice in the Courts, and justice became rank injustice. It was a
reign of a typical, practical politician who feasted and fattened off the poor
and oppressed. In this reign of wealth, and degradation of the poor, Amos, the
Reformer, arose and with fiery eloquence denounced the social conditions
existing. He speaks of himself as, "I was no prophet, nor the son of a prophet,
but I was a shepherd and dresser of sycamore." One of the ablest Commentators
speaks of him as follows:-- "Amos was the first great social reformer in
history; he was the tribune of the poor and oppressed. The rich and the rulers
and those in authority were the special objects of his attacks. By them he was
silenced as a dangerous agitator and banished from the Kingdom."
It was to correct the abuses of the very things inculcated
in the Degree of Fellow Craft, that he laid aside his shepherd's crook to preach
righteousness and justice. He might be called the prophet of the plumbline.
Listen to his denunciations as he applies the plumb-line to the rulers.
Alas, for those who turn judgment to wormwood,
And cast righteousness to the ground,
Who hate him that reproves in the gate,
And who abhor one who speaks uprightly.
Therefore, because ye trample upon the weak
And take from him exactions of grain,
Houses of hewn stone have ye built,
But ye shall not dwell therein;
Charming vineyards have you planted,
But ye shall not drink the wine.
They who lie on ivory couches,
And sprawl upon divans,
And eat lambs from the flocks
And calves from the stalls,
They drawl to the sound of the lyre,
Like David, they devise for themselves instruments of song,
And drink bowls full of wine,
And anoint themselves with the finest oil,
But they do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
It is not surprising that he was banished from the country;
truth hurt just as much in the centuries of the past, as now. In his final
effort to arouse the people, he made use of intensely graphic word pictures in
the form of visions. In the Metric form they are as follows:--
Thus the Lord showed me,
And, behold, he was forming locusts,
When the late spring grass began to come up.
And when they were making an end
Of devouring the vegetation of the land,
I said, O Lord, Jehovah, forgive, I pray;
How can Jacob stand, for he is small ?
Jehovah repented concerning this;
It shall not be, said Jehovah.
Thus the Lord showed me,
And, behold, he was giving commands to execute judgment
By fire--the Lord Jehovah.
And it devoured the great deep,
And had begun to devour the tilled land.
Then I said, O Lord, Jehovah, cease I pray;
How can Jacob stand, for he is small ?
Jehovah repented concerning this;
Neither shall this be, said Jehovah.
Thus the Lord showed me,
And, behold, the Lord was standing
Beside a wall, with a plumb-line in his hand.
And Jehovah said to me,
What dost thou see, Amos?
And I answered, a plumb-line;
Then the Lord said, behold, I am setting a plumbline
In the midst of my people Israel;
I will not again pass by them any more.
In placing the visions of the plague of locusts, of the
drought, and of the plumb-line in their sequence, the meaning of the last line,
"I will not again pass by them any more," is readily understood. The Lord's hand
was stayed in the first and second vision by the prayerful and faithful Amos,
and the vengeance of the Lord "Passed by," but in the vision of the plumb-line,
He set a standard of measurement that can never be changed. The plumb-line, the
symbol of national and individual rectitude and justice, will stand forever. "He
will not again pass by any more." It will endure and can not be stayed.
The third vision contains the very essence of true worth
and greatness. The plumb-line is the test of values. Twenty-four centuries
before Speculative Freemasonry was born, this simple shepherd held aloft the
plumb-line whose symbolic meaning was the same then, as it is today--the
standard of rectitude, justice, uprightness, and true manhood. As such it is one
of the most impressive symbols in Freemasonry. As such it stands preeminent in
the Degree of Fellow Craft; the symbol by which the value of the material
interests of life must be gauged and by which the use of man's intelligence must
be tried. The symbolism is so plain, that it does not need any profound
philosophy to unfold it, neither is it necessary to search for it along
"geometrical lines." It stands clear, simple, and profound.
It matters not whether the Freemason toils, as a day
laborer, in the clay grounds between Succoth and Zaredetha, or stands as the
exponent of the liberal arts and sciences. There is but one standard for King or
subject, rich or poor, educated or ignorant. The plumbline of moral rectitude
must be applied to every walk in life.
----o----
A SONG IN THE HEART
Thou dost hear the ocean's tale
In the moonlight, very pale,
Since thy chamber opens wide
One great casement toward the tide.
But another window looks
Over marshes and their brooks;
And thy garden paths between
Brooks and window intervene:
When the evening breezes blow,
Hear we in these paths below!
Lest the great, insistent sea -
Day and night adjuring thee-
By the secret word it sings,
Take too far from human things;
For a little space apart
Hear the singing in my heart!
Or if things eternal make
So much music for thy sake,
Hearken, from they seat above,
The still vaster deep of love !
- Arthur E. Waite
----o----
PRAYER FOR PEACE
I prayed for peace: God, answering my prayer,
Spake very softly of forgotten things,
Spake very softly old remembered words,
Sweet as young starlight. Rose to heaven again
The mystic challenge of the Nazarene,
The deathless affirmation: Man in God,
And God in Man willing the God to be!
