Theosophical Society,
Charles
Webster Leadbeater
Glimpses of Masonic History
by
C.W. Leadbeater
First
Published 1926
CONTENTS
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
CHAPTER I
SCHOOLS OF MASONIC THOUGHT
The Origins of Masonry. The Authentic School. The Anthropological
School. The
CHAPTER II
THE EGYPTIAN MYSTERIES
The Message of the World Teacher. The Gods of
CHAPTER III
THE CRETAN MYSTERIES
The Unity of the Mysteries. Life in Ancient
Altar Objects. Various Symbols. The Statuettes.
CHAPTER IV
THE JEWISH MYSTERIES
The Jewish Line of Descent. The Jewish Migrations. The Prophets.
The Builders of K.S.T. The Recasting of the Rituals. The Mingling of
Traditions. The Transmission of the New Rites. The Essenes and the Christ.
Kabbalism. The Spiritualization of the
CHAPTER V
THE GREEK MYSTERIES
The Eleusinian Mysteries. The Origin of the Greek Mysteries. The Gods of
Three Degrees. Other Greek Mysteries.
CHAPTER VI
THE MITHRAIC MYSTERIES
Zarathustra and Mithraism. Mithraism among the Romans. The Mithraic
Rites. The Roman Collegia. The Work of King Numa. The Colleges and the Legions.
The Introduction of the Jewish Form. The Transition to the Operatives.
CHAPTER VII
CRAFT MASONRY IN MEDIAEVAL TIMES
Evolutionary Methods. The Withdrawal of the Mysteries. The
Christian Mysteries. The Repression of the Mysteries. The Crossing of
Traditions. The Two Lines of Descent. The Culdees. Celtic
Christianity in
CHAPTER VIII
OPERATIVE MASONRY IN THE MIDDLE AGES
The Temporary Custodians. Decline of the Collegia. The Comacini.
The Comacine Lodges. Other Survivals of the Collegia. The Compagnonnage. The Stonemasons of
CHAPTER IX
THE TRANSITION FROM OPERATIVE TO SPECULATIVE
The Reformation. The Reappearance of Speculative Masonry. The First
Minutes. Scottish Minutes. English Minutes. Irish Minutes. The
Grand Lodge of
CHAPTER X
OTHER LINES OF MASONIC TRADITION
The Stream of Secret Societies. The Knights Templars. The Suppression of the Templars. The Preservation
of the Templars' Tradition. The Royal Order of
CHAPTER XI
THE SCOTTISH RITE
Origin of the Rite. The Jacobite Movement. The Oration of Ramsay. The Chapter of Clermont. The Council
of Emperors. Stephen Morin.
CHAPTER XII
THE CO-MASONIC ORDER
The Restoration of an Ancient Landmark. The Succession of
Co-Masonry. The Co-Masonic Rituals. The Future of Masonry
APPENDIX I.
Degrees of the Rite of Perfection
II. Principal Masonic Events from 1717
Author's Preface
WHEN I wrote The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, it was at first my
intention to devote my second chapter to a brief outline of Masonic history. I
soon found that that plan was impractical. The most compressed account that
would be of any use would occupy far more space than I could spare, and would
entirely overweight the book with what is after all only one department of its
subject. The obvious alternative is to publish the historical sketch
separately; hence this book, which is really but a second volume of the other.
The keynote of both volumes, and indeed the only reason for their
publication, is to explain precisely what the title indicates - the hidden
life in Freemasonry - the mighty force in the background, always at work yet
always out of sight, which has guided the transmission of the Masonic tradition
through all the vicissitudes of its stormy history, and still inspires the
utmost enthusiasm and devotion among the Brn. of the Craft to-day.
The existence and the work of the Head of all true Freemasons is
the one and sufficient reason for the virility and power of this most wonderful
Organization. If we understand His relation to it and what He wishes to make of
it, we shall also understand that it embodies one of the finest schemes ever
invented for the helping of the world and for the outpouring of spiritual
force.
