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[Manly Palmer Hall, the
learned Author, was a seeker and lover of wisdom, and a great philosopher and
mystic. He had the courage and the raw intellectual energy to look for wisdom in
places most men had long since forgotten about, or never knew existed. Manly P.
Hall spoke and wrote extensively, of the wisdom found in all ancient traditions.
In an age when serious study of "other religions" was anathema to most, he found
deep cross cultural threads and revealed many interconnected roots of modern
religious expression. His works are exceedingly rare in its grand scope, detail
and synthesis. He embraced the wisdom of every tradition and with a fluid
command of their obscure and complex contents, worked to express their unifying
truths. This book was written very early in his career, even though , he had not
been initiated in Freemasonry. It is a very absorbing book, kindling our
thinking and requiring a careful and serious study. Chapter-6 and the
concluding portion of The Lost Keys of Freemasonry are posted herein. This
concludes the book. Please read on . .]
The Qualifications Of A True Mason
Chapter – 6
Every true Mason has come into the realization, that
there is but one Lodge, that is, the Universe and but one Brotherhood, composed
of everything that moves or exists in any of the planes of Nature. He realizes
that the Temple of Solomon is really the Temple of the Solar Man (Sol-Om-On )
the King of the Universe manifesting through his three primordial builders. He
realizes, that his vow of brotherhood and fraternity is universal and that
mineral, plant, animal and man are all included in the true Masonic Craft. His
duty as an elder brother to all the kingdoms of Nature beneath him is well
understood by the true Craftsman, who would rather die than fail in this, his
great obligation. He has dedicated his life upon the altar of his God and is
willing and glad to serve the lesser through the powers he has gained from the
greater. The mystic Mason, in building the eyes that see behind the apparent
ritual, recognizes the oneness of life manifesting through the diversity of
form.
The true disciple of ancient Masonry has given up forever
the worship of personalities. With his greater insight, he realizes, that all
forms and their position in material affairs are of no importance to him
compared to the life, which is evolving within. Those who allow appearances
or worldly expressions to deter them from their self appointed tasks are
failures in Masonry, for Masonry is an abstract science of spiritual unfoldment.
Material prosperity is not the measure of soul growth. The true Mason
realizes that behind these diverse forms there is one connected Life Principle,
the spark of God in all living things. It is this Life, which he considers when
measuring the worth of a brother. It is to this Life that he appeals for a
recognition of spiritual Unity. He realizes that it is the discovery of this
spark of Unity, which makes him a conscious member of the Cosmic Lodge. Most of
all, he must learn to understand that this divine spark shines out as brightly
from the body of a foe as it does from the dearest friend. The true Mason has
learned to be divinely impersonal in thought, action, and desire.
The true Mason is not creed bound. He realizes with the
divine illumination of his lodge that as Mason his religion must be universal.
Christ, Buddha or Mohammed, the name means little, for he recognizes only the
light and not the bearer. He worships at every shrine, bows before every altar,
whether in temple, mosque or cathedral, realizing with his truer understanding
the oneness of all spiritual truth. All true Masons know that they only are
heathen, who having great ideals, do not live up to them. They know that all
religions are but one story told in divers ways for peoples whose ideals differ,
but whose great purpose is in harmony with Masonic ideals. North, east, south
and west stretch the diversities of human thought, and while the ideals of man
apparently differ, when all is said and the crystallization of form with its
false concepts is swept away, one basic truth remains. All existing things are
Temple Builders, laboring for a single end. No true Mason can be narrow,
for his Lodge is the divine expression of all broadness. There is no place for
little minds in a great work.
The true Mason must develop the powers of observation.
He must seek eternally in all the manifestations of Nature for the things, which
he has lost, because he failed to work for them. He must become a student of
human nature and see in those around him the unfolding and varying expressions
of one connected spiritual Intelligence. The great spiritual ritual of his lodge
is enacted before him in every action of his fellow man. The entire Masonic
initiation is an open secret, for anyone can see it played out on the city
street corners as well as in the untracked wilderness. The Mason has sworn
that every day he will extract from life its message for him and build it into
the temple of his God. He seeks to learn the things which will make him of
greater service in the Divine Plan, a better instrument in the hands of the
Great Architect, who is laboring eternally to unfold life through the medium of
living things. The Mason realizes, moreover, that his vows, taken of his own
free will and accord, give him the divine opportunity of being a living tool in
the hands of a Master Workman.
