Hiram, The Legend, The Ritual, The Reason
Traduzca esta página al español
usar FreeTranslation.com 
Traduire Cette Page A Français
utilisation FreeTranslation.com 
Übersetzen Sie Diese Seite Zu Deutsch
Gebrauch FreeTranslation.com 
Solomons Temple
-History-
Solomon's Temple was built for God alone, not for man.
The prototype for the temple was the Canaanite temple of Baal-Hadad, in the lower City of Hazor (c.1550 - 1220 BC ) The Hazor temple was built of three elements - a porch, a main hall and a Holy of Holies- situated one behind the other, on a north-south axis. The Holy of Holies lay to the north; it was a huge room, measuring thirteen by ninety meters, with a deep niche in its northern wall. In the porch, or vestible, were found two basalt pillar bases just in front of the entrance to the main hall.
"The origional purpose of the temple, intered only by the high priest, was Babtism which was conducted in ' the Holy ' building, facing the West. Redemption is ' the Holy of Holy ', facing south. ' The Holy of the Holies ' facing east, is the bridal chamber. Babtism included the resurrection and the redemption; the redemption takes place in the bridal chamber. The bridal chamber is in that which is superior to it and the others, because there was nothing else like it." - from The Gospel of Philip, Nag Hammidi Library.
The 'Hiram' connection with the mystery religions.. Solomon's Temple
We contend that Science is the key to finding God. We explain why it was Forbidden by church leaders.
Those of you who are looking for more information on "Solomon's Temple" might look here .. Missing Lessons. Those of you looking for rituals will be disappointed however, there are none here or anywhere on this web site that have not been published by other websites or authors.
The Symbolism of the Lodge
The purpose of Masonry is to train a human being
so that he will reconstuct, through the body of change and
death which he now has, a perfect physical body which shall not be
subject to death. The plan is to build this deathless body,
called by modern masons Solomon's Temple, out of material
in the physical body, which is called the ruins of Solomon's Temple."
- Harold Waldwin Percival, Masonry and Its Symbols in
the Light of "Thinking and Destiny"
"And since sin has destroyed within us the first temple of purity and innocence, may the heavenly grace guide and assist us in rebuilding a second temple of reformation, and may the glory of this latter house be greater than the glory of the former."- Masonic prayer
Most candidates do not know the symbolism or understand the signifiance of this ancient rite and it takes years of study to understand the full meaning. Each point in the room has a meaning associated with the equinoxes and rising light of Venus at that point in the cycle. Just before the Star rises, in the darkness we find the words that may be attributed to Enoch in this; .."points to the darkness of death and to the obscurity of the grave as a forerunner of a more brilliant light, which shall follow at the resurrection of the just, when these mortal bodies which have been long slumbering in the dust shall be awakened, reunited to their kindred spirits, and clothed with immortality". This tradition has survived for thousands of years and was adopted by the Zodokite Priests into Judaism.
In the Lodge room; The five-pointed star is Venus which moves around the blazing sun at the center of the room at noon. In the heavens Venus moves around the sun, which is the center of our universe as seen from earth. At Noon there is no shadow cast on earth at the proper latitude and longitude. On the equinox the shadow aligned perfectly at sun rise and sun set to form a straight line. God is represented in the center of the sun, as everything revolves around him. more on .. The Magi
The Worshipful Master represents the point of the sunrise. Having the WM sit in the East is symbolic of a 'teacher of wisdom', not as if he were representitave of God, Christ or anyone other than 'the Master' who is always considered a teacher, or the one who knows the 'all', and who is representitave of King Solomon and our ancient teacher and Master, Enoch...
"The lodge as a room or hall is an oblong square, which is a half of a perfect square, and
which is inside or outside the lower half of a circle. Each lodge meets
in the same room, alike furnished, but the lodge working in the Apprentice degree is styled the
Ground Floor, the lodge working the Fellow Craft degree is called the Middle Chamber, and the lodge
working the Master degree is called the Sanctum Sanctorum, all in King Solomon's Temple."
- Harold Waldwin Percival, Masonry and Its Symbols in the Light of 'Thinking and Destiny'
This is a drawing
of the lodge room. The Worshipful Master sits in the East.
The canditate begins his journey on the alignment of the Summer
Soltice. The alignment of the morning
star Venus on the Autumn equinox is important as a candidate is
'raised' to Master in the third degree.
"At the coronation/funeral ritual, the old king was resurrected to his place
in the after-life, as the new one, was
initiated and proved himself a suitable candidate by traveling around the
perimeter of the entire country. This was done at the same
time because the new king represented a reincarnation of the dead Master.
This was really a symbolic act as the new king was conducted
around the temple room to show himself a worthy candidate to those present,
which included the god Re and his main assistant."
- Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas, The Hiram Key: Pharaohs,
Freemasons and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus
"The gods who are in the sky are brought to you, the gods who are on earth assemble for you, they place their hands under you, they make a ladder for you that you may ascend on it into the sky, the doors of the sky are thrown open to you, the doors of the starry firmament are thrown open for you." - Pyramid Texts, Utterance 572
The Temple and the Tools , As they apply to Masonry
Therefore the temple represents the building of a 'spiritual temple' on the design of Solomon's Temple, again refering to a man's character.
The building foundation is on a just, perfect and regular base. The first stone is always laid in the East corner.
The new Mason starts in the east to represent himself from this foundation. He may then erect a superstructure, perfect in it's parts to be honorable to the builder.
The working tools are the square, plumb and level.
The square is symbolic of being 'square' in his work and purpose, and 'square of virtue'. 'of a shape suggesting strength and solidity'.
The plumb is symbolic of 'straight, vertically, true and complete.
The level is , having no part higher than the other, equal in balance, and the level of time measuring the position in a scale or rank ( as of value or achievement within the scale ).
First Degree - Entered Apprentice Freemason
The working tools of an Entered Apprentice are the gauge and the mallet.
The initiation to the first degree begins when the candidate is brought before the entrance to the temple and the guard hits the door with the hilt of his sword.
"When the Candidate is first admitted into a Masonic
Lodge his condition as an Entered Apprentice is
represented by the Rough Ashlar, the first of a set of three
symbols which the Craft calls the Three Immovable
Jewels. An ashlar is a building stone; a rough
ashlar is a stone which has not yet been shaped
into the form required by ts place in the structure."
- W. K. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry - A Journey through Ritual and Symbol
"...The perfect ashler is also a stone, made ready by the working-tools of the fellow craft,
to be adjusted in the building; and the trestle-board is for the master workman to draw his plans
and designs upon." - Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor or Guide to the Three Symbolic Degrees of the Ancient York Rite
"The material which makes up the First Degree encourages the Candidate
to take such a deep look at himself and the workings of his psyche, and it is for this reason
that one must ask to become a Mason. No one should be persuaded to assume that
sort of responsibility until he feels he is ready for it."
- W. K. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry - A Journey through Ritual and Symbol
The implication in the ritual is that Freemasonry was already established in
Solomon's time and has continued as an unchanged system since then. The ritual, however, as
the candidate quickly realizes, is not literal or historical truth but a dramatic allegory
by means of which the principles and tenets of the Craft are handed down."
- John Hamill, The Craft, A History of English Freemasonry
"The Second or 'Fellowcraft' Degree of Freemasonry gives very
little knowledge to the candidate
but it does introduce the idea of 'hidden mysteries
of nature and science' and makes a clear
reference to what is called the 'Galilean Heresy'."
The candidate is asked; "Q. Where were you made a Mason?
A. In the body of a Lodge, just, perfect and regular.
Q. And when?
A. When the sun was at its meridian.
Q. As in this country 'Freemasons' Lodges are usually held and candidates
initiated at night, how do you reconcile that which
at first sight appears a paradox?
A. The sun being a fixed body and the earth continually
revolving about the same on its own
axis and Freemasonry being a universal science, diffused
throughout the hole of the inhabited globe,
it necessarily follows that the sun must always be at
its meridian with respect to Freemasonry.
" Masonic ritual
"...The Egyptian hieroglyphic for the
morning star has the literal meaning 'divine knowledge'. The
candidate for kingship was raised to the status
of the new god/king Horus by sharing the secrets of the gods
in the land of the dead, where he learned the
great secrets before returning to Earth as the morning star
broke the horizon just before sunrise."