And there was war and peace, and peace and war,
Full year and lean, joy, anguish, life and death,
Doing their work on the evolving soul -
The far fruition of our earthly prayer:
'Thy will be done !' There is no other peace !
- W.S. Johnson.
----o----
"True Masonry is true
Charity, not only in giving alms but in giving love in every day life. When
Masons live up to their ideals we shall better know who are most benefited by
Masonry."
----o----
"Habit is a cable - we
weave a thread each day, and it becomes so strong we cannot break it; but this
is also true of good habits. The law is the same, and wise is he who applies it
to fortify his soul against evil "
----o----
PRIVILEGE
There's no such thing as duty
When motive prompts the act.
'Tis privilege, maid of beauty,
Made so by love's sweet tact.
There's no such thing as duty
Of soul unto its God,
For privilege, maid of beauty
Goes where love first has trod.
There's no such thing as duty
In the race the heart is in.
But privilege, maid of beauty
With love's fleet wings, will win.
There's no such thing as duty,
'Tis but an empty name.
But privilege, maid of beauty
Is slave to love's sweet game.
There's no such thing as duty,
And there can never be
While privilege, maid of beauty
Is love's sweet alchemy.
* * * * * * *
The thing the world calls duty
Can no true Mason make,
For privilege, maid of beauty
Does it for love's sweet sake.
- L. B. Mitchell, Michigan.
THE HISTORY OF THE RITUAL
(The history of the Ritual is most interesting, and should
be written in more detail, so far as that is possible and proper for
publication. Steinbrenner has a brief chapter on The Ritual in his History of
Masonry, and Dr. Mackey published a lecture on "The Lectures of Freemasonry," in
the old Quarterly Review of Freemasonry. (Vol. II, p. 297). The following
article giving a brief story of the Ritual, appeared first in the Masonic
Monthly, of Boston, in 1863, and has been several times reprinted--once in the
New England Craftsman (Vol. VII) and in the Bulletin of the Iowa Masonic
Library, (Vol. XV). It is of unusual value not only for its compactness, but for
its revelation of the growth of the Ritual--as much by subtraction as by
addition--and especially as showing the introduction of Christian imagery and
interpretation, first by Martin Clare in 1732, and by Dunckerly and Hutchinson
later. One need only turn to "The Spirit of Masonry," by Hutchinson--deservedly
one of the most popular Masonic books ever written--to see how far this tendency
had gone when it was checked in 1813. At the time of the Union a committee made
a careful comparative study of all rituals in use among Masons, and the ultimate
result was the Preston-Webb lectures now generally in use in this country.--The
Editor.)
Of the thousands upon thousands of candidates who annually
pass through the ceremonies of the several degrees conferred in Masonic Lodges,
but very few know anything of the history of the ritual of the order. This is
especially to be regretted, for the reason that there is, among the members of
the craft generally, a strong aversion to any change, however slight, in
anything connected with the Ritual, for fear that some of these ancient
way-marks may be infringed upon or obliterated.
This veneration for the ancient usages and customs is
highly commendable, and care should ever be taken that it be not weakened, as
the stability, universality, and usefulness of the Order are, to a very
considerable extent, dependant upon it. Rude hands must not be allowed to tamper
with our ceremonies, our language or our usages. But it is of the greatest
importance that there should be an intelligent appreciation of what really are
"ancient" usages, and what actually constitute "landmarks" of the Order, as it
is these alone that should be carefully preserved, and from which we should
never suffer the slightest deviation. In the minds of many, every word of the
Ritual, as it has come to their individual ears, is invested with all the
sanctity of a landmark, to deviate from which, even in the slightest degree,
would be a fatal stab at the heart of the venerated institution, and shake the
foundation of the very temple itself.
In order that this fidelity to obligations, and to
convictions, may be intelligently directed, so far at least as what are
technically called Lectures of the Lodge are concerned, the following brief
history has been prepared for these columns. The uninformed brother may safely
rely upon the truthfulness of the narrative:
Previous to the revival of Masonry, in 1717, and the
organization of our present system of Grand Lodges, and Chartered Lodges, the
secrets of the Order were undoubtedly communicated and the instructions and
explanations given, to candidates, in such form of language as the presiding
master or warden could command at the time. If he were a person gifted in
language, and his mind well stored with the facts and lessons of scriptural
Masonic history, his explanations would be full and interesting, and his
instructions clear and explicit. If, on the other hand, the presiding officer
were less fortunate in these respects, the traditions and moral instruction
would be set forth in style and language corresponding, even to a meagre and
barren explanation of the vital points. It is very probable, but not certain,
that these explanations and instructions--or "lectures," as they were
technically called--by long usage and frequent repetition, gradually assumed
very nearly a set form of words, which form was transmitted orally from one
generation to another.