The true Master Mason enters his lodge with one thought
uppermost in his mind: "How can I, as an individual, be of greater use in the
Universal Plan? What can I do to be worthy to comprehend the mysteries, which
are unfolded here? How can I build the eyes to see the things, which are
concealed from those who lack spiritual understanding?" The true Mason is
supremely unselfish in every expression and application of the powers that have
been entrusted to him. No true Brother seeks anything for himself, but
unselfishly labors for the good of all. No person who assumes a spiritual
obligation for what he can get out of it is worthy of applying for the position
even of water carrier. The true Light can come only to those who, asking
nothing, gladly give all to it.
The true brother of the Craft, while constantly striving to
improve himself, mentally, physically, and spiritually through the days of his
life, never makes his own desires the goal for his works. He has a duty and that
duty is to fit into the plans of another. He must be ready at any hour of the
day or night to drop his own ideals at the call of the Builder. The work must be
done and he has dedicated his life to the service of those who know the bonds of
neither time nor space. He must be ready at any moment's notice and his life
should be turned into preparing himself for that call which may come when he
least expects it. The Master Mason knows that those most useful to the Plan are
those who have gained the most from the practical experiences of life. It is not
what goes on within the tiled lodge, which is the basis of his greatness, but
rather the way in which he meets the problems of daily life. The true Masonic
student is known by his brotherly actions and common sense.
Every Mason knows that a broken vow brings with it a
terrible penalty. Let him also realize that failure to live mentally,
spiritually and morally up to one's highest ideals constitutes the greatest of
all broken oaths. When a Mason swears that he will devote his life to the
building of his Father's house and then defiles his living temple through the
perversion of mental power, emotional force and active energy, he is breaking a
vow, which imposes not hours, but ages of misery. If he is worthy to be a Mason,
he must be great enough to restrain the lower side of his own nature, which is
daily murdering his Grand Master. He must realize that a misdirected life is a
broken vow and that daily service, purification, and the constructive
application of energy is a living invocation, which builds within and draws to
him the power of the Creator. His life is the only prayer acceptable in the
eyes of the Most High. An impure life is a broken trust; a destructive action
is a living curse and a narrow mind is a strangle cord around the throat of God.
All true Masons know that their work is not secret, but
they realize that it must remain unknown to all, who do not live the true
Masonic life. Yet if the so-called secrets of Freemasonry were shouted from
the housetops, the Fraternity would be absolutely safe. For certain spiritual
qualities are necessary before the real Masonic secrets can be understood by
the brethren themselves. Hence it is that the alleged "exposures" of
Freemasonry, printed by the thousands and tens of thousands since 1730 down to
the present hour, cannot injure the Fraternity. They reveal merely the
outward forms and ceremonies of Freemasonry. Only those who have been weighed in
the balance and found to be true, upright, and square have prepared themselves
by their own growth to appreciate the inner meanings of their Craft. To the
rest of their brethren within or without the lodge their sacred rituals must
remain, as Shakespeare might have said, "Words, words, words." Within the
Mason's own being is concealed the Power, which, blazing forth from his purified
being, constitutes the Builder's Word. His life is the sole password, which
admits him to the true Masonic Lodge. His spiritual urge is the sprig of acacia
which, through the darkness of ignorance, still proves that the spiritual fire
is alight. Within himself he must build those qualities, which will make
possible his true understanding of the Craft. He can show the world only forms
which mean nothing, the life within is forever concealed until the eye of Spirit
reveals it.
The Master Mason realizes charity to be one of the
greatest traits which the Elder Brothers have unfolded, which means not only
properly regulated charity of the purse, but charity in thought and action.