A large percentage of the people of the world at the present time are passing through, spiritually, the degree of the Fellow Craft, with its five senses. The sense perceptions come under the control of the emotional energies, therefore the development of the senses is necessary to the constructive expression of the Fellow Craft power. Man must realize that all the powers which his many years of need have earned for him have come in order that through them he may liberate more fully the prisoner within his own being. As the Fellow Craft degree is the middle of the three, the spiritual duty of each member is to reach the point of poise or balance, which is always secured between extremes. The mastery of expression is also to be found in this degree. The keywords of the Fellow Craft may be briefly defined as compassion, poise, and transmutation.
The Entered Apprentice may be termed a materialistic degree. The Fellow Craft is religious and mystical, while the Master Mason is occult or philosophical. Each of these is a degree in the unfoldment of a connected life and intelligence, revealing in ever fuller expression the gradual liberation of the Master from the trianglar cell of threefold negation which marks the early stage of individualization.
In the Fellow Craft degree is concealed the dynamo of human life. The Fellow Craft is the worker with elemental fire, which it is his duty to transmute into spiritual light. The heart is the center of his activity and it is while in this degree that the human side of the nature with its constructive emotions should be brought out and emphasized. But all of these expressions of the human heart must become transmuted into the emotionless compassion of the gods, who despite the suffering of the moment, gaze down upon mankind and see that it is good.
When the candidate feels that he has reached a point where he is able to manifest every energizing current and fire-flame in a constructive, balanced manner and has spiritually lifted the heart sentiments of the mystic out of the cube of matter, he may then expect that the degree of Master Mason is not far off, and so may look forward eagerly to the time of his spiritual ordination into the higher degree. He should now study himself and realize that he cannot receive promotion into the spiritual lodge unti l his heart is attuned to a superior, spiritual influx from the causal planes of consciousness.
The following requirements are necessary before the student can spiritually say that he is a member of the ancient and accepted rite of the Fellow Craft:
1. The mastery of emotional outbreaks of all kinds, poise under trying conditions, kindness in the face of unkindness, and simplicity with its accompanying power. These points show that the seeker is worthy of being taught by a Fellow Craftsman.
2. The mastery of the animal energies, the curbing of passion and desire, and the control of the lower nature mark the faithful attempts on the part of the student to be worthy of the Fellow Craft.
3. The understanding and mastery of the creative forces, the consecration of them to the unfolding of the spiritual nature, and a proper understanding of their physical application, are necessary steps at this stage of the student's growth.
4. The transmutation of personal affection into impersonal compassion shows that the Fellow Craftsman truly understands his duties and is living in a manner worthy of his order. Personalities cannot bind the true second degree member, for having raised one point of the compasses he now realizes that all personal manifestations are governed by impersonal principles.
5. At this point the candidate consecrates the five senses to the study of human problems with the unfolding of sense centers as the motive; for he realizes that the five senses are keys, the proper application of which will give him material for spiritual transmutation if he will apply to them the common divisor of analogy. from Lost Text, by Manley P. Hall
On the upper steps of spiritual unfoldment stands the Master Mason,
who spiritually represents the graduate from the school of esoteric
learning. In the ancient symbols he is represented as an old man
leaning upon a staff, his long white beard upon his chest, and his
deep, piercing eyes sheltered by the brows of a philosopher. He is
in truth old, not in years, but in wisdom and understanding, which
are the only true measurement of age. Through years and lives of
labor he has found the staff of life and truth upon which he
leans. He no longer depends upon the words of others but upon the
still voice that speaks from the heart of his own being. There is
no more glorious position that a man may hold than that of a Master
Builder, who has risen by labor through the degrees of human
consciousness. also see..
'Hiram' origin
Time is the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage of human events. On the spiritual planes of Nature it is the space or distance between the stages ofspiritual growth and hence is not m easurable by material means. Many a child comes into this world a Grand Master of the Masonic School, while many a revered and honored brother passes silently to rest without having gained admittance to its gate. The Master Mason is one whose life is full, pressed down and brimming over with the experience he has gained in his slow pilgrimage up thewinding stairs.
The Master Mason embodies the power of the human mind, that connecting link which binds heaven and earth together in an endless chain. His spiritual light is greater because he has evolved a higher vehicle for its expression. Above even constructive action and emotion soars the power of thought which swiftly flies on wings to the source of Light. The mind is the highest form of his human expression and he passes into the great darkness of the inner room illuminated only by the fruits of reason. The glor ious privileges of a Master Mason are in keeping with his greater knowledge and wisdom. From the student he has blossomed forth as the teacher; from the kingdom of those who follow he has joined that little group who must always lead the way.
For him the Heavens have opened and the Great Light has bathed him in its radiance. The Prodigal Son, so long a wanderer in the regions of darkness, has returned again to his Father's house. The voice speaks from the Heavens, its power thrilling the Master until hi s own being seems filled with its divinity, saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The ancients taught that the sun was not a source of light, life, or power, but a medium through which life and light were reflected into physical substance.
The Master Mason is in truth a sun, a great reflector of light, who radiates through his organism, purified by ages of preparation, the glorious power which is the light of the Lodge. He, in truth, has become the spokesman of the Most High. He stands between the glowing fire light and the world. Through him passes Hydra, the great snake, and from its month there pours to man the light of God. His symbol is the rising sun, for in him the globe of day has indeed risen in all its splendor from the darkness of the night, illuminating the immortal East with the first promise of approaching day.
With a sigh the Master lays aside his tools. For him the temple is nearing completion, the last stones are being placed, and he slakes his lime with a vague regret as he sees dome and minaret rise through the power of his handiwork. The true Master does not long for rest, and as he sees the days of his labor close, a sadness weighs upon his heart. Slowly the brothers of his Craft leave him, each going his respective way; and, climbing step by step, the Master stands alone on the pinnacle of the temple. One stone must yet be placed, but this he cannot find. Somewhere it lies concealed. In prayer he kneels, asking the powers that be to aid him in his search. The light of the sun shines upon him and bathes him in a splendor celestial. Suddenly a voice speaks from the Heavens, saying, "The temple is finished and in my faithful Master is found the missing stone."
Both points of the compasses are now lifted from under the square. The divine is liberated from its cube; heart and mind alike are liberated from the symbol of mortality, and as emotion and thought they unite for the glorification of the greatest and the highest. Then the Sun and Moon are united and the Hermetic Degree is consummated.
The Master Mason is afforded opportunities far beyond the reach of ordinary man, but he must not fail to realize that with every opportunity comes a cosmic responsibility. It is worse by far to know and not to do than never to have known at all. He realizes that the choice of avoiding responsibility is no longer his and that for him all problems must be met and solved. The only joy in the heart of the Master is the joy of seeing the fruits of his handiwork. It can be truly said of the Master that through suffering he has learned to be glad, through weeping he has learned to smile, and through dying he has learned to live.
The purification and probationship of his previous degrees have so spiritualized his being that he is in truth a glorious example of God's Plan for His children. The greatest sermon he can preach, the greatest lesson he can teach, is that of standing forth a living proof of the Eternal Plan. The Master Mason is not ordained: he is the natural product of cause and effect, and none but those who live the cause can produce the effect. The Master Mason, if he be truly a Master, is in communication with the unseen powers that move the destinies of life.
As the Eldest Brother of
the lodge, he is the spokesman for the spiritual hierarchies of his
Craft. He no longer follows the direction of others, but on his
own tracing board he lays out the plans which his brothers are to
follow. He realizes this, and so lives that every line and plan
which he gives out is inspired by the divine with in himself. His
glorious opportunity to be a factor in the growth of others comes
before all else. At the seat of mercy he kneels, a faithful
servant of the Highest within himself and worthy to be given
control over the lives of others by having first controlled
himself.
from.. LostKey Text, Manley P. Hall
Wooden Tracing Board hand-painted by J. Bowring, 1879
"Tracing
Boards are training devices using symbols of the Renaissance classical revival assembled
into integrated images. The First Degree Board [depicted above]
sets out the general Western metaphysical scheme and shows the place of the human
individual within it." |
Tracing Boards are training devices using symbols of the Renaissance classical
revival assembled into integrated images. The First Degree Board
[depicted above] sets out the general Western metaphysical scheme and shows the
place of the human individual within it."
"The Second Degree
Board is a symbolic representation of the individual in greater detail.
Here Jacob's Ladder had become a winding (spiral) stair leading to the interior
of the Temple."