Soon after the reorganization of the Order, in 1717, the
Grand Lodge of England ordered the ancient constitution and charges of the Order
to be compiled and printed, which was done by Dr. James Anderson, a
distinguished scholar, and Freemason. This volume, known as "Anderson's
Constitution," was published in 1723, and was the first printed book upon
Freemasonry ever issued. (Since this article was written others have been found
of earlier date.)
Simultaneously with the compilation of this book of
constitutions, Dr. Anderson, assisted by Dr. Desaguliers, arranged the
"lectures," for the first time, into the. form of question and answer. Dr.
Oliver informs us that "the first lecture extended to the greatest length, but
the replies were circumscribed within a very narrow compass. The second was
shorter, and the third, called the Master's part, contained only seven questions
and examinations." So favorably were these improved "lectures" received that the
Grand Lodge of England (then the only Grand Lodge in existence, except the old
Grand Lodge, or Assembly, at York, which soon afterwards expired) adopted the
form, and ordered them to be given in all the Lodges. Thus was compiled and
disseminated the first regular form, or system, of Masonic "lectures."
The progress of the Order, subsequent to the date above
mentioned, was unprecedented in all its previous history, and in a few years the
imperfections of Dr. Anderson's lectures loudly called for a revision. This was
finally accomplished in 1732, by Martin Clare, an eminent Mason, and who was
afterwards Deputy Grand Master. Clare's amendments consisted of but little more
than the addition of a few moral and scriptural admonitions, and the insertion
of a simple allusion to the human senses, and to the theological ladder.
A few years later, Thomas Dunckerly, an accomplished
scholar, and who was considered the most intelligent Freemason of his day,
considerably extended and improved the lectures. Among other things, he first
gave to the theological ladder its three most important rounds.
According to Dr. Oliver, Dunckerly "added many types of
Christ." This, be it remembered, was only one hundred years ago, and is an
explicit statement of the addition of the first Christian allusions to be found
in the ritual of Freemasonry.
The lectures of Dunckerly continued to be the standard in
England until 1763, when Rev. William Hutchinson revised and improved them.
Hutchinson boldly claimed the third degree to be exclusively Christian. He
considered the three degrees to refer to the three great Dispensations, viz: The
Patriarchal, the Mosaic, and the Christian. He even argued that the name "Mason"
signifies or implies "a member of a religious sect, and a professed devotee of
the Deity." He regarded the degrees as progressive steps, or schools in
religion. He believed that the knowledge of the God of Nature formed the first
estate of our profession; that the worship of the Deity, under the Jewish law,
is described in the second stage of Freemasonry; and that "the Christian
dispensation is distinguished in the last and highest order." In the lectures of
Hutchinson are first introduced the three great pillars, Wisdom, Strength and
Beauty, as supports of a lodge. He also appears to have introduced, for the
first time, the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Fortitude, Temperance and Justice.
He also gave to the Star its Christian significance. In fine, he appears to have
exerted his utmost in genuity to render the degrees emphatically Christian in
their allusions and teachings.
Hutchinson's system continued in force but a few years. His
lectures gave place, in 1772, to the revision of William Preston. The latter not
only revised, but greatly extended, the lectures, and his system continued to be
the standard in England until the "Union" of the two Grand Lodges of that
Kingdom, in 1813, when a committee, of which Dr. Hemming was the chairman and
leading mind, compiled the form now generally used in the English Lodges, and
known as the Hemming Lectures.
During the unhappy division of the craft in England,
between 1739 and 1813, differences had also crept into the lectures, and at the
Union above mentioned, the committee endeavored to compile a system which, while
it should be in conformity to the spirit of Freemasonry, and in harmony with the
ancient landmarks, should be a sort of compromise between the forms in previous
use by the two rival organizations.