He realizes that all the workmen are not on the same step, but wherever each may
be, he is doing the best he can according to his light. Each is laboring with
the tools, that he has and he, as a Master Mason, does not spend his time in
criticizing, but in helping them to improve their tools. Instead of blaming poor
tools, let us always blame ourselves for having them. The Master Mason does
not find fault; he does not criticize nor does he complain, but with malice
towards none and charity towards all he seeks to be worthy of his Father's
trust. In silence he labors, with compassion he suffers, and if the builders
strike him as he seeks to work with them, his last word will be a prayer for
them. The greater the Mason, the more advanced in his Craft, the more fatherly
he grows, the walls of his Lodge broadening out until all living things are
sheltered and guarded within the blue folds of his cape. From laboring with the
few he seeks to assist all, realizing with his broader understanding the
weaknesses of others but the strength of right.
A Mason is not proud of his position. He is not puffed
up by his honor, but with a sinking heart is eternally ashamed of his own place,
realizing that it is far below the standard of his Craft. The farther he goes,
the more he realizes that he is standing on slippery places and if he allows
himself for one moment to lose his simplicity and humility, a fall is inevitable.
A true Mason never feels himself worthy of his Craft. A student may stand on the
top of Fool's Mountain self-satisfied in his position , but the true Brother
is always noted for his simplicity.
A Mason cannot be ordained or elected by ballot. He is
evolved through ages of self-purification and spiritual transmutation. There are
thousands of Masons who are brethren in name only, for their failure to
exemplify the ideals of their Craft makes them unresponsive to the teachings and
purpose of Freemasonry. The Masonic life forms the first key of the Temple and
without this key, none of the doors can be opened. When this fact is better
realized and lived, Freemasonry will awake and speak the Word so long withheld.
The speculative Craft will then become operative and the Ancient Wisdom so long
concealed will rise from the ruins of its temple as the greatest spiritual truth
yet revealed to man.
The true Master Mason recognizes the value of seeking
for truth wherever he can find it. It makes no difference if it be in the
enemy's camp. If it be truth, he will go there gladly to secure it. The Masonic
Lodge is universal; therefore all true Masons will seek through the extremities
of creation for their Light. The true brother of the Craft knows and applies one
great paradox. He must search for the high things in lowly places and find the
lowly things in high places. The Mason who feels holier than his fellow man has
raised a barrier around himself through which no light can pass, for the one who
in truth is the greatest is the servant of all. Many brethren make a
great mistake in building a wall around their secrets, for they succeed only in
shutting out their own light. Their divine
opportunity is at hand. The time has come when the world
needs the Ancient Wisdom as never before. Let the Mason stand forth and by
living the doctrines, which he preaches show to his brother man the glory of his
work. He holds the keys to truth. Let him unlock the door and with his life
and not his words preach the doctrine, which he has so long professed.
The Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man were
united in the completion of the Eternal Temple, the Great Work, for which all
things came into being and through which all shall glorify their Creator.
Masons Awake !
Your creed and your Craft demand the best that is in
you. They demand the sanctifying of your life, the regeneration of your body,
the purification of your soul and the ordination of your spirit. Yours is the
glorious opportunity; yours is the divine responsibility. Accept your task
and follow in the footsteps of the Master Masons of the past, who with the
flaming spirit of the Craft have illumined the world. You have a great
privilege, the privilege of illumined labor. You may know the ends to which you
work, while others must struggle in darkness. Your labors are not to be
confined to the tiled Lodge alone, for a Mason must radiate the qualities of his
Craft. Its light must shine in his home and in his business, glorifying his
association with his fellow men. In the Lodge and out of the Lodge, the Mason
must represent the highest fruitage of sincere endeavor.
Epilogue
The Priest of RA
What words are there in modern language to describe the
great temple of Ammon Ra? It now stands amidst the sands of Egypt a pile of
broken ruins, but in the heyday of its glory, it rose a forest of plumed pillars
holding up roofs of solid sandstone, carved by hands long laid to rest into
friezes of lotus blossoms and papyrus and colored lifelike by pigments the
secrets of which were lost with the civilization that discovered them. A
checkerboard floor of black and white blocks stretched out until it was lost
among the wilderness of pillars. From the massive walls the impassive faces of
gods unnamed looked down upon the silent files of priests who kept alight the
altar fires, whose feeble glow alone alighted the massive chambers throughout
the darkness of an Egyptian night. It was a weird, impressive scene and the
flickering lights sent strange, ghostly forms scurrying among the piles of
granite which rose like mighty altars from the darkness below to be lost in the
shadows above.
Suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows, carrying in his
hand a small oil lamp which pierced the darkness like some distant star,
bringing into strange relief the figure of him who bore it. He appeared to be
old, for his long beard and braided hair were quite gray, but his large black
eyes shone with a fire seldom seen even in youth. He was robed from head to foot
in blue and gold, and around his forehead was coiled a snake of precious metal,
set with jewelled eyes that gave out flashes of light. Never had the light of
Ra's chamber shone on a grander head or a form more powerful than that of the
high priest of the temple. He was the mouthpiece of the gods and the sacred
wisdom of ancient Egypt was impressed in fiery letters upon his soul. As he
crossed the great room - in one hand the sceptre of their priest craft, in the
other the tiny lamp - he was more like a spirit visitor from beyond the environs
of death than a physical being, for his jewelled sandals made no sound and the
sheen from his robes formed a halo of light around his stately form.
Down through the silent passageways, lined with their
massive pillars, passed the phantom figure - down steps lined with kneeling
sphinxes and through avenues of crouching lions the priest picked his way until
at last he reached a vaulted chamber whose marble floor bore strange designs
traced in some language long forgotten. Each angle of the many-sided and dimly
lighted room was filled by a seated figure carved in stone, so massive that its
head and shoulders were lost in shadows no eye could pierce.
In the center of this mystic chamber stood a great chest
of some black stone carved with serpents and strange winged dragons. The lid was
a solid slab, weighing hundreds of pounds, without handle of any kind and the
chest apparently had no means of being opened without the aid of some Herculean
power.
The high priest leaned over and from the lamp he carried
lighted the fire upon an altar that stood near, sending the shadows of that
weird chamber scurrying into the most distant corners. As the flame rose, it was
reflected from the great stone faces above, which seemed to stare at the black
coffer in the center of the room with their strange, sightless eyes.
Raising his serpent wound staff and facing the chest of
sombre marble, the priest called out in a voice that echoed and reechoed from
every nook and corner of the ancient temple.
"Aradamas, come forth!"
Then a strange thing happened. The heavy slab that formed
the cover of the great coffer slowly raised as though lifted by unseen hands and
there emerged from its dark recesses a slim, white-clad figure with his forearms
crossed on his breast-the figure of a man perhaps thirty years old, his long,
black hair hanging down upon his white-robed shoulders in strange contrast to
the seamless garment that he wore. His face, devoid of emotion, was as handsome
and serene as the great face of Ammon Ra himself that gazed down upon the scene.
Silently Aradamas stepped from the ancient tomb and advanced slowly toward the
high priest. When about ten paces from the earthly representative of the gods,
he paused, unfolded his arms, and extended them across his chest in salutation.
In one hand he carried a cross with a ring as the upper arm and this he
proffered to the priest. Aradamas stood in silence as the high priest, raising
his sceptre to one of the great stone figures, addressed an invocation to the
Sun God of the universe. This finished, he then addressed the youthful figure as
follows, "Aradamas, you seek to know the mystery of creation, you ask that the
divine illumination of the Thrice-Greatest and the wisdom that for ages has been
the one gift the gods would shower upon mankind, be entrusted to you. Little you
understand of the thing you ask, but those who know have said that he who proves
worthy may receive the truth. Therefore, stand you here today to prove your
divine birthright to the teaching that you ask."
The priest pronounced these words slowly and solemnly and
then pointed with his sceptre to a great dim archway surmounted by a winged
globe of gleaming gold.
"Before thee, up those steps and through those passageways,
lies the path that leads to the eye of judgment and the feet of Ammon Ra. Go,
and if thy heart be pure, as pure as the garment that thou wearest, and if thy
motive be unselfish, thy feet shall not stumble and thy being shall be filled
with light. But remember that Typhon and his hosts of death lurk in every shadow
and that death is the result of failure."
Aradamas turned and again folded his arms over his breast
in the sign of the cross. As he walked slowly through the somber arch, the
shadows of the great Unknown closed over him who had dedicated his life to the
search for the Eternal. The priest watched him until he was lost to sight among
the massive pillars beyond the span that divided the living from the dead. Then
slowly falling on his knees before the gigantic statue of Ra and raising his
eyes to the shadows that through the long night concealed the face of the Sun
God, he prayed that the youth might pass from the darkness of the temple pillars
to the light he sought.
