Tetractys, the name of the first, became synonymous with geometry

Tetractys, the name of the first, became synonymous with geometry; the name of the second, and both, were used as the representatives of the Ineffable or Incommunicable name of God. There were other numbers that were considered 'sacred, such as 5, 7, 9, 15, etc., but their explication belongs rather to Masonic symbology than to the history of initiation. Such, in brief, are the most important points in the Greek mystery.

Had we time, it might be interesting to give some account of the Essenes, a secret order of Jews, existing in the time of our Saviour, and described by Josephus and Philo; also a short description of the Scandinavian, Persian, Mexican, and North American rites; but we must pass them by, simply remarking that they were substantially the same as those we have already considered. Sir William Jones, Humboldt, and Prescott, all agree that the religion of the Mexicans and Peruvians was the same, or nearly the same, as that of the nations of the eastern hemisphere. There is one system of religious worship, however, winch we cannot pass over so lightly. I mean the British, or Druidical.

When Julius Caesar and his legions, fifty years before the birth of Christ, lauded on the shores of Brittany, he found a rude and barbarous race, with customs and habits quite distasteful to Roman eyes; but so dauntless were they in battle, and so well skilled in astronomy, astrology, and physic; so zealous in all their religious rites, that even Roman pride was forced to award to them the mead of praise.

The original source of the British Druids is, of course, a matter of doubt; but their spoken language, their forms of worship and religious ceremonies were very similar to the Hebrews and Persians ; and most authorities on this subject agree that Druidism came from the East; in fact was Patriarchal and Arkitish. The Druids were at once priests, legislators, and sages, and in common with the Persian Magi, the Chaldean shepherds, and Indian priests, taught an exoteric and an esoteric doctrine. Like the Eastern nations, also, they taught that God was boundless, and might not be worshiped in human temples; consequently all their places of worship were on hilltops, in consecrated groves, or in caves of the earth. Their places of worship were built in a circular manner, and always of unhewn stones, or banks of earth. They were made in the form of a circle, because it was an emblem of God, without beginning or end, and the touch of iron was considered profane. Like the Magi, they cultivated astrology, and predicted future events by signs in the heavens, by flights of birds, the appearance of entrails, and by drawing lots. They believed in Trinity in Unity, i.e., three Gods in one person; the immortality of the soul; a future state of bliss or woe; a day of final judgment; a tradition of a general deluge, and the story of Noah and the Ark. In fact many of their emblems and ceremonials referred to the salvation of Noah and his family in the Ark. One of their principal ceremonies consisted in forming an artificial island in a small lake, on any May morning, amid great rejoicing, drawing it ashore, and decking it with arbors and garlands of flowers. The reverence for mountain tops undoubtedly came from the fact that the Ark rested on Mount Ararat, and the significance given to the number seven had its source and refers to the seven persons preserved in the Ark, as well as to the seven days of the creation.

One of the acts performed during the initiation was to give the candidate a severe blow across the head with an oar; and the last act the aspirant had to perform was to row across an arm of the open sea, at midnight, in a small boat representing a Lunet, or six-day-old moon; a journey not without peril, and which not unfrequently cost him his life. The Druids had many other points of resemblance to the ancient Hebrews and Persians, and if we do not agree with Sammes that they came immediately to Britain after the dispersion of the race on the plains of Shinar, still we must confess that they were of Hebrew extraction, and derived many, if not most, of their Dogmata from the first ages of the world.

The Druids divided their periods of initiation into three degrees. Those of the first were called Eubates, and were fortune-tellers and school-teachers, and performed the mental parts of service. Those of the second were called Bards, and were the literati and scientific men of the nation, while those of the third were called Druids, par excellence. They were the priests, physicians, and high functionaries of the realm. All candidates, before they were admitted, were obliged to signify their belief in Deity, and give satisfactory proof of their bodily soundness, and mental and moral fitness. In fact there were over fifty diseases and infirmities that would disqualify a person from entering the Druidical priesthood, and still more disqualifications in the Mosaic dispensation. Their periods of initiation were quarterly, depending on the time when the sun, in his annual course, reached the equinoxes and solstitial points, and candidates were received at no other times. But the day considered most propitious was the first day of May. May-day was considered the first day of the Druidical year, and the day of their most solemn festival. The ceremonies commenced at midnight of the 29th of April, and when the sun rose on the last day of the year, the aspirant had been initiated, and had made his perilous voyage in imitation of Noah, his prototype. On the morning of the last day of the old year, as the sun arose, he was called upon to try his skill at divination. The reeking victim was placed on the blood-stained altar, and to the appearance of its entrails and quivering flesh he applied the rules he had been so many years in acquiring. On May eve the festivities proper began. The sacred fires were again rekindled on the cairn and cromlech, and every village, hill-top, and hallowed grove blazed with light, emblematical of the returning light of the sun, which had now reached the utmost limit of his journey southward, and was about to retrace his steps through the golden gates of the equator, and again bless them with light, heat, and fructifying influences. The sacred fires, never allowed to go out, and now rekindled, were left to the care of Druidesses, who had been consecrated for that purpose, and the whole population, in one body, now retired to the woods, where they spent the livelong night in gathering evergreens, collecting wild flowers, and preparing the May-pole ; and at last, when the morning of the first day of the new year arrived—the very moment the sun gilded the eastern gates of the heavens—wild demonstrations of joy and glad acclaims rent the air, and echoed and re-echoed through the forest glades. Then, with jubilant step, they carried the May-pole to its place on the green, decked it with flowers, and crowned it with ivy, amid dancing and general rejoicing. This May-pole was the perpetuation of the ancient Phallus, and was venerated as the emblem of generation or creative power.