"The Third Degree Board
alludes to a process, analogous to death, by which the individual can, if it be God's
will, transcend the limitations of ordinary human life and realize a richer interior
potential."
- W. K. Kirk MacNulty,
Freemasonry - A Journey through Ritual and Symbol
"Freemasons today claim always to meet symbolically at noon on the basis
that Freemasonry
is a worldwide organization and therefore 'the sun is always at its meridian with respect
to Freemasonry'. Masonic reference to God as 'The Most High' is therefore a description
of Re, the sun god in his ultimate position, the zenith of the heavens at noon.
- Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas, The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and
the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus
Masonic Beliefs and Practices
Initiation Into the Lodge
(1) The Symbolism of the Lodge
Although the rule is no longer rigorously applied, Freemasonry requires that candidates
must be of sound mind and able bodied; any physical handicap is supposed to bar
admission."
-
Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas, The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons
and the Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus
This is similar to the basic requirements for admission into the Yahad or "Unity group" described in several of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
As the candidate "progresses through the ceremonies he learns that
at the building of King Solomon's Temple
at Jerusalem the skilled masons were divided into two classes, Apprentices and
Fellows; that they were presided over by three Grand masters (King Solomon,
Hiram King of Tyre, and Hiram Abiff who shared certain
secrets known only to them; that these secrets were lost by the murder of
Hiram Abiff - a result of his refusal to divulge the secrets - and that certain
substituted secrets were adopted 'until time or circumstance should restore
the former'. The implication in the ritual is that Freemasonry was already
established in Solomon's time and has continued as an unchanged system since
them. The ritual, however, as the candidate quickly realizes, is not literal or
historical truth but a dramatic allegory by means of which the principles and
tenets of the Craft are handed down."
- John Hamill, The Craft, A History of English Freemasonry
"While there probably are some actual stone-workers who are Masons, Masonry
does not teach is membership the literal techniques of stonework. Rather, it takes
the actual 'operative' work of Medieval Masons and uses it as an allegory for moral
development. Thus, the symbols of Masonry are the common tools that were used
by medieval stonemasons: the gavel, the rule, the compass, the square, the level,
etc. Each of these has a symbolic meaning in Masonry. For example, Masons are
said to meet 'on the level', meaning that all Masons are brothers, regardless of social
status, personal wealth, or office within the Lodge or in the world at large. Similar
symbolism exists for other tools."
-
Andrew Fabbro, Freemasonry FAQ Version 1.2
"The purpose of Masonry is to train a human being so that he will reconstuct,
through the body of change and death which he now has, a perfect physical body
which shall not be subject to death. The plan is to build this deathless body, called
by modern masons Solomon's Temple, out of material in the physical body, which
is called the ruins of Solomon's Temple."
-
Harold Waldwin Percival, Masonry and Its Symbols in the Light of "Thinking
and Destiny"
"And since sin has destroyed within us the first temple of purity and innocence, may their heavenly grace guide and assist us in rebuilding a second temple of reformation, and may the glory of this latter house be greater than the glory of the former."
- Masonic prayer
"The lodge as a room or hall is an oblong square, which is a half of a perfect
square, and which is inside or outside the lower half of a circle. Each lodge meets
in the same room, alike furnished, but the lodge working in the Apprentice degree
is styled the Ground Floor, the lodge working the Fellow Craft degree is called the
Middle Chamber, and the lodge working the Master degree is called the Sanctum
Sanctorum, all in King Solomon's Temple."
- Harold Waldwin Percival,
Masonry and Its Symbols in the Light of 'Thinking and Destiny'
"Q. Where were you made a Mason?
A. In the body of a Lodge, just, perfect and regular.
Q. And when?
A. When the sun was at its meridian.
Q. As in this country Freemasons' Lodges are usually held and candidates initiated at night, how do you reconcile that which at first sight appears a paradox?
A. The sun being a fixed body and the earth continually revolving about the same on its own axis and Freemasonry being a universal science, diffused throughout the hole of the inhabited globe, it necessarily follows that the sun must always be at its meridian with respect to Freemasonry."
- Masonic ritual
Note that the initiation rights for the various degrees of Freemasonry may vary somewhat from lodge to lodge.
(2) First Degree - Entered Apprentice Freemason
The working tools of an Entered Apprentice are the gauge and the mallet.
"When the Candidate is first admitted into a Masonic Lodge his condition as
an Entered Apprentice is represented by the Rough Ashlar, the first
of a set of three symbols which the Craft calls the Three Immovable Jewels.
An ashlar is a building stone; a rough ashlar is a stone which has not yet been
shaped into the form required by ts place in the structure."
- W. K. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry -
A Journey through Ritual and Symbol
"...The perfect ashler is also a stone, made ready by the working-tools of the fellow craft, to be adjusted in the building; and the trestle-board is for the master workman to draw his plans and designs upon."
- Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor or Guide to the Three Symbolic Degrees of the Ancient York Rite
"The material which makes up the First Degree encourages
the Candidate to take such a deep look at himself and the workings of his psyche, and
it is for this reason that one must ask to become a Mason. No one should b persuaded
to assume that sort of responsibility until he feels he is ready for it."
- W. K. Kirk MacNulty, Freemasonry -
A Journey through Ritual and Symbol
The initiation to the first degree begins when the candidate is brought before the entrance to the temple and the guard hits the door with the hilt of his sword.
"I was hoodwinked (that is, blindfolded) and dressed in loose-fitting white
trousers and top. One foot was in a simple slipper (the expression for this is 'slipshod'),
my left leg was exposed to the knee, and the left breast of the tunic had been drawn
aside so that my chest was bared on that side. Unbeknown to me a hangman's
noose had been put around my neck and draped down my back. I had been relieved
of all metal objects and I was not ready to be lead into the Temple. (We later learnt
that this mode of dress, the rough smock with the running noose about the neck,
was exactly how a medieval heretic would have been treated by the Inquisition prior
to making his confession.)"
- Christopher
Knight and Robert Lomas, The Hiram Key: Pharaohs, Freemasons and the
Discovery of the Secret Scrolls of Jesus
The hangman's noose is actually called a "cable-tow" which is defined as a "rope; cable; cord; ritualistically, symbol or method of control of and initiate" (which may have been how a person was led during the Inquisition). Several Masons have written to me that most of the information Knight and Lomas present about Freemasonry is either outdated or incorrect
The candidate was questioned with a dagger blade pressed to his throat about his eligibility and whether his motives in joining are worthy. (Although the dagger is apparently not used in many [if not all] American lodges, I have been reliably informed that it is still used in United Grand Lodge of England [UGLE] rituals.) After a short prayer, the candidate is lead three times around the perimeter, pausing on each lap to be introduced as a "poor candidate in a state of darkness". In the coronation of an Egyptian pharaoh, too, the new king is conducted around the Temple to show himself worthy.The candidate is then brought before the Worshipful Master's pedestal:
"Q. How were you prepared?
A. By being divested of all metals, neither naked nor clothed, barefoot nor shod, hoodwinked, with a cable-tow around my neck; in which condition I was conducted to the door of a Lodge by a friend, whom I afterward found to be a brother.
Q. How did you know it to be a door, being hoodwinked?
A. By first meeting with resistance, afterward gaining admission
Q. How gained you admission?
A. By three distinct knocks.
Q. What were said to you from within?
A. Who comes here?
Q. Your answer?
A. Mr -----. who has long been in darkness, and now seeks to be brought to light, and to receive a part in the rights and benefits of this worshipful Lodge, erected to God, and dedicated to the holy Sts. John [John the Baptist and John the Evangelist], as all brothers and fellows have done before."
- Duncan's Masonic Ritual and Monitor or Guide to the Three Symbolic Degrees of the Ancient York Rite
The abbreviated modern version goes:
Q. Having been in a state of darkness, what is the predominant wish of your heart?
The answer is whispered into the candidate's ear.
A. Light.
Q. Then let that blessing be restored.
The blindfold is removed and the "lights" of Freemasonry revealed - the Volume of the Sacred Law (the Bible), the Square and the Compass. The secret signs, grips and password of the first degree are explained, as well as the meaning of Boaz, the left-hand pillar in the Porchway of Solomon's Temple. The candidate is then presented with a white lambskin apron "more ancient than the Golden Fleece or Roman Eagle". Throughout the ceremony Apprentice is taught moral virtues based on architectural analogies. At the conclusion, as in each degree, is a celebratory dinner with much toasting, speeches and singing.