The Hemming lectures differ widely from those of Preston,
or from any others previously introduced. A few of these differences may
properly be mentioned. English Lodges are now dedicated to Moses and Solomon,
instead of to the two Sts. John, as before, and their Masonic festival falls on
the Wednesday following St. George's Day, April 23--that Saint being the patron
of England. The symbolical working tools of an E. A. are "a 24-inch rule, a
gavel and a chisel." Those of a M.M. are "a pair of compasses, a skirret and a
pencil." The ornaments of a M. M.'s Lodge are "a porch, a dormer, and a stone
pavement." Instead of following the example of his predecessors, in introducing
new Christian allusions, Dr. Hemming expunged several in use previously. The
system, however, never met the cordial approval even of English brethren, and
though "beautifully elaborate," contains so many incongruities and departures
from the more simple lectures of Preston that it can never he recognized as a
universal system. The verbal ritual of Preston was introduced into this country
by two English brethren, -- who had been members of one of the principal lodges
of Instruction in London, and was by them communicated to Thomas Smith Webb, an
accomplished and distinguished Mason of New England. According to the testimony
of Webb himself, he made but little change in the system of Preston. In the
first edition of his Freemason's Monitor, published in 1797, he says:
"The observations on the first three degrees are
principally taken from 'Preston's Illustrations of Masonry,' with some necessary
alterations. Mr. Preston's distribution of the first lecture into six, the
second into four, and the third into twelve sections, not being agreeable to the
present mode of working, they are arranged in this work according to the general
practice." It appears plain that Webb followed Preston quite closely, and one
who will take the trouble to compare, will find that Cross, and after him all
the rest, have copied nearly verbatim from Webb, so that the exoteric portions
of the ritual, as contained in our Monitors, Charts, Manuals and Trestle Boards,
are but little more than reprints of Preston's Illustrations of Masonry. In
1801-02 Benjamin Gleason, an intelligent and zealous brother, then a student in
Brown University, at Providence, Rhode Island, received the lectures of
Preston--as modified by Webb--directly from Webb himself. Gleason by his zeal
and other excellent qualities, became a great favorite of Webb, through whose
influence he was induced to become a Masonic lecturer. July 2nd, 1804, Isaiah
Thomas, then Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, commissioned
Brother Gleason as Grand Lecturer to the lodges under his jurisdiction, the
Grand Lodge having left the subject of uniformity of work to his discretion, as
Grand Master. Early in the year 1806 the Grand Master of New Hampshire, Thomas
Thompson, wrote to the Grand Master of Massachusetts, requesting that committees
might be chosen by the two Grand Lodges, to meet and confer upon Masonic
subjects, and especially upon the subject of a uniformity of work and lectures.
The proposition was favorably received, and such a committee was appointed. Rev.
George Richards (editor of Richards' Preston's Illustrations of Masonry), Lyman
Spaulding (Grand Secretary) and John Harris represented New Hampshire; and Henry
Fowle, Benjamin Gleason and Stephen Bean represented Massachusetts. The
committee met at Newburyport in this state, and before rising adopted a report,
signed by each member of the committee, from which we make the following
extract: "The respective committees of Massachusetts and New Hampshire are also
fully agreed, perfectly decided, and positively unanimous in their opinion, that
the mode of work as exemplified by Brothers Gleason, Fowle and Bean, as
practiced in Massachusetts, and adopted in New Hampshire, according to the
acknowledgment of Brother Harris, Richards and Spaulding, is as correct as can
possibly be expected under existing circumstances; and they deem it expedient
that in the three degrees, every master of a Lodge should be indulged with the
liberty of adopting historical details, and the personification of the passing
scene, as most agreeable to himself, his supporting officers, and assisting
Lodge."
The report was approved by the respective Grand Lodges, and
the Preston-Webb ritual continued to be taught by Brother Gleason. This is the
committee from whom Rev. Jeremy L. Cross--long and well known as a Masonic
lecturer, and as the author of the Masonic Chart, and other works-- claimed to
have received the work and lectures, and to have been formally commissioned as
lecturer. He also affirms that he never afterwards changed a word or a letter of
the ritual as it was communicated to him by them. There are, however, some
differences between the lectures as taught by Cross, and as taught by Gleason,
though they are principally such as may be called non-essential.
In 1810, the Grand Lodge of Massachusetts formally adopted
the Preston-Webb ritual, and voted to employ Brother Gleason to communicate it
to the Lodges under its jurisdiction. In the performance of this duty, he was
employed most of the time for several years; and he continued to impart his
instruction, at intervals, until his death, in 1847, visiting for that purpose
various sections of the country.
----o----
LIFE SYMBOL
This old earth is a Great School of the Soul, in which are
a multitude of shining symbols training us to discover the beauty about us and
the wonder within. Nothing is valueless for our teaching, unless we are willing
to close our eyes and ears to its testimony; nothing is merely what it seems. We
meet a new friend, we hear a beatific song, we listen to a bird at dawn, we read
a noble book, we look upon a lovely scene of land or sea or sky, and forthwith
we are in the presence of the Eternal. Whenever we are thus summoned, if we
answer with our hearts, the veil becomes thinner, the symbol more transparent.
Often life is terrible and tragic, but let not its dark days deceive you; there
would be no shadow without Light. If you want to find God in its shadows, God
will find you. Life is a symbol, and its mystery hath in it the secret of
unknown revelations.
Joseph Fort Newton.
----o----
I HAVE LOOKED
I have looked into all men's hearts. Like houses at night
unshuttered they stand, And I walk in the street, in the dark, and on either
hand There are hollow houses, men's hearts.
They think that the curtains are drawn. Yet I see their
shadows suddenly kneel To pray, or laughing and reckless as drunkards reel Into
dead sleep till dawn.
And I see an immortal child With its quaint high dreams and
wondering eyes Sleeping beneath the hard-worn body that lies Like a mummy-case
defiled.
I have looked into all men's hearts. Oh, secret terrible
houses of beauty and pain! And I cannot be gay, but I cannot be bitter again,
Since I looked into all men's hearts. --Fannie S. Davis. The Crack of Dawn.
WHAT IS MASONRY?