Let us return to the initiation. The candidate, after passing a satisfactory examination as to his moral, intellectual, and physical qualifications, was confined to the cromlech, or place of darkness, where he fasted for three days. He was then brought into the sacred enclosure, with a chain about his neck, and clad in a robe, striped alternately with white, sky-blue and green, which were the sacred colors of the Druids, and signified light, truth, and hope. Let it be borne in mind that the Druidical temples were simply circular enclosures in the open air, constructed of large, unhewn stones; or, where stones could not be obtained, banks of earth were thrown up in the same form, and leading to these enclosures were long avenues, lined on either side with a high v< all of earth, overgrown with grass or overhanging trees. They were on hill-tops, in groves of oak, or in the deepest recesses of the forest, far from human habitation, where no curious eye could peer in upon them, and so large were they, and of such extent, that many years were consumed in their construction. During the rites of initiation, or while their religious services were being performed, the outskirts of the woods were patrolled by inferior Druids, and the entrance to the temple was also guarded by an Euhatos. As the novitiate entered the charmed circle, the Druids, clad in long white robes, chanted a hymn of praise to the sun, and implored "three blessed drops of the spirit," which were said to be faith, hope, and charity. The Arch-Druid, seated on an elevated stone in the east, then informed the candidate that he, in common with all the profane, was in a state of moral blindness. He was then made to kindle a fire under the mysterious cauldron, and was told that, as the fire imparted heat, so their rites gave enlightenment. A pageant was then formed, and the candidate made to circumambulate nine times around the room, from east to west, at first in a slow and measured step, and finally in a rapid whirl, amid the din of clanging instruments. A fearful oath of secrecy, which, if broken, could only be expiated by death, was then administered, and ratified by the aspirant drinking out of the cauldron. He was then conducted into subterranean vaults, where he was purified with water, and made to personate the god, Hu, in his passage through the infernal regions, and was finally brought forth into the light again, and raised from the dead. During his dangerous journey through these caverns, he was struck a hard blow on the head with an oar. When, at last, the novitiate reached the sacred precincts, he was congratulated by the Arch-Druid, who instructed him in the morality of the order, and he was told the necessity of bravery in war, taught to believe in the immortality of the soul and the duties of worship, and was finally in - vested with amulets and talismans, which were supposed to impart to him divine- power and protection, and was then sent on his nocturnal voyage in imitation of Noah. Such was the process of initiation in the first two degrees. In the third, in addition to the above, the aspirant had to spend years in studying the occult science of the order, and was obliged to commit to memory all their rites. Twenty years were often consumed in this toilsome probation. Such were the rites of initiation as practiced by the nations of antiquity.

Let us now briefly consider the process of initiation as practiced by modern Freemasonry, and sue how far it has perpetuated the ancient rites. This institution, as at present organized, is less than two centuries old, but that it had existed for many ages previous to its revival in 1717, in other forms, is universally conceded; but what these forms were belongs to the history of Freemasonry, rather than that of initiation.