More..Masonic Beliefs and Practices
The symbols of Masonry are the common tools that were used by
medieval stonemasons: the gavel, the rule, the compass, the
square, the level, etc. Each of these has a symbolic meaning in
Masonry. For example, Masons are said to meet 'on the level',
meaning that all Masons are brothers, regardless of social
status, personal wealth, or office within the Lodge or in the
world at large. Similar symbolism exists for other tools."
This stone dates to 300 years before Jesus.
Theories of Origin
The first theory...for the doubting Thomas's in the audience... "It is semiofficially promulgated by many Masonic organizations and books, and is the more or less standard account. It does have some major problems, however. As Christopher Knight notes in the book "The Hiram Key, it doesn't explain why Freemasonry seems to have originated in Scotland, where there were few if any stonemason's guilds, rather than on the Continent, where there were many".
"It also fails to explain why, in an age where nothing was more of a blot on one's social standing than any kind of connection with work that soiled one's hands, the gentry and intelligentsia suddenly became interested in the knowledge embodied in a craft guild". "It is as if a socialite today went to the union local in search of esoteric knowledge. Finally, the religious sentiments in the surviving guild texts are strongly Christian." "Yet explicitly Christian motifs are almost completely absent from Masonry." ( this doubter, unknown, has not done his homework. The esoteric knowledge was long gone by this time, or he considers it hearesy, which a devout Christian would, not knowing or being interested in the origins or great mystery of the secret teachings of Jesus which, unfortunately are not part of bible scripture. )
The symbolically murdered "Hiram", we believe came from
Egyptian sources. If you've been to the
pyramid page,
you saw the relationship between Horus, Isis and Osiris. Horus
was also a 'widows son'. .. but then we have to wonder why the
story holds so much power yet today in the lodge, 3500 years
later. To understand why Masonry is so important, it's
helpful to look at its
origins
-- at least as far as we can
glimpse them. The oldest known Masonic text, the "Old Charges,"
which dates at least as far back as 1400, sets out a legendary
heritage that begins with the antediluvian patriarch Jabal,
who discovered geometry ("the which Science is called Massonrie"
) and wrote down his findings on pillars of stone. Other ancient
sources such as the Wood Manuscript say Enoch, the great, great
grand-son of Adam through Cain, recorded all the arts and
Sciences in stone and left it for the 'new world' to find.
However we found from his writings, that Enoch is the great,
great grandson of Seth.
The secret 'Books of Enoch' fortold of the flood
and the reasons God destroyed the race of Giants of
Atlantis.
The Hebrew bible ( the Torah ) also tells us that Enoch
'pleased God' and was taken to Heaven to be taught these things
and returned to Earth to leave the knowledge with man.
Before Noah's Flood destroyed all human civilization, another version of the story tells us that the Egyptian sage Hermes Trismegistus actually wrote this knowledge and passed it on in a lineage that includes Nimrod, Abraham, Euclid, and the 80,000 masons who were said to have worked on Solomon's Temple. The sciences were used to build The Tower of Babylon which is said to be thousands of years before the building of Solomon's temple.
If the history of building and the seven secret sciences goes back to Hermes and Nimrod, then why not to King Seqenenre Tao in 1554BC. Tao's murder was not just coincidence and neither are the bible verses that back up a killing done by the sons of Jacob and subsequent prosecution and shooting of Joseph and prosecution of Abraham's kin folks. Nimrod bore a son that became a pharoah. Our research tells us that the Egyptian knowledge given to Moses came from his ancestors who were Masons and Egyptian priests. The word Essene meant physician or healer. It also meant 'secret' and hidden. Jesus was an Essene. We repeat the details of the Egyptian origin, Nimrod's association and story of our Hero's murder begins on The Widow's Son
Tao, means 'The Way'. The 'Way' is mentioned several times by Jesus and it is recorded in the Dead Sea Scrolls, The Emerald Tablets and the Pyramid Texts.. "Always 'THE WAY' the seeker will find". I AM 'THE WAY', the truth and the Life". Finding the Ten Commandments, also called 'The Laws of Moses' in the 'Egyptian Book of the Dead', is no coincidence either.
Like many branches of the Western inner traditions, Masonry
thus claims to go back to ancient Egypt and Israel. But most scholars
today -- including many Masons -- would say there is no evidence of
any such link. Hence most opt for one of two theories of Masonic origins.
Of which, neither one we found made any sence.
So we have Masters who do not believe the Egyptian origin. If it
isn't true, why all the references in the degrees to Egypt,
Isis, Hermes and Ceres in every old document there is?
So with those reasons firmly established here, King Seqenenre was not the
first 'Grand Master' he just happened to the one who gave his
life to protect the 'secrets' given to him by God.
Protecting these secrets was essential to keep them from falling
into the wrong hands as they did in Atlantis thousands
of years earlier.
Keeping the secret of God's 'Wisdom' was more than just knowing what it was. It involved fighting the ememies of the mind which could have easily corrupted him, and caused him to be proud, boastfull, and overly confident. The enemies of the mind could have made him 'turn to Darkness' because he had the 'POWER' of God at his fingertips and could have easily used it for evil purposes. That is why God chose him, as he did Moses, Elijah, and Jesus.
If you have been to the 'Atlantis' page and the 'Pyramid' page, you understand the 'Power' was also the use of ancient science combined with the 'Baptisim of the mind'. The 'wisdom' of God is the 'knowledge of all things possible'. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Thoth or Hermes, Seqenenre, Moses, Jesus, and the all the 'Son's' of the ancient 'Brotherhood' had this 'knowledge'. Using it to benefit man, your brother, is the Key to eternal life.
Part of this
'Power' is in knowing there is life after death, and with
that knowledge, it is the work we must do for the Benefit
of ALL mankind and not ourselves alone that becomes most
important. The mind is the window of the Soul, and it can
destroy the world. If our hearts desire evil ends, everything
and everyone will perish. Then God will destroy us as he did
the Atlantians, the people who lived during the time of Adam.
Amazing resemblance to the beehive; The omphalos is a very
common type of religious stone artifact. The word omphalos means
"navel" in greek. According to the ancient Greeks, Zeus sent out
two eagles to fly across the world and they met at its center,
the "navel" of the world--which the omphalos represents. Many
records indicate that the omphalos stone was the holiest object
at various oracle centers in all the lands bordering the
Mediterranean Sea, the most well known being at Delphi.
It most likely originated from the "stone of splendor" associated
with the Canaanite god Baal. The main characteristic of the
omphalos/stone of splendor was its ability to allow direct
communication with the gods.
The "power" to overcome the enemies of the mind is in the ritual itself. The Tragedy of Hiram Abiff and "The King that was Lost", is a ritualistic drama with words and fixed cermonies addressed to the human spirit. Hiram is a symbol of the human spirit, of the soul. The soul is real and alive within us.
The work he was engaged in to supervise is the symbol of the work we do when we supervise, organize and direct our lives from birth to death. The enemies that destroyed him are symbols of those lusts and passions which in our hearts, make war on our characters.
His demise befalls every man who becomes a victim to those enemies; and is interrupted from his work and becomes an outcast from the mastership of himself and ends up buried under the rubble. He is then defeated, disgraced, weak, miserable and developes evil habits.
The manner in which he is raised from a dead level to a living perpendicular is the way by which any man rises from self-defeat to self-mastery. God, by the power of whose word Hiram Abiff was raised, is the God in whose care we forever live, and whose daily help we also need to raise us out of the grave of defeat.
Jesus called this 'the living resurrection'. You are spirtually 'Dead' with out the knowledge found in this ancient ritual. However there was much more to this in Jesus' time which now is a lost art and practiced by very few. That is why the real truth of the 'brotherhood' has been left for the true seekers to find. The ceremony therefore is purely symbolic and a Master Mason must search for the real meaning on his own.
This is our favorite quote from the Nag Hammidi Library;
"And the Spirit came
to him in haste when it raised him. Having given its
hand to the one lying prone on the ground,
it placed him firmly on his feet, for he had not yet stood up.
He gave them the means of knowing the knowledge of the
Father and the revelation of his son.
For when they saw it and listened to it, he permitted them to
take a taste of and to smell and to grasp the beloved son".
from The Gospel of 'truth'
in the Nag Hammidi Scrolls.