BRO. GEORGE THORNBURGH EDITOR THE MASONIC TROWEL, ARKANSAS
SPECULATIVE or Symbolic Freemasonry has been appropriately
defined as "a beautiful system of morality, veiled in allegory and illustrated
by symbols." By Symbolic Masonry we mean the performance of the work of an
Operative Mason emblematically. We take tools of an Operative and use them as
symbols to impress lessons of morality and virtue. For instance, the Operative
Mason wears his apron to protect his clothing. The Speculative Mason is taught
to wear his to remind him of a safe-guard or protection against the vices and
superfluities of life. He should no more allow his moral character to be stained
than the Operative his clothing. The Operative works according to design laid
down for him by the architect of the building. The Speculative Mason takes the
revealed will of God, the great Architect of heaven and earth, as his guide, and
should endeavor to erect his spiritual building in conformity thereto. The
Operative Mason uses the 24 inch gauge or measure to lay out his work.
Speculative Masons use it to divide their time, that every moment may be
profitably employed. Man is not placed upon earth to be indolent or inactive. He
has a destiny to fill in the drama of life. The mind of man is so constituted
that it must be employed. Inactivity is not compatible with its nature, and if
not employed for good it will be for evil. Industry is the command of Masonry.
Laziness is rebuked by the lesson of the bee-hive and the necessity of improving
every opportunity is taught us by the hour glass, which shows how rapidly we are
passing away.
Masons are taught to so divide their time as to have a part
for the Worship of God, and the relief of distress; a part for refreshment and
sleep, and a part for the business of life. To worship is the natural
disposition of man; to worship God his highest duty. The only religious
requirement for admission to the Masonic brotherhood is a belief in God and the
immortality of the soul. This is a cardinal faith, the unity of the Fraternity,
and the bond of fidelity among them. The man who holds that there was no
Creating Spirit, that moved upon the wide empire of night and chaos, and no
voice that said, "Let there be light," is not to be trusted with the mysteries
of Masonry. The law of the land alone prevents such a one from immorality. He
has no monitor within to hold him to a performance of his vows, or to restrain
him from a violation of his pledges. But that man who believes in God has a
rudder and an anchor. He may wander in darkness temporarily, the allurements of
vice may lead him astray, but his conscience follows him through it all, and in
the darkest gloom an all-seeing eye is upon him and a star lights him back to
the path of rectitude and duty. It is well that no one can pass the center of an
Entered Apprentice Lodge who does not willingly and fully declare his trust to
be in God.
The gavel is an instrument made use of by Operative Masons
for dressing rough stones and preparing them for the builder's use. Symbolic
Masonry uses it to teach the importance and necessity of divesting the mind and
the conscience of the vices of life and of cultivating the higher and nobler
qualities of our being. The rough corners of vice, intemperance and profanity
must be knocked off to "fit us as living stones for that house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens."
The Operative Mason makes an important use of the plumb,
square, and level. He uses the plumb to keep his work perpendicular, the level
to keep it horizontal, and the square to keep it in form.
Speculative Masons teach impressive lessons by the use of
these tools as emblems. The plumb admonishes .us to walk uprightly. To walk
uprightly before God and man is one of the highest duties of a Mason, and he who
does so will neither be a bigot nor a persecutor, but will act justly and love
mercy.
By the square we are taught to square our actions and our
dealings by the square of virtue and morality. By a faithful adherence to its
moral precepts our actions and doings will be honorable whether we engage in
high or low pursuits.
The level teaches us the great lesson of our natural
equality. Man should not pride himself upon his birth or his worldly wealth. It
is of but little consideration whether we were born high or low, if we are true
to God, to our fellow-men and to ourselves.
The day will come when we must stand in the presence of our
Maker stripped of everything save that which will entitle us to pass the
judgment bar of an omniscent God.
Perhaps the most important symbol used by the Craft is the
trowel. It is used by Operative Masons to spread the cement which unites the
building into one common mass. We use it emblematically to spread the cement of
brotherly love. The Order is composed of every class and condition in life, the
high, the low, the rich, the poor, from Washington, the leader of the American
army, to the private soldier; from Andrew Jackson, the President of a great
republic, to the humblest citizen; each taking into the Order his individuality,
but all cemented by the Masons' trowel into one spirit. Every nationality comes,
with its peculiar brogue, but all are taught by Masonry to speak the same
language by signs and symbols. Religionists come to us with their widely
differing doctrines, and are taught by Masonry to worship together one true and
living God.