Many of our Brn. have been for many years unconsciously taking part
in this magnificent altruistic work; if they can be brought to comprehend what
it is that they are doing and why, they will continue the great work more
happily and more intelligently, throwing into it the whole strength of their
nature both bodily and spiritual, and enjoying the fruit of their labours far
more definitely than ever before.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHAPTER I
. Schools of Masonic Thought
A HISTORY of
Freemasonry would be a colossal undertaking, needing encyclopaedic knowledge and
many years of research. I have no pretension to the possession of the qualities
and the erudition required for the production of such a work; all I can hope to
do is to throw a little light upon some of the dark spots in that history, and
to bridge over to some extent some of the more obvious gaps between the
sections of it which are already well known.
THE ORIGINS OF MASONRY
The actual origins of
Freemasonry, as I have said in a previous book, are lost in the mists of
antiquity. Masonic writers of the eighteenth century speculated uncritically
upon its history, basing their views upon a literal belief in the history and
chronology of the Old Testament, and upon the curious legends of the Craft
handed down from operative times in the Old Charges. Thus it was put forward in
all seriousness by Dr. Anderson in his first Book of Constitutions that
"Adam, our first parent, created after the Image of God, the great
Architect of the Universe, must have had the Liberal Sciences, particularly
Geometry, written on his Heart," while others, less fanciful, have
attributed its origin to Abraham, Moses, or Solomon. Dr. Oliver, writing as
late as the first part of the nineteenth century, held that Masonry, as we
have it to-day, is the
only true relic of the faith of the patriarchs before the flood, while the
ancient Mysteries of Egypt and other countries, which so closely resembled it,
were but human corruptions of the one primitive and pure tradition.
As scientific and
historical knowledge progressed in other fields of research, and especially in
the criticism of the Scriptures, scientific methods were gradually applied to
the study of Masonry, so that today there exists a vast body of fairly
accurate and most interesting information upon the history of the Craft. In
consequence of this and other lines of investigation there are four main
schools or tendencies of Masonic thought, not in any way necessarily defined or
organized as schools, but grouped according to their relation to four important
departments of knowledge lying primarily outside the Masonic field. Each has
its own characteristic approach towards Freemasonry; each has its own canons of
interpretation of Masonic symbols and ceremonies, although it is clear that
many modern writers are influenced by more than one school.
THE AUTHENTIC SCHOOL
We may consider first
what is sometimes called the
This school, however,
has limitations which are the outcome of its very method of approach. In a
society as secret as Masonry there must be much that has never been written
down, but only transmitted orally in the Lodges, so that documents and records
are but of partial value. The written
records of speculative Masonry hardly antedate the revival in 1717, while the
earliest extant minutes of any operative Lodge belong to the year .* (*History of the Lodge of
Edinburgh, by D. Murray-Lyon, p. .) The tendency of this school, therefore, is
quite naturally to derive Masonry from the operative Lodges and Guilds of the
Middle Ages, and to suppose that speculative elements were later grafted upon
the operative stock - this hypothesis being in no way contradicted by existing
records. Bro. R. F. Gould affirms that if we can assume the symbolism (or
ceremonial) of Masonry to be older than 1717, there is practically no limit
whatever to the age that can be assigned to it* (*Concise History of
Freemasonry, by R. R Gould, p. .); but many other writers look for the origin
of our Mysteries no further back than the mediaeval builders.
Amongst this school
there is a tendency, also very natural when such a theory of origin is held, to
deny the validity of the higher degrees, and to declare, in accordance with the
Solemn Act of Union between the two Grand Lodges of the Freemasons of England,
in December, 1813, that "pure Antient Masonry consists of three degrees
and no more, viz., those of the Entered Apprentice, the Fellow Craft, and the
Master Mason, including the Supreme Order of the Holy Royal Arch."* (*Book
of Constitutions, 1884, p. .) All other degrees and rites are, among the more
rigid followers of this school, looked upon as Continental innovations and are
accordingly rejected as "spurious" Masonry.
10 As far as interpretation
goes, the authentics have ventured but little further than a moralization upon
the symbols and ceremonies of Masonry as an adjunct to Anglican Christianity.
THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL SCHOOL
A second school, still
only in process of development, is applying the discoveries of anthropology to
a study of Masonic history, with remarkable results. A vast amount of
information upon the religious and initiatory customs of many peoples, both
ancient and modern, has been gathered by anthropologists; and Masonic students
in this field have found many of our signs and symbols, both of the Craft and
higher degrees, in the wall-paintings, carvings, sculpture and buildings of the
principal races of the world. The
The Anthropologists do not
confine their studies to the past alone, but have investigated the initiatory
rites of many existing tribes, both in Africa and Australia, and have found
them to possess signs and gestures still in use among Masons. Striking
analogies to our Masonic rites have also been found among the inhabitants of
Among pioneers in this
field we should mention Bro. Albert Churchward, the author of several
interesting books on the Egyptian origin of Masonry, although it may be that he
is not always quite sufficiently critical; Bro. J. S. M. Ward, the author of
Freemasonry and the Ancient Gods, Who was Hiram Abiff? and a number of other
works, who looks to Syria as the source of Masonry, though he has compiled a
mass of valuable information from many other lands; and Mr. Bernard H.
Springett, author of Secret Sects of Syria and Lebanon, who has collected much
material bearing upon Masonic rites among the Arabs.
To the work of the
Another important work
which has been accomplished by its efforts is the justification of many of the
higher degrees to be considered "pure Antient Masonry"; for in spite
of the pronouncement of the Grand Lodge of England quoted above, there is just
as much evidence for the extreme antiquity of Rose-Croix as of Craft and Arch
signs and symbols, and the same may be said of the signs of many other degrees
as well. It is quite clear from the researches of anthropologists that,
whatever may be the precise links in the chain of descent, we in Masonry are
the inheritors of a very ancient tradition, which has for countless ages been
associated with the most sacred mysteries of religious worship.
THE
A third school of Masonic
thought, which we may call the Mystical, approaches the mysteries of the Craft
from another standpoint altogether, seeing in them a plan of man's spiritual
awakening and inner development. Thinkers of this school, on the record of
their own spiritual experiences, declare that the degrees of the Order are
symbolical of certain states of consciousness which must be awakened in the
individual initiate if he aspires to win the treasures of the spirit. They give
testimony of another and far higher nature upon the validity of our Masonic
rites - a testimony that belongs to religion rather than to science. The goal
of the mystic is conscious union with God, and to a Mason of this school the
Craft is intended to portray the path to that goal, to offer a map, as it were,
to guide the feet of the seeker after God.
Such students are often
more interested in interpretation than in historical research. They are not
primarily concerned in tracing an exact line of descent from the past, but
rather in so living the life indicated by the symbols of the Order that they
may attain to the spiritual reality of which those symbols are the shadows.
They hold, however, that Masonry is at least akin to the ancient Mysteries,
which were intended for precisely the same purpose - that of offering to man a
path by which he might find God; and they deplore the fact that the majority of
our modern Brn. have so far forgotten the glory of their Masonic heritage that
they have allowed the ancient rites to become little more than empty forms. One
well-known representative of this school is Bro. A. E. Waite, one of the finest
Masonic scholars of the day, and an authority upon the history of the higher
degrees. Another is Bro. W. L. Wilmshurst, who has given some beautiful and
deeply spiritual interpretations of Masonic symbolism. This school is doing
much to spiritualize masculine Masonry, and the deeper reverence for our
mysteries that is becoming more and more apparent is without doubt one of the
marks of its influence.
20 THE
The fourth school of
thought is represented by an evergrowing body of students in the Co-Masonic
Order, and is gradually attracting adherents in masculine Masonry also. Since
one of its chief and distinctive tenets is the sacramental efficacy of Masonic
ceremonial when duly and lawfully performed, we may perhaps not improperly term
it the sacramental or occult school. The term occultism has been much
misunderstood; it may be defined as the study and knowledge of the hidden side
of nature by means of powers which exist in all men, but are still unawakened
in the majority - powers which may be aroused and trained in the occult student
by means of long and careful discipline and meditation.
The goal of the occultist,
no less than that of the mystic, is conscious union with God; but the methods
of approach are different. The aim of the occultist is to attain that union by
means of knowledge and of will, to train the whole nature, physical, emotional
and mental, until it becomes a perfect expression of the divine spirit within,
and can be employed as an efficient instrument in the great plan which God has
made for the evolution of mankind, which is typified in Masonry by the building
of the holy temple. The mystic, on the other hand, rather aspires to ecstatic
union with that level of the divine consciousness which his stage of evolution
permits him to touch.