When the Mason has built all these powers into himself, there radiates from him a wonderful body of living fire, like that which surrounded the Master Jesus, at the moment of His transfiguration. This is the Robe of Glory, the garment of Blue and Gold which, shining forth as a five-pointed star of light, heralds the birth of the Christ within. Man is then indeed a son of God, pouring forth from the depths of his own being the light rays which are the life of man.
Striking hearts that have long been cold, this spiritual ray raises them from the dead. It is the living light which illuminates those still buried in the darkness of materiality. It is the power which raises by the strong grip of the lion's paw. It is the Great Light which, seeking forever the spark of itself within all living things, reawakens dead ideals and smothered aspirations with the power of the Master's Eternal Word. Then the Master Mason becomes indeed the Sun in Leo; and, reaching downward into the tomb of crystallization, raises the murdered Builder from the dead by the grip of the Master Mason.
The candidate must participate because it is his own soul that must rise against its internal enemies. Preparing him to be a Master Mason is by teaching him the secret of a Master Mason. What is the Secret?...Do you remember Jesus 'raising' Lazarus from 'the Dead'? Lazarus was never literially dead.
When a Mason takes his oath , he professes to believe in the
One and only True Living God and the existance of Eternal life,
but does he really know this in his heart and mind?...In his Soul?
Can this be proven?.. The answer is yes.
'Blind Faith' is not the answer to this question. Just because
somebody tells you this is true is not enough, You MUST Believe this,
with all you heart and mind and you must Know it is a fact. You must
also understand WHY this is true. This is the 'Baptism of the Mind'
and it is the true
'resurrection of your spirit'. The Third Temple must be built in your
heart.
( " the temple not built with hands". )
Once you have this 'knowlege', by which the soul may rise above its
internal enemies, you become a true Master in reality as well as in
name.. The real Master Mason is the Master of himself.
A Master over your own mind so to speak.
The three enemies came from within his own soul in its own ignorance, lust, passions and sins. The great light reminds us, it is not that which kills the body that we need fear, but that which has the power to destroy the spirit. The 'Body', the 'flesh' is something we do away with, discard. In other words , we have no use for the 'material world'. Our spirit survives and we must work to acheive the ultimate goal of being what God wants us to be. Once you are aware of the Truth, God will be able to direct you on the right path. You can easily give yourself over to his will, forgetting your own selfish wants and needs. WE do his work in many ways and no one has the wisdom to describe them all.
The temple is a symbol of the mind, a mans character and therefore, breaks and falls when the soul, its architect is helpless.
The legend should be printed indeliby on your mind. Then when you are at grip with your enemies, recall it and act accordingly to the light you find in it. Your inner self will give, in the form of Ritual, and you will be wiser and stronger for having the guidance and the Light the tragedy provides.
Working Tools - by W. Bro. B.H. Siddle P.G.S., Chaplain
From a study of the written histories of the development of the world,
it would be safe, surely, to conclude that the greatest contributing factor
to its progress, would have been brought about by the ability of Man to make,
and to use, with his extremely dexterous fingers, Working Tools.
These range from the crude early types, which will be referred to later, to verge on the ultimate in sophistication. It would seem therefore, that it was a most fitting thing that in the first Book of Constitutions, those of Dr. Anderson, published in 1723, Working Tools received mention as being of quite some importance to Speculative Masonry.
We all know that Speculative Masonry emerged from the Operative, and so Working Tools are basic to Masonic philosophy, and accordingly should ever hold a revered place in its ceremonies. It would be difficult indeed, ever to imagine a member of the Craft forgetting his instruction in their moral values.
It can be very faithfully said, that the world's peoples could never assess the debt they owe to Working Tools, from the period of the flints to the Space-age.
It seems that the first working tools were made of flint, and were of the order of knives, scrapers for the removal of flesh from animal furs and hides, and axe varieties, and included arrow and spear points. Here, then, we have the beginnings of Homo Habilis (or man the tool-maker).
After man's mastery of fire and his discovery of metals, tools soon became one of the keys to the door of knowledge. With the blending of the knowledge of the use of these two came metallurgy, and its co-partner clay tablet and brick baking. We know from the history of the very first civilisation -- that of the Sumerians -- that these people knew how to alloy copper and tin to produce bronze, and it was here too, where golden objects are recorded as having first appeared. I think too, that for the purpose of the record, it should be noted that the Sumerians were the inventors (or discoverers) of the wheel.
Authority states that the first was the potter's wheel with which they made fine pottery, which they baked in ovens and glazed most beautifully. It may be of interest to note also, that from the clay tablets found in excavations at Sumer, it was here that writing was first invented -- in cuneiform -- a wedge-shaped lettering written on a pad of soft clay and placed in a clay envelope and baked after both had been dusted with brick dust to stop adhesion. Some 500 to 600 of these have been unearthed at Sumer.
The lettering is thought to have been done by means of a stylus, which we may term an office type working tool.
Is it too much, Brethren, to suggest that the above may have been the early seed of our mailing system? (The written message contained in the envelope?).
Here then we have the first ingredients of writing -- the stylus, a type of pen, and cuneiform to supply the message. Later followed all kinds of advice: "the pen is mightier than the sword" or perhaps as J. Taylor observes, "there's no wound deeper than a pen can give, it makes men living dead, and dead men live". from the pages of.... The Working Tools There is more
THE BUILDER’S TOOLS; INCREASING THE POWER OF THE HANDS.
Taken from Symbols of Freemasonry
THE SQUARE AND COMPASSES ARE INSTRUMENTS OF GEOMETRY. THE FIRST
KNOWN TEXTS WHICH TALK OF FREEMASONRY ARE;
the Regius and
Cooke manuscripts
of 1390 and 1425. These are the oldest of the texts known as
“The Old Charges”. They classify the different areas of knowledge and equate Freemasonry
with geometry: The fifth science is geometry, also known as Masonry. It is the art of measuring
everything on Earth and in Heaven.”.
After the list of the seven liberal arts comes the following observation: “No science, not even grammar or rhetoric, can operate without geometry.” This implies that geometry, the art of measuring as its etymology indicates, is far more than just the art of tracing figures, and of comparing their lengths, surfaces and volumes. The art of measuring in fact entails proof, and progress in this art teaches how to demonstrate the truth of a proposition by means of its tools, the set square and compasses..
In the Middle Ages, the teaching of geometry cleared the way for objective thought. Until that time, all knowledge had been handed down from an authority: an affirmation was considered to be true because it had been declared by priests who were recognised by the establishment. The expressions Magister dixit (The Master has said it) and Rorna locuta, causa finita (Rome has spoken, the case is closed) were meant to put a stop to any debate and eliminate doubt or the need for proof. Only one kind of knowledge could not be taught in this way: geometry. A theory about the properties of a shape can only he accepted when it has been verified using reason, and a square and compasses..
The teaching of geometry implies therefore the recognition of students as people who are able to think rationally and find meaning on their own. Such teaching creates and structures critical faculties and objective analysis. Most importantly, it develops the desire to prove the truth of a proposition. Thus, the square and the compasses are essentially tools for verifying the truth of the matter..
The oldest definition of Freemasonry emphasises its central function and role in the city: a Mason is someone who proves by verification, that is to say someone who listens attentively to “what” is being said and not to “who” is saying it. The geometrician-builder measures words with the yard-stick of meaning and not according to the social status of the speaker .
The square and compasses, therefore, are the tools of a free man. They
are the tools of a way of thinking which recognises the possibility of making
statements about reality, understanding its laws and modifying it in order
to better the human condition. They take the place of amulets and talismans
in the wake of the development of a higher consciousness. The square and
compasses have no intrinsic power. They are tools invented by human beings to
help them exercise the power they know they possess to shape reality.
Symbolism makes the meaning of these tools clearer by depicting them as images
of the mind that conceived and created them. The square and compasses are
symbolic to the extent that they teptesent in a material form the shape and
skill of the human soul..
The square and compasses are also used to represent rational thought. This is, however, not understood merely as the ability to deduce and induce, without any assistance from intuition or Imagination. To recognise one’s faculties it is necessary to distinguish them. But, on the other hand, separating them off would he disastrous and unrealistic. Euclid’s series of propositions offers a rational progression, in the strict sense of the term, but intuititon and magination must play their part. The step from one proposition to the next is not a simple matter of deductive logic, it is also an intuitive and imaginative leap..
In almost every tradition, the set square is associated with the geometric square, the Earth and matter; the compasses are linked to the circle, Heaven and the spirit..