It seemed that for a second a glow played around the face
of the enormous statue and a strange hush of peace filled the ancient temple.
The high priest sensed this, for rising, he relighted his lamp and walked slowly
away. His beacon of light shone fainter and fainter in the distance and finally
was lost to view among the papyrus blooms of the temple pillars. All that
remained were the dying flames on the altar, which sent strange flickering glows
over the great stone coffer and the twelve judges of
the Egyptian dead.
In the meantime, Aradamas, his hands still crossed on his
breast, walked slowly onward and upward until the last ray from the burning
altar fire was lost to view among the shadows far behind. Through years of
purification he had prepared himself for the great ordeal, and with a purified
body and a balanced mind, he wended his way in and out among the pillars that
loomed about him. As he walked along, there seemed to radiate from his being a
faint golden glow, which illuminated the pillars as he passed them. He seemed a
ghostly form amid a grove of ancient trees.
Suddenly the pillars widened out to form another vaulted
room, dimly lit by a reddish haze. As Aradamas proceeded, there appeared around
him swirling wisps of this scarlet light. First they appeared as swiftly moving
clouds, but slowly they took form, and strange misty figures in flowing
draperies hovered in the air and held out long swaying arms to stay his
progress. Wraiths of ruddy mist hovered about him and whispered soft words into
his ears, while weird music, like the voice of the storm and the cries of night
birds, resounded through the lofty halls. Still Aradamas walked on calm and
masterful, his fine, spiritual face outlined by his raven locks in strange
contrast to the sinuous forms that gathered around and tried to lure him from
his purpose. Unmindful of strange forms that beckoned from ghostly archways and
the pleading of soft voices, he passed steadily on his way with but one thought
in his mind:
"Fiat Lux!" (Let there be light.)
The ghastly music grew louder and louder, terminating at
last in a mighty roar. The very walls shook, the dancing forms swayed like
flickering candle shadows and, still pleading and beckoning, vanished among the
pillars of the temple.
As the temple walls tottered, Aradamas paused; then with
slow measured step he resumed his search for some ray of light, finding always
darkness deeper than before. Suddenly before him loomed another doorway, flanked
on either side by an obelisk of carved marble, one black and the other white.
Through the doorway glowed a dim light, concealed by a gossamer veil of blue
silk.
As Aradamas slowly climbed the flight of steps leading to
the doorway, there materialized upon the ground at his feet a swirl of lurid
mist. In the faint glow that it cast, it twisted like some oily gas, filling the
entire chamber with a loathsome miasma. Then out of this cloud issued a gigantic
form , half human, half reptile. In its bloodshot eyes burned ruddy pods of
demon fire, while great claw-like hands reached out to enfold and crush the
slender figure that confronted it. Aradamas wavered for a single instant as the
horrible apparition lunged forward, its size doubly magnified in the iridescent
fog. Then the white-robed neophyte again slowly advanced, his arms still crossed
on his breast. He raised his fine face, illumined by a divine light, and
courageously faced the hideous specter. As he confronted the menacing form, for
an instant it loomed over him like a towering demon. Suddenly Aradamas raised
the cross he carried and held it u p before the monster. As he did so, the Crux
Ansata gleamed with a wondrous golden light, which, striking the oily, scaly
monster, seemed to dissolve its every particle into golden sparks. As the last
of the demon guardians vanished before the rays of the cross, a bolt of
lightning flashed through the ancient hallways and, striking the veil that hung
between the obelisks, rent it down the center and disclosed a vaulted chamber
with a circular dome, dimly lighted by invisible lamps.
Bearing his now flaming cross, Aradamas entered the room
and instinctively gazed upward to the lofty dome. There, floating in space, far
above his head, he saw a great closed eye surrounded by fleecy clouds and
rainbow colors. Long Aradamas gazed upon the wonderful sight, for he knew that
it was the Eye of Horus, the All-Seeing Eye of the gods.
As he stood there, he prayed that the will of the gods
might be made known unto him and that in some way he might be found worthy to
open that closed eye in the temple of the living God.