The way of the occultist
lies through a graded series of steps, a pathway of Initiations conferring
successive expansions of consciousness and degrees of sacramental power; that
of the mystic is often more individual in character, a "flight of the
alone to the Alone," as Plotinus so beautifully expressed it. To the
occultist the exact observance of a form is of great importance, and through
the use of ceremonial magic he creates a vehicle through which the divine light
may be drawn down and spread abroad for the helping of the world, calling to
his aid the assistance of Angels, nature-spirits and other inhabitants of the
invisible worlds. The method of the mystic, on the other hand, is through
prayer and orison; he cares nothing for forms and, though by his union
therewith he too is a channel of the divine Life, he seems to me to lose the
enormous advantage of the collective effort made by the occultist, which is so
greatly strengthened by the help of the higher Beings whose presence he
invokes. Both these paths lead to God; to some of us the first will appeal
irresistibly, to others the second; it is largely a matter of the Ray to which
we belong. The one is more outward-turned in service and sacrifice; the other
more inward-turned in contemplation and love.
THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE
OCCULTIST
The student of occultism,
therefore, learns to awaken and train for scientific use the powers latent
within him, and by their means he is able to see far more of the real meaning
of life than the man whose vision is limited by the physical senses. He learns
that each man is in essence divine, a veritable spark of God's fire, gradually
evolving towards a future of glory and splendour culminating in union with God;
that the method of his progress is by successive descents into earthly bodies
for the sake of experience, and withdrawals into worlds or planes which are
invisible to physical eyes. He finds that this progress is governed by a law of
eternal justice, which renders to each man the fruit of that which he sows, joy
for good and suffering for evil.
He learns, too, that the
world is ruled, under the will of T.M.H., by a Brotherhood of Adepts, who have
Themselves attained divine union, but remain on earth to guide humanity; that
all the great religions of the world were founded by Them, according to the
needs of the races for which they were intended, and that within these
religions there have been schools of the Mysteries to offer to those who are
ready a swifter path of unfoldment, with greater knowledge and opportunities
for service; that this Path is divided into steps and degrees: the probationary
Path, or the Lower Mysteries, wherein the candidates are prepared for
discipleship, and the Path proper, or the Greater Mysteries, in which are
conferred within the Great White Lodge itself five great Initiations, which
lead the disciple from the life of earth to the life of adeptship in God, to
become "a living flame," as it is said, "for the lighting of the
world." He is taught that God, both in the universe and in man, shows
Himself as a Trinity of Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, and that these Three
Aspects are represented in the Great White Lodge in the Persons of its three
chief Officers, through whom the mighty power of God descends to men.
THE OCCULT RECORDS
It will be seen that this
occult knowledge depends no more upon the study of books and records than do the
experiences of the mystics; both belong to a higher order of consciousness, the
existence of which cannot be satisfactorily demonstrated on the physical plane.
Nevertheless, the study of the physical-plane records of the past is of value
in confirming the historical researches of the trained occultist, who is able
to read what are sometimes called the akashic records, and so to acquire an
accurate knowledge of the past. This subject is so little understood that it
may perhaps be useful if at this point I quote somewhat at length from a book
entitled Clairvoyance which I wrote many years ago:
On the mental plane (the
records) have two widely different aspects. When the visitor to that plane is
not thinking specially of them in any way, these records simply form a
background to whatever is going on, just as the reflections in a pier-glass at
the end of a room might form a background to the life of the people in it. It
must always be borne in mind that under these conditions they are really
merely reflections from the ceaseless activity of a great Consciousness upon a
far higher plane. .
30 But if the trained
investigator turns his attention especially to any one scene, or wishes to call
it up before him, an extraordinary change at once takes place, for this is the
plane of thought, and to think of anything is to bring it instantaneously
before you. For example, if a man wills to see the record of the landing of
Julius Caesar in
In truth he observes not
only what he would have seen if he had been there at the time in the flesh, but
much more. He hears and understands all that the people say, and he is
conscious of all their thoughts and motives; and one of the most interesting of
the many possibilities which open up before one who has learnt to read the
records is the study of the thought of ages long past - the thought of the
cave-men and the lake-dwellers as well as that which ruled the mighty
civilizations of Atlantis, of Egypt or Chaldaea. What splendid possibilities
open up before the man who is in full possession of this power may easily be
imagined. He has before him a field of historical research of most entrancing
interest. Not only can he review at his leisure all history with which we are
acquainted, correcting as he examines it the many errors and misconceptions which
have crept into the accounts handed down to us; he can also range at will over
the whole story of the world from its very beginning, watching the slow
development of intellect in man, the descent of the Lords of the Flame, and the
growth of the mighty civilizations which They founded.