The Masonic trowel cemented the broken elements of a once
divided people in the United States. Scarcely had the last sound of the deadly
conflict of 1861-65 been hushed in the sweet embrace of peace, than the
fraternal voice of Masonry was heard through the land calling the brothers from
the South to join the brothers of the North, appealing in the tender language of
brotherly love for the Masons of the ice fields of Maine and those of the orange
groves of Florida to greet each other as companions in the General Grand Chapter
Royal Arch Masons. The first reunion of any kind between the men of the two
sections after the conflict was in this body; California, Maine and Louisiana
formed a triangle of peaceful hands, raised a living arch and whispered the old
love in the souls of these men who had for four dreadful years been engaged in
fratricide. Be it said to the Honor of Masonry that the General Grand Chapter
was never divided, nor did any part of it secede. While churches, societies, and
families were being rent in twain, and the angry passion of war covered the land
as a cloud of destruction, Masons of the South were hidden from those of the
North but not lost. War could stand between but could not separate them. The
great Masonic heart of the two sections beat in unison, as was shown upon the
battle field, in the hospital and the prison. And when the angry cloud
disappeared and the sunshine of peace darted its gladdening rays over the
continent, the first words of reconciliation that crossed Mason and Dixon's line
were the resolutions of the General Grand Chapter inviting its long-separated
children to meet around the old family altar. It, with one voice, and that the
voice of a fond mother, said "Resolved, that all the Grand Chapters which have
failed to meet in consequence of the recent war are declared to be in good
standing in this body, and entitled to continue their relations with it. And
they are most cordially and fraternally invited to unite with us, without
reference to the past differences, and are most sincerely assured that they
shall receive a fraternal, hearty and Royal Arch welcome."
That was the work of the Masonic trowel, and the fruit of
the teachings of the Fatherhood of God, and the brotherhood of man. And yet
Masonry is not a church. The church and Masonry have their blessed spheres, and
between the two there is no conflict and should be no prejudice.
Masonry does not usurp the office of the church, and the
church-- the Protestant Church--is not jealous of Masonry. Among the best and
most loyal Masons are the thousands of leading ministers of the gospel who have
assumed the vows of Masonry and indorse its tenets.
LET ME LIVE IN THE HEARTS OF MEN
There are selfish souls who by themselves
Live ever themselves within.
There are those who stay in their pleasure haunts
From the best things of life shut in.
And there are souls who are slaves to gain
And paying the price of the loan,
But let me live in the hearts of men
And never without a home.
Let me live in the hearts of my fellow men, -
The shelter I cannot buy,
The home that is real and of priceless worth
And that God makes his ratings by.
My shelter may be within plainest walls
Or 'neath a glittering dome,
But let me live in the hearts of men
The only home that's home.
Let me live in the hearts of my fellow men
For I am as human as they,
And because I am proud to stand side by side
With them in the strenuous way.
It may be that my treasures may take to wings
And naught left but myself that I own,
So let me live in the hearts of men,
And that makes the world a home.
Let me live in the hearts of my fellow men
Though the circle be ever so small.
It may be 'tis the littles that will make me great
With the few who may quite know it all.
'Tis a tonic to jostle with the crowd to and fro
Or trudge to the shut-in alone,
So let me live in the hearts of men
And always "at home" at home.
Let me live in the hearts of my fellow men,
Elsewhere would be just "marking time."
The life that is real is the life with my own
And the plan that's forever Divine.
'Tis the true home instinct of "home sweet home"
Earth's only protecting dome,
So let me live in the hearts of men.
At home on the journey home.
* * *
Let me live in the hearts of my fellow men
Though the token may not always be there,
But 'tis never withheld by the brother of mine
On whose breast gleams the compass and square.
Unmeasured the joy is this living that's real,
Unmeasured the wealth that I own.
‘Tis a balm and a cure for the ills of the soul,
The home in the home that is home.
- L. B. Mitchell, Hart, Mich.
----o----
"Freemasonry is a moral order instituted by virtuous men,
with the praiseworthy design of recalling to our remembrance the most sublime
truths in the midst of the most innocent and social pleasures, founded on
liberality, brotherly love, and charity." - From an old Dutch Dictionary.
SYMBOLISM IN MYTHOLOGY
BY BRO. C. T. SEGO, GEORGIA
MOST boys at some time come to the age when nothing pleases
them so much as do stories of the exaggerated deeds of some far off hero. As
William Tell they shoot arrows from their imaginary sons' heads; as
Jack-the-Giant-Killer they wage their mimic warfare on grosser foes; as Princes
Charming they break into enchanted castles and kiss away the dreams from the
eyes of Sleeping Beauty. But real as these heroes are to boyish minds, the
student learns that maturer years render still more real the characters of his
childhood stories. William Tell still has an unerring aim with his arrows;
Jack-the-Giant-Killer still defeats his foes; and the Sleeping Beauty of flower
and field wakes to new life each year under the ardent vernal kiss of the
personified prince who shines as one of the lesser lights of Freemasonry. Many
fairy tales are the folklore of yesterday, and this folklore was the highly
symbolic philosophy and religion of the ancients. The minds of men in general do
not readily grasp an abstraction. That is one of the reasons why we use symbols.
We do not cheer firesides, and homes, and fields; nor thoughts, and hopes, and
aspirations; we cheer the flag which symbolizes all those things. When only the
ruins of a one time civilization mark the sites of New York and San Francisco,
the eager archaeologist from Asia will discover pictures and statues of Uncle
Sam and will believe that we present day Americans worshipped Uncle Sam as our
tutelary god, our patron saint, and that we prayed to him for help in times of
need.