As he stood there gazing upward, the eyelid flickered. As
the great orb slowly opened, the chamber was filled with a dazzling, blinding
light that seemed to consume the very stones with fire. Aradamas staggered. It
seemed as if every atom of his being was scorched by the effulgence of that
glow. He instinctively closed his eyes and now he feared to open them, for in
that terrific blaze of splendor it seemed that only blindness would follow his
action. Little by little, a strange feeling of peace and calm descended upon him
and at length he dared to open his eyes to find that the glare was gone, the
entire chamber was bathed in a soft, wondrous glow from the mighty Eye in the
ceiling. The white robe he had worn had also given place to one of living fire
which blazed as though with the reflection of thousands of lesser eyes from the
divine orb above. As his eyes became accustomed to the glow, he saw that he was
no longer alone. He was surrounded by twelve white-robed figures who, bowing
before him, held up strange insignia wrought from living gold.
As Aradamas looked, all the figures pointed, and as he
followed the direction of their hands, he saw a staircase of living light that
led far up into the dome and passed the Eye in the ceiling.
With one voice, the twelve said: "Yonder lies the way of
liberation."
Without a moment's hesitation, Aradamas mounted the
staircase, and with feet that seemed to barely touch the steps, climbed upward
into the dawn of a great unknown. At last, after climbing many steps, he reached
a doorway that opened as he neared it. The breath of morning air fanned his
cheek and a golden ray of sunshine played among the waves of his dark hair. He
stood on the top of a mighty pyramid, before him a blazing altar. In the
distance, far over the horizon, the rolling sands of the Egyptian desert
reflected the first rays of the morning sun which, like a globe of golden fire,
rose again out of the eternal East. As Aradamus stood there, a voice that seemed
to issue from the very heavens chanted a strange song, and a hand, reaching out
as it were from the globe of day itself, placed a serpent wrought of gold upon
the brow of the new initiate.
"Behold Khepera, the rising sun! For as he brings the
mighty globe of day out of the darkness of night, between his claws, so for thee
the Sun of Spirit has risen from the darkness of night and in the name of the
living God, we hail thee Priest of Ra." So Mote It Be.
Addenda
The Robe of
Blue and Gold
Hidden in the depths of the unknown, three silent beings
weave the endless thread of human fate. They are called the Sisters, known to
mythology as the Norns or Fates who incessantly twist between their fingers a
tiny cord, which one day is to be woven into a living garment - the coronation
robe of the priest-king.
To the mystics and philosophers of the world this garment
is known under many names. To some it is the simple yellow robe of Buddahood. By
the ancient Jews it was symbolized as the robe of the high priest, the Garment
of Glory unto the Lord. To the Masonic brethren, it is the robe of Blue and Gold
- the Star of Bethlehem - the Wedding Garment of the Spirit.
Three Fates weave the threads of this living garment, and
man himself is the creator of his Fates. The triple thread of thought, action,
and desire binds him when he enters the sacred place or seeks admittance into
the tiled lodge, but later this same cord is woven into a splendid garment whose
purified folds clothe the sacred spark of his being.
We all like to be well dressed. Robes of velvet and ermine
stand for symbols of rank and glory; but too many ermine capes have covered
empty hearts, too many crowns have rested on the brows of tyrants. These are
symbols of earthly things and in the world of matter are too often misplaced.
The true coronation robe - the garment molded after the pattern of heaven, the
robe of glory of the Master Mason - is not of the earth; for it tells of his
spiritual growth, his deeper understanding, and his consecrated life. The
garments of the high priest of the tabernacle were but symbols of his own body,
which, purified and transfigured, glorified the life within. The notes of the
tiny silver bells that tinkled with never-ending music from the fringe of his
vestments told of a life harmonious, while the breastplate which rested amid the
folds of the ephod reflected the gleams of heavenly truth from the facets of its
gems.
There is another garment without a seam which we are
told was often worn by the ancient brethren in the days of the Essenes, when the
monastery of the lowly Nazarenes rose in silent grandeur from the steep sides of
Mt. Tabor, to be reflected in the inscrutable waters of the Dead Sea. This
one-piece garment is the spiral thread of human life which, when purified by
right motive and right living, becomes a tiny thread of golden light, eternally
weaving the purified garment of regenerated bodies. Like the white of the
lambskin apron, it stands for the simple, the pure, and the harmless. These are
the requirements of the Master Mason, who must renounce forever this world's
pomp and vanity and seek to weave that simple one piece robe of the soul which
marks the Master, consecrated and consummated.