Those who journey in search of truth must not he content just to memorise this point. Working with symolism begins with the question ‘why ?‘‘. It is necessary to analyse the meaning behind the relationship between spirit and circle, between square and matter. The search for this meaning casts light on how mental structures work. In the context of this exploration, psychology is more useful than metaphysics. The latter is, in fact, a construct, and hence an effect. Psychology can explore the elements of the construct, and hence its causes..
When beginning work as an Apprentice, the square is laid on top of the compasses to show that the spirit is still dominated by matter. At the second degree, that of Fellow, the square and compasses are interlaced. There is balance..
At the degrees of master, the compasses are laid over the square.
The GAVEL AND THE CHISEL.
These two tools are used to impose the worker’s will on a piece of stone. Masons strike their chisel with the gavel to create the shape that they have imagined. The gavel is thus associated with the active will. This explains why it is given to the Worshipful Master and the two Wardens. During a ritual, it is used to announce the beginning and the end of the work, and to request leave to speak. During the initiation ceremony, the Worshipful Master places the sword on the new member’s shoulder then hits its blade with the gavel..
The gavel, derived from the Teutonic root geh, meaning “to give”, is a double-headed wooden hammer..
The chisel, from the Latin cisefl us, the substantive form of the verb cwdere, “to cut”, is a small piece of hardened steel, sharpened at one end..
The fact that the gavel and chisel are useless for cutting stone individually, makes the complementary nature of the active and the passive quite clear. This is further brought out by the symbolic meanings associated with these two tools. The gavel is, of course, the active element because it hits the chisel, thus giving it a force which the passive chisel directs..
11. THE PLUMB LINE AND THE PLUMB RULE.
The plumb line is a piece of lead on a string attached to a ring, while the plumb rule is a piece of lead on a line attached to the summit of a triangle. The former is used to find a vertical axis and the latter the horizontal axis..
Both of these two tools give the vertical axis, while the plumb rule is used to obtain the horizontal axis indirectly. The line of the plumb rule has to cross the base of the triangle and form a perpendicular, such that the triangle is divided into two identical tight-angled triangles. The vertical axis is obtained by simply looking at the line when it is completely still. The horizontal axis can then he derived from it. A right angle must he created by adjusting the base of the triangle to the vertical line. The triangle is adjusted so that its base (the side facing the angle from which the line is suspended) forms a cross with the line. Gravity allows us to determine the vertical axis and, from that, determine the horizontal axis. The study of these two tools suggests various metaphors which clarify how we locate ourselves on a vertical plane by determining its two dimensions, height and length .
Ill THE GAUGE AND THE LEVER.
The gauge and the lever arc both straight lines. The gauge is a measuring tool, divided into twenty - four sections, like the division of the day into twenty-four hours, and allows us to check that the finished building conforms to the original plan. The number of sections on the gauge is divisible by two and by three, and is the product of the first four natural numbers (1 x 2 x 3 x 4). It is thus ideal for checking if proportions are correct..
The lever is a tool which increases the worker’s physical strength. Everyone knows the challenge: ‘Give me but one firm spot on which to stand, and I will move the earth.’ It allows us to overcome the force of gravity. The lever is divided into two parts by its fulcrum, and it increases a man’s strength in proportion to the length of the part he presses down on. This part is called “the power”. The other, which is shorter and lies under the object to he lifted, is called “the resistance”.
IV.THE TROWEL.
This tool represents the final stage of a job, the
moment when mortar or plaster is applied over the walls,
thus obscuring the differences between the stones. It is also associated with creative power, which is
illustrated by the fact that in the Middle Ages the Creator was sometimes depicted
holding a trowel. The symbolism of this tool is also based on its triangular blade and its jagged edge
which looks like a bolt of lightning.
V. THE ROUGH ASHLAR, THE CUBICAL STONE AND THE POINTED CUBICAL STONE
Rough ashlar, or unhewn stone, is the raw material to be worked on. Stone symbolises
human beings in their natural state, before they work on themselves through introspection. All
writers agree on this view of rough ashlar as imperfect humanity. The symbolism of builders,
guildsmen and Freemasons develops around the notion that “to make” refers to “making
something of oneself”. We need to consider the activity of working “on” unhewn stone, a
Masonic expression which stands for introspection and selfimprovement. Is it a question of forming
identical stones, according to a pre-established pattern, so that they will
fit perfectly together and form a pyramid ?
Or it is it nor rather a question of individualisation, during which process
everyone discovers their particular self, getting rid of base “metals”, which represent the
prejudices we have about the outside world? A reading of Masonic texts shows that role
models are presented with the invitation that they be copied. The models masons are asked
to identify themselves with are the sages and, to achieve mastership, the architect Hiram. But,
these same texts also contain countless injunctions to differentiate oneself rather than conform,
to construct a new self, to enrich the group qualitatively rather than quantitatively.
Cutting stone is seen as a becoming”. It is an act which recognises the need for change. The uninitiated are full of metals that speak for them. When rid of these metals, the initiated can speak for themselves. The square of a square, the cube, has the same symbolism in three dimensions as the square does in two. It is an intrinsic part of the material world and the four elements. Its appearance is identical no matter which face it stands on, which is why it is associated with stability. On the other hand, the pointed cubical stone is a cube topped with a pyramid; it can be set down only on the face opposite the pyramid. Oswald Wirth says of it; “This tool, which masons have borrowed from carpenters, clearly shows that a stone must he split open so that its inner esotericism can he discovered.”
The ancient English texts refer to ‘free- stone”, a soft chalky rock which builders used for carving figures. The hard stone used for large- scale work was called “rough-stone” . According to certain authors, the etymology of the word Freemason is “free-stone Mason”. For others, the word was first used to describe a serf who was “freed” due to his skills as a Mason, and thus was allowed to travel as he pleased. Perhaps it comes from the association between the softness of freestone and the ideal of personal freedom.
Free-stone encourages the freedom of the Mason because it is easy to carve. It puts up no resistance, but readily adopts the form which the person working it desires. The softness of the stone sets the Mason free.
The Emerald Tablets and Hermes
The following is from the pages of Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean In Cosmic Harmony, Doreal - Supreme Voice of the Brotherhood
In the silence of material senses lies the key to the unveiling of wisdom. He who talks does not know; he who knows does not talk. The highest knowledge is unutterable, for it exists as an entity in lanes which transcend all material words or symbols. It is the 'Word'.
"Now for a time I descend, and the men
of Khem shall know me no more. But in a time yet unborn will I rise
again, mighty and potent, requiring an accounting of those left behind
me. Then beware, O men of Khem, if ye have falsely betrayed my teaching,
for I shall cast ye down from your high estate into the darkness of
the caves from whence ye came. Betray not my secrets to the men of the
North or the men of the South lest my curse fall upon ye. Remember and
heed my words, for surely will I return again and require
of thee that which ye guard. Aye, even from beyond time
and from beyond death will I return, rewarding or punishing as ye
have requited your trust".
This tablet began the Legend of the 'Divine Mysteries'.
The Tablets - They consist of twelve tablets of emerald green, formed from a substance created through alchemical transmutation. They are imperishable, resistant to all elements and substances. In effect, the atomic and cellular structure is fixed, no change ever taking place. In this respect, they violate the material law of ionization. Upon them are engraved characters in the ancient Atlantean language: characters which respond to attuned thought waves, releasing the associated mental vibration in the mind of the reader. The tablets are fastened together with hoops of golden-colored alloy suspended from a rod of the same material. So much for the material appearance. The wisdom contained therein is the foundation of the ancient mysteries. And for the one who reads with open eyes and mind, his wisdom shall be increased a hundred-fold..
One of the greatest of all Cosmic Laws is that which is responsible for the formation of man as a material being. The great aim of the mystery schools of all ages has been to reveal the workings of the Law which connect man the material and man the spiritual. The connecting link between the material man and the spiritual man is the intellectual man, for the mind partakes of both the material and immaterial qualities. The aspirant for higher knowledge must develop the intellectual side of his nature and so strengthen his will that is able to concentrate all powers of his being on and in the plane he desires.
The great search for light, life and love only begins on the material plane. Carried to its ultimate, its final goal is complete oneness with the universal consciousness. The foundation in the material is the first step; then comes the higher goal of spiritual attainment.