There is a psychological need for symbols, a real demand
for stories, which man has ever supplied. By descent through the ages these
stories became legends and fairy tales. When they are employed for pastime
purposes only, these stories become corrupted by recital and changed so as to be
almost unrecognizable. The story of Sleeping Beauty illustrates this. Not at
first does one recognize in the sleeping princess the glory of the springtime
flower and the promise of autumn fruit. Equally changed is the prince, really
the sun, who breaks through the confining walls of winter's cold earth and
claims his promised bride.
But when these legends are told not for amusement only but
in order to secure a definite result, then their teachings never change. The
effect must be always procured, and it can be procured only by following the
prescribed formula. So the legend of the third degree, introduced into our body
I do not know when, is the same today as it was when we first learned it. The
Ancient Mysteries had many things similar to our teachings and classical
mythology personified thoughts that are eternal.
The Sleeping Beauty falls into slumber after having
received a prick from a distaff. In Grecian mythology the distaff is a boar's
tooth. The legend tells us that Adonis while hunting was killed by a savage
boar. After the death of Adonis his soul went to Hades, which is here merely an
underworld, a place of gloom and not a place of torment. But the goddess of love
descended into Hades and prevailed upon Proserpine, its mistress, to allow
Adonis to return to the earth for a certain time each year. This story is more
readily understood than is the Sleeping Beauty fairy tale. The youthful Adonis
is the vegetative spirit of nature. The boar is winter, harsh, rough, and
bristly. The goddess of love is the warmth of springtime which coaxes the
vegetation to leave Hades.
These annual returns of Adonis were made the occasions of
much symbolic ceremony. The god was mourned as dead; women went wailing through
the streets in utter disregard of their usual care for their attire. The
ordinary social conventions were broken down and unrestrained sex license
prevailed among the celebrants. In later days the celebration was given over
chiefly to courtesans. For into this celebration, as in many others, in time
there came more or less phallic worship. The pomegranate was worshiped as a
symbol of plenty, and so was corn. Enormous images of the male generative organs
were carried in public processions and set up and worshiped as superhuman. Our
maypole is a survival of those days, and our architecture is filled with many
similar reminders.
Adonis is the Grecian form of the Hebrew word, Adonai,
signifying Lord. In Babylonia, Phoenicia, and Canaan, Adonis was known as
Tammuz. Ezekiel, the prophet, reproaches the Hebrew women for indulging in the
celebration I have just spoken of. The name of the god is fixed today in the
Jewish month Tammuz. Tammuz or Adonis afterwards became identified with the
Egyptian Osiris of whom I shall speak later.
The worship of Dionysus, or Bacchus, or Orpheus, was of a
nature like to that of Adonis with the difference that it is Orpheus' wife,
Eurydice, who dies and Orpheus who descends into Hades in search for her. By the
magic of his music Orpheus induces Hades to consent that Eurydice may return to
earth if Orpheus does not look back. But the eagerness of Orpheus to see his
wife causes him to break his promise and he looks back only to see Eurydice
return to Hades just as she had arrived at its exit. The same teaching is given
here. Eurydice is flowers and vegetation; Hades is the death of winter; and
Orpheus' lute is the magic music of the springtime sun whose appeal nothing can
resist. The story is a look beyond death to the resurrection and eternal life.
Likewise the Greek Persephone playing in the flowers is
surprised by Pluto and carried to the infernal regions. Ceres, the mother of
Persephone, seeks her until she finds her by the aid of the all seeing Helios
(sun). Ceres asks the aid of the other gods, and after all their persuasion
Pluto consents that Persephone shall stay on earth a part of the year, and with
him in Hades for the remainder. Here again we have the death, the search, and
the resurrection annually recurring.
These myths were not confined to Asia and southern Europe.
In one form or another they have been found all over the world. One illustration
suffices. In Scandinavian mythology Balder the Beautiful is the god of spring,
light, gladness. Blind Hoder, his very opposite, is the god of the dark and
gloomy winter. Loki, the mischief maker, inspires Hoder to cast at Balder a dart
of mistletoe, a winter plant. Balder falls dead, but the promise is given that
he shall return and bring with him perpetual spring.
To the Mason, however, the most interesting mythological
tales come from ancient Egypt. There Osiris, son of the earth and sky, brother
and husband of Isis, was early identified with the setting sun and became the
god of the dead. Osiris traveled in many foreign countries spreading the light
of civilization. His wicked brother, Set, god of the desert, evil, and darkness,
planned to take the life of Osiris. So Set made a chest the exact size of Osiris
and offered to give the chest to whomever it would fit. When Osiris entered the
chest, Set and his confederates closed the lid and cast the chest into the Nile,
on whose water it was borne to the sea. The chest drifted ashore near the
Phoenician coast and became imbedded in the trunk of a great tree which finally
enclosed it. The king of the country, ignorant of this fact, caused the tree to
be cut down and made into pillars for his house. But after long search Isis
found the chest in the pillar, obtained permission from the king to remove it,
and carried the body to Egypt. After burying the body she went to visit her son
Horus, the rising sun, the resurrected Osiris. While she was away Set found the
body, tore it into fragments, and scattered them abroad. Isis again searched for
the body, and found and buried its scattered parts. Horus, however, did not
mourn, but rose and took vengeance on his father's murderers.