With the eye of the mind we still can see the lowly
Nazarene in his spotless robe of white, a garment no king's ransom could buy.
This robe is woven out of the actions of our daily lives, each deed weaving
into the endless pattern a thread, black or white, according to the motives,
which inspired our actions. As the Master Mason labors in accordance with his
vows, he slowly weaves this spotless robe out of the transmuted energy of his
efforts. It is this white robe which must be worn under the vestments of state,
and whose spotless surface sanctifies him for the robes of glory, which can be
worn only over the stainless, seamless garment of his purified life.
When this moment arrives and the candidate has completed
his task, when he comes purified and regenerated to the altar of wisdom, he is
truly baptized of the fire and its flame blazes up within himself. From him pour
forth streams of light, and a great aura of multicolored fire bathes him with
its radiance. The sacred flame of the gods has found its resting place in him,
and through him renews its covenant with man. He is then truly a Freemason, a
child of light. This wonderful garment, of which all earthly robes are but
symbols, is built of the highest qualities of human nature, the noblest of
ideals, and the purest of aspirations. Its coming is made possible only through
the purification of body and unselfish service to others in the name of the
Creator.
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.
As the sun awakens the seedlings in the ground, so this Son
of Man, glowing with the light divine, radiates from his own purified being the
mystic shafts of redeeming light, which awaken the seeds of hope and truth and a
nobler life. Discouragement and suffering too often brings down the temple,
burying under its debris the true reason for being and the higher motives for
living.
As the glorious robe of the sun, the symbol of all life -
bathes and warms creation with its glow, this same robe, enfolding all things,
warms them and preserves them with its light and life. Man is a god in the
making, and as in the mystic myths of Egypt, on the potter's wheel he is being
molded. When his light shines out to lift and preserve all things, he receives
the triple crown of godhood, and joins that throng of Master Masons who, in
their robes of Blue and Gold, are seeking to dispel the darkness of night with
the triple light of the Masonic Lodge.
Ceaselessly the Norms spin the thread of human fate. Age
in and age out, upon the looms of destiny are woven the living garments of God.
Some are rich in glorious colors and wondrous fabrics, while others are broken
and frayed before they leave the loom. All, however, are woven by these three
Sisters, thought, action and desire, with which the ignorant build walls of
mud and bricks of lime between themselves and truth, while the pure of heart
weave from these radiant threads garments of celestial beauty.
Do what we will, we cannot stop those nimble fingers,
which twist the threads, but we may change the quality of the thread they use.
We should give these three eternal weavers only the noble and the true. Then the
work of their hands will be perfect. The thread they twist may be red with the
blood of others, or dark with the uncertainties of life. But if we resolve to be
true, we may restore its purity and weave from it the seamless garment of a
perfect life. This is man's most acceptable gift upon the altar of the Most
High, his supreme sacrifice to the Creator.
Friendship
What nobler relationship than that of friend? What
nobler compliment can man bestow than friendship? The bonds and ties of the life
we know break easily, but through eternity one bond remains, the bond of
fellowship, the fellowship of atoms, of star dust in its endless flight, of
suns and worlds, of gods and men. The clasped hands of comradeship unite
in a bond eternal, the fellowship of spirit. Who is more desolate than the
friendless one? Who is more honored than one whose virtues have given him a
friend? To have a friend is good, but to be a friend is better. The
noblest title ever given man, the highest title bestowed by the gods, was when
the great Jove gazed down upon Prometheus and said, "Behold, a friend of man!"
Who serves man, serves God. This is the symbol of the fellowship of your
Craft, for the plan of God is upheld by the clasped hands of friends. The bonds
of relationship must pass, but the friend remains. Serve God by being a friend,
- a friend of the soul of man, serving his needs, lighting his steps, smoothing
his way. Let the world of its own accord say of the Mason, "Behold the friend
of all." Let the world say of the Lodge, "This is indeed a fraternity of
brothers, comrades in spirit and in truth."
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 (after 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 and darkness will fly from thee. This is the strength of 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, 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.
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, the Universal Agent, might be translated Vita, 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.
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, it 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?
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