The following was written by Manley P. Hall and Reynold E. Blight, 33 degree K.T. This is the page it came from.. LostKey Text, Manley P. Hall
THE EMERALD TABLET OF HERMES (TABULA SMARAGDINA)
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes, introduces us to Hiram, the hero of the Masonic legend. The name Hiram is taken from the Chaldean Chiram. The first two words in large print mean the secret work. The second line in large letters--(CHIRAM TELAT MECHASOT - means Chiram, the Universal Agent, one in Essence, but three in aspect. Translated, the body of the Tablet reads as follows:
It is true and no lie, certain, and to be depended upon, that the superior agrees with the inferior, and the inferior with the superior, to effect that one truly wonderful work. As all things owe their existence to the will of the Only One, so all things owe their origin to One Only Thing, the most hidden, by the arrangement of the Only God. The father of that One Only Thing is the Suit; its mother is the Moon; the wind carries it in its wings; but its nurse is a Spirituous Earth. That One Only Thing (af ter God) is the father of all things in the universe. Its power is perfect, after it has been united to a spirituous earth. Separate that spirituous earth from the dense or crude earth by means of a gentle heat, with much attention. In great measure it ascends from the earth up to heaven, and descends again, new born, on the earth, and the superior and inferior are increased in power. * * * By this thou wilt partake of the honors of the whole world an d darkness will fly from thee. This is the strength o f all powers; with this thou wilt be able to overcome all things and to transmute all that is fine and all that is coarse. In this manner the world was created, but the arrangements to follow this road are hidden. For this reason I am called CHIRAM TELAT MECHASOT, one in Essence, but three in aspect. In this Trinity is hidden the wisdom of the whole world. It is ended now, what I have said concerning the effects of the Sun.
FINISH OF THE TABULA SMARAGDINA
In a rare, unpublished old manuscript dealing with early Masonic and Hermetic mysteries, we find the following information concerning the mysterious Universal Agent referred to as "Chiram" (Hiram) :
The sense of this Emerald Tablet can sufficiently convince us that the author was well acquainted with the secret operations of Nature and with the secret work of the philosophers (alchemists and Hermetists). He likewise well knew and believed in the true God.
It has been believed for several ages that Cham, (Shem) one of the sons of Noah, is the author of this monument of antiquity. A very ancient author, whose name is not known, who lived several centuries before Christ, mentions this tablet, and says that he had seen it in Egypt, at the court; that it was a precious stone, an emerald, whereon these characters were represented in bas-relief, not engraved.
He states that it was in his time esteemed over two thousand years old, and that the matter of this emerald had once been in a fluidic state like melted glass, and had been cast in a mold, and that to this flux the artist had given the hardness of a natural and genuine emerald, by (alchemical) art.
Concealed in the words of Thoth are many meanings that do not appear on the surface. Light of knowledge brought to bear upon the Tablets will open many new fields for thought. "Read and be wise" but only if the light of your own consciousness awakens the deep-seated understanding which is an inherent quality of the soul.
It was to this powerful god that the Egyptian Hermeticists of the second and third centuries A.D. joined the image and especially the name of the Greek Hermes. From this time onward the name "Hermes" came to denote neither Thoth nor Hermes proper, but a new archetypal figure, Hermes Trismegistus, who combined the features of both..see Hermes
The Canaanites were called the Phoenicians by the Greeks, who have told us that they had Hermes for one of their kings. There is a definite relation between Chiram and Hermes.
Chiram is a word composed of three words, denoting the Universal Spirit, the essence whereof the whole creation does consist, and the object of Chaldean, Egyptian, and genuine natural philosophy, according to its inner principles or properties. The three Hebrew words Chamah, Rusch, and Majim, mean respectively Fire, Air, and Water, while their initial consonants, Ch, R, M, give us Chiram, that invisible essence which is the father of earth, fire, air and water; because, although immaterial in its own invisible nature as the unmoved and electrical fire, when moved it becomes light and visible; and when collected and agitated, becomes heat and visible and tangible fire; and when associated with humidity it becomes material. The word Chiram has been metamorphosed into Hermes and also into Herman, and the translators of the Bible have made Chiram by changing Chet into He; both of these Hebrew word signs being very similar.
In the word Hermaphrodite, (a word invented by the old philosophers), we find Hermes changed to Herm, signifying Chiram, or the Universal Agent, and Aphrodite, the passive principle of humidity, who is also called Venus, and is said to have been produced and generated by the sea.
We also read that Hiram (Chiram), or the Universal Agent, assisted King Solomon to build the temple. No doubt as Solomon possessed wisdom, he understood what to do with the corporealized Universal Agent. The Talmud of the Jews says that King Solomon built the temple by the assistance of Shamir . Now this word signifies the sun, which is perpetually collecting the omnipresent, surrounding, electrical fire, or Spiritus Mundi, and sending it to us in the planets, in a visible manner called light.
This electrical flame, corporealized and regenerated into the Stone of the Philosophers, enabled King Solomon to produce the immense quantities of gold and silver used to build and decorate his temple. These paragraphs from an ancient philosopher may assist the Masonic student of today to realize the tremendous and undreamed-of shire of knowledge that lies behind the allegory which he often hears but seldom analyzes.
Hiram, ( Thoth ) the Universal Agent, might be translated Via the power eternally building and unfolding the bodies of man. The use and abuse of energy is the keynote to the Masonic legend; in fact, it is the Key to all things in Nature. Hiram, as the triple energy, one in source but three in aspect, can almost be called ether, that unknown hypothetical element which carries the impulses of the gods through the macrocosmic nervous system of the Infinite; for like Hermes, or Mercury, who was the messenger of the gods, ether carries impulses upon its wings.
The solving of the mystery of ether - or, if you prefer to call it vibrant space - is the great problem of Masonry. This ether, as a hypothetical medium, brings energy to the three bodies of thought, emotion, and action, in this manner Chiram, the one in essence, becoming three in aspect - mental, emotional, and vital. The work which follows is an effort to bring to light other forgotten and neglected elements of the Masonic rites, and to emphasize the spirit of Hiram as the Universal Agent.
Freemasonry is essentially mysterious, ritualistic, and ceremonial, representing abstract truth in concrete form. Earth (or substance) smothering energy (or vitality) is the mystery behind the murder of the Builder.
link to The Emerald Tablets
Read the contents of the Tablets. Believe or not, but read. And the vibration found therein will awaken a response in your soul.
The following is true and, of all truths, it is the truest
2.Everything, all of the pairs of opposites,
is an expression of The One Thing...
the "One Thing" being what Man calls "God".
3..The "One Thing" is the mediator and for Man to have a
second birth he must adapt himself to the mediations of
The One.
("Not my will but thine be done." )
4..The Sun is its' father because the Sun is a symbol of the soul or creative power ("I AM the light"), the moon was its' mother because the moon is a symbol of the body which, like the moon, has no light of its own, the wind carries it in its' belly because it is a spirit, its' nurse is the Earth, the nurturing garden in which Man was created.
5.. Its desire for perfection brings it forth from the womb (egg, crypt, tomb) of matter,
6.. In its' original "Adamic" condition it has dominion over all created things,
7.. To ascend from "the below" to "the above" the fire/light/soul/spirit/consciousness is distilled from the relatively gross physical body, gently and exercising great ingenuity it weans itself of material desires,
8.. It ascends from the physical to the spiritual and, formulating a desire, incarnates once again possessing the powers of both heaven and earth, blessed with the glory of the whole world and free of all obscurity,
9.. It is eternal and is the matrix upon which everything, both subtle and solid, is manifest.
10.. This is how the world was created....spirit into form.
11..All wonderful adaptations are produced in this way... desire...patient surrender...and manifestation,
12..Therefore, I AM called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world, being 1) spirit 2) consciousness and 3) form
13..What I have to tell concerning the operation of the Soul (Sol/Sun) is complete.
Hermeticism
Hermeticism is an ancient spiritual, philosophical, and magical tradition. It is a path of spiritual growth. Hermeticism takes its name from the God Hermês Trismegistos (Greek, "Thrice-Greatest Hermes"), a Græco-Egyptian form of the great Egyptian God of Wisdom and Magic, Thôth. What the Hermetic Fellowship defines as Hermeticism has also been called the Western Esoteric Tradition, and embraces the Perennial Philosophy or the Ageless Wisdom. Generally, the following can be said to be characteristic of the positive form of Hermeticism advocated by the Hermetic Fellowship.
Hermeticism:
Considers humanity to be on a spiritual journey to return
to a state of unity with the Divine; this is the Great Work of
humankind.