In this legend we find Osiris doing good in the world. He
is murdered and his body concealed. There is mourning and a search for his
corpse. The body is found, raised, and carried to Egypt for more decent
interment; and the murderers apprehended and punished by Horus, the god who
rises in the east to open and govern the day. Every evening the murder is
committed; every night the body of Osiris, the setting sun, is cut into
fragments, or stars, and these stars or fragments of Osiris, scattered to the
four quarters of heaven. Every morning Isis collects the fragments and they rise
as Horus, the morning sun, or the resurrection of Osiris.
There are those who pretend to see all this in our mighty
drama. The twelve fellowcrafts are the twelve signs of the zodiac which the sun
occupies during the twelve parts of the year. The three fellowcrafts are the
three winter months. Fell and cruel they raise their impious hands to destroy
all the beauty of spring, the promise of summer, and the fruit of autumn. Then
all the constructive work of creation is stopped; for there is no agency active
that knows the designs of nature. The vegetative principles of nature cannot be
lifted to life by the chilly snow or the steely stare of the stars; their grip
is too insecure. No movement on the dead earth answers the like efforts of the
pale moon; its forces are too feeble. It is only when the lord of the day comes
in the vernal warmth of his love that the mysteries of life overcome the thralls
of death, and foliage and flower and fruit are lifted into life by the strong
grip of the mightiest force of nature.
This fancy may please those who like it. There is no harm
gotten by believing it. But I am thinking that something is hidden here, even as
there was something hidden in the Ancient Mysteries. The uninformed and
thoughtless and careless found and still find ample satisfaction in the
apparent, external teaching of these schools. They little thought and little
think that these teachings are carefully arranged systems of morality veiled in
allegory, and that the purpose of it all is to enable those who are duly and
truly prepared, worthy and well qualified, to advance, of their own volition, of
their own free will and accord, without either passive submission on one part or
repressing dominance on the other, into a state of real mastery, a state of
conscious unity with the mighty constructive forces of the Grand Architect of
the Universe. And when this state is attained, then all things shall be seen in
true perspective; many things now thought of first shall be thought of last; the
small shall be magnified and the great reduced; and this life shall not seem an
end in itself but merely a part of the life of the immortal soul of man.
----o----
ECCLESIASTES XII
Remember thy Creator
While the pulse of youth beats high,
While the evil days come not,
Nor the weary years draw nigh,
When man can find no pleasure
In the hollow things of earth,
And the heart turns sick and sad
From the jarring sound of mirth.
Ere the light of stars is darkened,
Ere the glorious sun grows dim,
And the bitter sup of sorrow
Is filling to the brim;
When the grinder's song is low,
And the wailing mourners come
Marching in the death-procession,
As man goeth to his home.
Ere the golden bowl be broken,
Or the silver cord unwound,
The pitcher shattered at the well,
The broken wheel be found.
In the days when keepers tremble,
And the strong men bow the knee,
Then shall dust to dust return,
And to God the spirit flee.
--Bro. O. B. Slane
A MASONIC MEDIATION
BY THE EDITOR
John Fort Newton
WHAT is the greatest thing in the world ? Surely the most
important day in the life of a man is when he makes answer to that question, for
it decides his beau ideal of excellence, of possession, of attainment. What he
admires, he imitates. What he exalts in his dream, draws him upward toward
itself, and subtly fashions him after its design. Always the idols of men are
their ideals, and an ideal, a supreme end, desirable above all else, each man
must have, and does have. Reason and action alike demand an ultimate purpose, as
a condition of thought and a goal of endeavor. Shadows we are, hastening from
night to night, through a gleam of day, whither are we tending and what is the
prize of the race we run? What we live for determines what we are, what we are
worth to ourselves, to our fellows, and to the world.
All men are in search of the greatest thing in the world,
but few there be that find it, albeit the deepest secret is the most open. In
the providence of God, things most needful to all men are common to all men.
Though mysterious, they are universal. When we are young the Ideal seems far
off, hidden in the dreamy splendor of distance; but when we grow older we come
to realize that what we most need is not in the heavens or beyond the seas, but
very nigh unto us even in our hearts. Lowell taught us this truth in his
exquisite parable of the pilgrim in his long quest of God. At the end of a long
journey he came to the holy mountain, and prayed that a sign might be given him
that God was there and that he was accepted. Suddenly a rock broke open at his
feet, and a lovely flower appeared and filled the air with fragrance; and as he
plucked it he |