Freemasonry, like the Ancient Mysteries, is divided into steps or degrees, into which the candidate is successively inducted. All without its pale are considered as in darkness, or ignorant of its mysteries. Every candidate is obliged to acknowledge his belief in Deity, and be of sound mind and body. The first degree inculcates tin: duties of worship and the obligations of humanity. The second places before the novice the rich stores of human knowledge, and encourages their study; while the third teaches the certainty of death, the resurrection of the body, and the immortality of the soul. This degree is founded upon the legend of the death of Hiram Abif, the famous builder of Solomon's Temple, whom the candidate is made to personate. In Masonry figures are significant, especially the numbers three, five, and seven. There are three exalted persons whom Masonic tradition glorifies as its originators, viz: King Solomon, Hiram, King of Tyre, and Hiram Abif, the latter of whom dies for the good of the Craft. This is a legend common to all the religions of the world—for Freemasonry is a system of natural religion. The Egyptian gods were a trinity— Osiris, Isis, and Horus. In the rites of Mithras, the Empyrean was said to be supported by three intelligences. The Hindoos worship three divinities — Bramah, Vishnu, and Siva. Even the polytheistic Greeks worshiped three supreme gods; the thunderbolt of Jove was three-forked; the sceptre of Neptune a trident; Cerberus had three heads. There were three Fates, three Furies, and the sun and moon each had three distinct names.

The ceremonies and symbols used in Masonry all have an esoteric and exoteric- meaning and an oriental origin. In fact, the principal officer is said to preside in the East, and is considered the embodiment of Masonic light and authority. But perhaps. of all the Masonic emblems which have come down to us from the earliest ages of the world, the letter G is at once the least understood and the most wonderful. It is said, in the Masonic lecture, to be the initial letter of God, but in reality it is the perpetuation of that most mysterious symbol, common to all ancient rites, the symbol of the unutterable name of Deity. When the Hebrew Scribes read the Scriptures to their congregation, they were forbidden to pronounce the word which represented the name of the Great Creator, and which has been translated into the English, Jehovah: but were commanded to substitute the word Adonai, or Lord, in its stead. The idea meant to be conveyed by this was that while the First Person of the Trinity, the Creator, was so exalted and so holy that His name even was not to be profaned by human lips, the Second Person of the Godhead, the Lord, or ruler, was so far allied to and interested in man, that his name might be lovingly lisped by human tongue; and so, whenever the first name occurred in the sacred writings, the second was substituted for it. Whenever God visibly manifested himself to the children of Israel, it was in the form of a quenchless flame, as, for instance, the burning bush, in the pillar and cloud of fire, and in the Shekinah. This flame was, therefore, the symbol or visible representation of the Ineffable Name or being of God. In the Egyptian worship the same idea was conveyed by the equilateral triangle within a glory, emblazoned in every temple. In the Hindoo rite it was the Phallus, in the Sun worship the vestal fires, in the Druidical the May-pole, in the Pythagorean the Tetractys, and in Freemasonry it is the letter G. There are many other points of resemblance in Masonry to the ancient rites, which, however, it would not be proper to mention here. Such were the processes of initiation.

Now let us briefly glance at their character and objects. The character of all the rites was threefold, viz: Religious, Scientific, and Civil, or Social. Their religious character has already been sufficiently indicated. That they were intended to foster learning, is evidenced by the fact that within the mysteries was contained nearly all the knowledge known to the ancient world.

In Egypt all scientific truths were hid beneath the veil of Isis, or within the hieroglyphics unintelligible to the profane. In India the Vedas or Sacred Boots were, and indeed are to this day, unknown to any save to Brahmins. The Chaldean Shepherds and Persian Magi also possessed sacred books, and their contents could only be obtained by being initiated. The philosophy of Pythagoras was never committed to writing by him, and in his day could never be obtained but by becoming a Pythagorean. The Druids were the school teachers and literati of Britain and Gaul. The Roman Colleges of Architects contained within themselves all the rules and plans of building known in that age; and in the reign of Solomon, which was only two centuries before the Roman Colleges were founded, there must have been societies of Tyrian architects, to whom the building of the Temple was instructed; and it is curious to see how sacred architecture seems to have been a natural outgrowth of all the mysteries. As no person could become learned among the ancients, unless he bid been initiated, so could no one become a great general or statesman without first treading the "rough and rugged way." I know of hardly a great name in ancient profane history who had not been a novitiate.

From whence did the mysteries originate? That they had their origin from one common source, I think must be evident to even the most casual observer. It is impossible that so many different nations, speaking such a variety of languages and so widely separated from each other, should have accidentally adopted such a similarity in their modes of worship and religious beliefs. That source was not the Holy Scriptures, for the book of Job, which is considered the oldest book of the Old Testament, was written only about thirty years before the departure of the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, and the Egyptian nation, even then, was in the full tide of successful civilization. The race had already been dispersed, according to the Biblical account, nearly a thousand years, and, consequently, the nations of the Western Hemisphere could not have derived their rites from the Scriptures, as they could not possibly have had access to them. Profane history tells us that when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, traced by the Divine finger, on tablets of stone, amid the awfully sublime scene on Sinai, He also gave him an oral interpretation of them, which was never committed to writing, but was transmitted orally by the Levitical Priesthood, from generation to generation; and we know that Our Saviour often accused the Scribes and Pharisees of thinking more of their traditions than they did of the Scriptures.