Holds that if we would attain to the Divine, we must aspire to
the Divine; spiritual growth cannot be achieved without human
effort
Is eclectic and draws material from sources spanning
the entire Western Esoteric Tradition
Is polytheistic, yet ultimately monotheisitic (i.e., posits a
multiplicity of Manifestations of the Divine Which emanate
from an ultimate Divine Unity)
Holds that the Divine is both immanent and transcendent
Holds that the Universe is Divine and basically good
Teaches that when we seek the Divine, we may best begin
with the Mysteries of Nature
Encourages spiritual curiosity
Understands that human beings can access the Subtle Realms
through technique and aspiration; to this end, it embraces
theurgy, meditation, ritual, and other spiritual and magical
practices
Urges those who seek the Divine to also seek balance in
embracing all things
Is a poetic rather than an ascetic worldview
Hermetics are Seekers --- Seekers of Divine Truth, Seekers of Wisdom, Seekers of Understanding, Seekers of Gnosis. Hermetic spiritual curiosity encourages openness and tolerance of the ways and spiritual paths of others. This curiosity may be partially satisfied through books. As a literate and literary tradition, Hermeticism holds that as seekers we can benefit through the recorded experiences and insights of others --- as well as through the mediation of a living teacher and/or a group of fellow seekers.
But it is not enough to simply read about the spiritual. We will gain little without genuine, personal experience. Therefore, while we highly recommend personal study and teaching, we also stress the irreplacable value of participation in the spiritual through ritual, meditation, and other spiritual practices. The religious devotion of one's choice will prove extremely valuable in one's growth as well.
To the modern Hermetic, Nature is the Divine teacher the Revealer of the Mysteries. A Rosicrucian motto puts it this way, "Art is the Priestess of Nature." Thus, in order to accomplish his or her spiritual Art, the Hermetic must also serve Nature as a Priest or Priestess. The physical world is the manifestation or vessel of Divine Power and Love, and we are uniquely entrusted with caring for that vessel.
In return for our honor and our care, Nature reveals Her Divine Self as an infinitely profound symbol for the spiritual journey. In the rhythms of the Earth and the cycles of the Sun, the Moon, and the Planets, the awesome structure of the Universe, the complementary miracles of birth and death, the Hermetic finds the Divine unveiled --- and celebrates.
Human beings have a unique place in the Divine pattern because of our Will. We have the ability to aspire to the Divine, and this we must do in order to attain to the Divine. A seeker must want to find. A philosopher must desire to know. And furthermore, she or he must use the power of Will to accomplish this. Hermeticism takes an optimistic view of the individua human being as well. Encouraged by Divine Love and through the use of the considerable human power of desire and Will, everyone has the ability to achieve union with her or his Higher Self, and eventually to reunite with the Divine.
The idea that humankind has fallen away from a previous state in which we were more blessed and more unified with the Divine is common to many religions and philosophies. Versions of the concept are to be found in the Egyptian, Greek, Gnostic, and Hebrew mythologies that are components of the Hermetic Current. Hermetics do not see the fall from unity as evil or as a punishment. Instead, it was necessary for spiritual growth. Just as a young person must leave home and truly experience life in order to grow and mature, so humanity as a whole had to 'fall' into experience. But our journey is not complete until we eventually return home and unite with the Divine once more for healing and regeneration.
The work that each Hermetic is called to undertake, though it is sometimes called the Tiqqun,, the Restoration, is not simply regaining our blessed, pre-fall state of Unity; it is the attainment of something new, for we -- and all of reality -- have been metamorphosized by our entry into the great cocoon of incarnation. When we return to Eden, it will not be simply the Garden we once left, but in the midst of the Garden will stand the Holy City, the highest attainment of the human spirit in creative Union with the Divine. This return to a new and transformed Unity with the Divine is the ultimate goal of the Hermetic work. This process is called both the Great Work and the Royal Art. It is the finding of the Stone of the Philosophers, True Wisdom, Perfect Happiness, the Summun Bonum.
This journey home may be understood as a process of renewing our links with the Divine through a system whose keys are the patterns of Nature. Each link is represented by an initiation. Different schools follow different natural patterns. For example, some might use a series of initiations based on the steps of an Alchemical operation; another might base their initiations on the development of the psyche and spirit; yet another on the cycles of the Moon.
Furthermore, instead of a spiritual journey that rejects all things material in order to re-attain the spiritual, the goal of the Hermetic is to embrace and balance all things. Hermeticism may be described as a poetic rather than an ascetic mode of Attainment. Hermes Trismegistos, quoting the Divine Mind, tells us:
Make yourself grow to immeasurable immensity, outleap all body, outstrip all time, become eternity, and you will understand God. Having conceived that nothing is impossible to you, consider yourself immortal and able to understand everything, all art, all learning, the temper of every living thing. Go higher than every height and lower than every depth. Collect in yourself the sensations of all that has been made, of fire and water, dry and wet; be everything at once, on land, in the sea, in heaven; be not yet born, be in the womb, be young, old, dead, beyond death. And when you have understood all these things at once --- times, places, things, qualities, quantities --- then you can understand God.
MOTIVE
What motive leads the Masonic candidate out of the world and
up the winding stairway to the light? He alone can truly know, for
in his heart is hidden the motive of his works.
Is he seeking the light of the East?
Is he seeking wisdom eternal? Does he bring his life and
offer it upon the altar of the Most high?
Of all things,
motive is most important. Though we fail again and again, if
our motive be true, we are victorious. Though time after time we
succeed, if our motive be unworthy, we have failed.
Enter the temple in reverence, for it is in truth the
dwelling place of a Great Spirit, the Spirit of Masonry. Masonry
is an ordainer of kings. Its hand has shaped the
destinies of worlds, and the perfect fruitage of its molding is
an honest man. What nobler thing can be accomplished than the
illumination of ignorance?
What greater task is there than
the joyous labor of service? And what nobler man can there
be than that Mason who serves his Lights, and is himself a Light unto his fellow men?
...Manly P. Hall, The Lost Keys of Freemasonry, link above.
The entire works of Thoth and The Emerald Tablets can be found here,
The Emerald Tablets of Thoth
"This
Technique is for Advanced Initiates of the Mystery Schools Only...
It should be practiced slowly and never more than once per day.
It will not be understood by everyone."
"Ajna Center Meditation" To Ajna Center (Third Eye) Meditation
Angel & Feathers This is another explaination of Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel, extra-terrestrialism, and the Aeon of Maat. One must attain understanding on this higher level to grasp the concept of the unknown and the unseen.
Al-Chemy, the so-called secret science
The ultimate result of the alchemical Art is the fabled Philosopher's Stone, which perfects all metals to gold and all humans to immortal. Amazing though this may seem, all true alchemical preparations manifest this same perfecting quality, at different degrees and each in its individual way.
This is because the complement to the physical laboratory work is spiritual and energetic work, and the creation of a sphere of planetary archetypal energy. The laboratory is charged with the appropriate energy for each operation, according to the planetary archetypes, and the plant, metal, or mineral is then worked on inside that sphere. The alchemical work of destroying, purifying, and reviving the matter takes it through successively higher cycles of birth, growth, death, and reincarnation until it embodies the highest incarnate state it can achieve.
Because, as Hermes Trismegistus said, that which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below, these creations of the alchemical Art become links in a chain of influence, and are vessels charged with a pure planetary energy and able to transmit that energy to the next link- you.
This chain of influence can be used as part of an active spiritual path in many ways. Hermes' law also means that, just as our universe is made up of cycling planetary bodies, we are made up of corresponding cycling influences, at all levels of being. At the higher level of the eternal soul, these energies reside in the subtle centers or Chakras, and their balance, strength, and weakness relative to each other determine much of our individuality. When one of these Chakras is blocked or imbalanced, karmic "stumbling blocks" are created in our path of spiritual growth, and work must be done to overcome these blockages.
Joseph said, "God has made me father to a pharoah". Find out who it was on The Widows Son, 2 The first men to profess 'there is only one god' - Egyptian kings.
Search this site
NO PART OF THIS SITE MAY BE COPIED OR REPRODUCED, IN WHOLE OR IN PART
WITHOUT THE EXPRESS WRITTEN APPROVAL OF THE WEBMASTER...
© COPYRIGHT 1999 - 2008 c.i.c.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This page has been visited... Times since January,15th 2000.