We are told in the Bible that God walked with Adam in the Garden of Paradise, and talked with him face to face, as man talks with man—gave him the names of the objects seen around him, and explained to him how Almighty Fiat had created this beauteous world from dark nebulous chaos—how the waters were driven into the great central abyss, and the sun—emblem of uncreated light—was, by a word, sent on his course, rejoicing through the heavens. We are further informed that God had communications with Noah, and gave him specific instructions in regard to building the ark—how many persons should be saved, and what animals should be placed within it, while it floated in safety over a deluged world. And we are still further told that the Great I Am revealed himself, in numerous instances, to prophet and patriarch, by angelic visitants, by supernatural dreams, both before and after the flood.

Think you those divine manifestations—those oral revelations—were not preserved and perpetuated? Think you the account of the creation and the history of the antediluvian race has not been carefully treasured up and safely transmitted? Do you suppose that Moses, when he wrote the Pentateuch, twenty-five hundred years after the creation, was simply the amanuensis of Jehovah, or was he not rather the chronicler of the traditional history of the past, as he was impelled to it by divine inspiration? This traditional history, these communications of God to his favored few, as well as the knowledge known to the ante and postdiluvians, which must have been considerable, could have been transmitted in no other way than by oral communications, from generation to generation, and by symbolic representations, since a written language was unknown. Thus, it is safe to presume, they were preserved, and the ancient mysteries were the first repositories and conservatories of what was traditionally known of God and nature: and however this knowledge may have been perverted and prostituted by the great bulk of mankind, yet in the Esoteric Dogma, in the secret beliefs of the Pagan Priests, the great tenets of religion were always and everywhere inculcated. Thus it will be seen that the rites of initiation have ever been inculcators of natural theology. By that term I include all the traditional knowledge of God, as well as God displayed by His visible works, and imaged to the aspirations and longings of the human soul. In other words, the natural worship the creature pays to the Creator; the reaching out of the Finite after the Infinite, the expression of that desire for immortality, which the soul feels itself capable of, and longs to enjoy. The visible representations, by signs and symbols, of that Ineffable Being, whose character and attributes the unaided and embodied intellect can never wholly comprehend. In tine, it is all we know or feel of Deity, outside of and independent of revelation. Nor does it invalidate the truthfulness or authority of their teachings, because they have come down to us through pagan rites. Do we venerate the great doctrines of Christianity any the less, because they were also a part of pagan theology? Do we hesitate to give in our adhesion to the deductions of science, because, perchance, heathen philosophers and sages were only partially enabled to interrogate and interpret the laws of nature? Do we refuse to draw inspiration from the Muses, because Grecian and Roman genius drank so deeply from the Helicon streams, that no modern poet has been able to equal the ancient bards? Do we for a moment hesitate to bow before the shrine of medieval art, because, forsooth, modern limners and sculptors cannot even imitate the matchless coloring and divine chiseling of the older masters? No more should we discard the teachings of the ancient rites, because they had not all the light we possess; bat, on the contrary, we should love and venerate them, so far as they correspond with revelation, not only because they are venerable with age, and have been the common heritage of the race, but more particularly because they demonstrate to us that our common humanity, in whatever clime, or age, or condition, feels the need of a purer light than that which emanates from the human intellect, however exalted, or that is reflected from the great pageantry of the heavens.

Thank God, we now possess, in the sacred Scriptures, that Divine Logos, that uncreated Lux which Pagan philosophy painfully sought for, through form and shadow, but never found; and to the credit of the ancient rites, be it said, they never denied their Creator, or failed to reverence and worship Him according to their light.— Dispatch.

Directory: sites -> default -> files -> history
files -> Nstructions for Acquiring Excess Equipment online, through the 1033 Program
files -> Occupational health and safety
files -> The Black Panther Party’s Ten Point Program
files -> International programs roel profile
files -> Fermi Questions a guide for Teachers, Students, and Event Supervisors Lloyd Abrams, Ph. D. DuPont Company, cr&D/ccas experimental Station Wilmington, de 19880
files -> Personal Information Name: Maha Al-Ammari Nationality: Saudi Relationship Status
history -> Freemasons of New York State in the Civil War
history -> Grand Lodge of New York Masonic Lodge Histories Lodge Nos. 201-230
history -> Grand Masters of the United Grand Lodge of England [ugle] and of Scotland