Nor is his study confined
to the progress of humanity alone; he has before him, as in a museum, all the
strange animal and vegetable forms which occupied the stage in days when the
world was young; he can follow all the wonderful geological changes which have
taken place, and watch the course of the great cataclysms which have altered
the whole face of the earth again and again.
In one especial case an
even closer sympathy with the past is possible to the reader of the records. If
in the course of his inquiries he has to look upon some scene in which he
himself has in a former birth taken part, he may deal with it in two ways; he
can either regard it in the usual manner as a spectator (though always, be it remembered,
as a spectator whose insight and sympathy are perfect), or he may once more
identify himself with that long-dead personality of his - may throw himself
back for the time into that life of long ago, and absolutely experience over
again the thoughts and the emotions, the pleasures and the pains of a
prehistoric past.
In the light of this
occult knowledge (which is within the reach of the inner sight) Masonry is seen
to be far greater and holier than its initiates appear generally to realize. As
tradition has always indicated, it is found to be a direct descendant of the
Mysteries of Egypt (once the heart of that splendid faith whose wisdom and
power were the glory of the ancient world - those Mysteries which were the
parent and prototype of the secret schools of other neighbouring lands), and
its purpose is still to serve as a gateway to the true Mysteries of the Great
White Lodge. It offers to its initiates far more than a mere moralization upon
building tools, and yet it is "founded upon the purest principles of
piety and virtue," for without the practice of morality and the living of
the ethical life no true spiritual progress is possible.
The ceremonies of Freemasonry
(those at least of its higher degrees) are dramatizations, as it were, of
sections of the invisible worlds, through which the candidate must pass after
death in the ordinary course of nature - which also he must enter in full
consciousness during the rites of initiation into those true Mysteries of
which Masonry is a reflection. Each degree relates to a different plane of
nature, or to an aspect of a plane, and possesses layer after layer of meaning
applicable to the consciousness of T.G.A.O.T.U., the constitution of the
universe, and the principles in man, according to the occult law formulated by
Hermes Trismegistus and adopted by Rosicrucians, alchemists and students of the
Kabbala in later ages: "As above, so below." The Masonic rites are thus
rites of the probationary Path, intended to be a preparation for true
Initiation, to be a school for training the Brn. for the far greater knowledge
of the Path proper.
THE SACRAMENTAL POWER
To the occult student
Masonry has also another aspect, of the greatest importance, concerning which I
have written in The Hidden Life in Freemasonry It is not only a wonderful and
intricate system of occult symbols enshrining the secrets of the invisible
worlds; it has also a sacramental aspect which is of the utmost beauty and
value not only to its initiates but to the world at large. The performance of
the ritual of each degree is intended to call down spiritual power, first to
assist the Bro. upon whom the degree is conferred to awaken within himself that
aspect of consciousness which corresponds to the symbolism of the degree, as
far as it can be awakened; secondly to aid in the evolution of the members
present; and thirdly and most important of all, to pour out a flood of
spiritual power intended to uplift, strengthen and encourage all members of the
Craft.
Some years ago I undertook
an investigation into the hidden side of the sacraments of the Catholic Church,
and published the results of that investigation in a book called The Science of
the Sacraments. Those who have read that book will remember that the shedding
abroad of spiritual power is one great object of the celebration of the Holy
Eucharist, and of other services of the Church, and that it is attained by the
invocation of an Angel to build a spiritual temple in the inner worlds with the
aid of the forces generated by the love and devotion of the people, and the
charging of that temple with the enormous power called down at the consecration
of the Sacred Elements. A somewhat similar result is achieved during the
ceremonies performed by the Masonic Lodge, although the plan is not exactly the
same, being indeed far older; and each of our rituals, when properly carried
out, likewise builds a temple in the inner worlds, through which the spiritual
power called down at the initiation of the candidate is stored and radiated.
Thus Masonry is seen, in the sacramental sense as well as the mystical, to be
"an art of building spiritualized," and every Masonic Lodge ought to
be a channel of no mean order for the shedding of spiritual blessing over the
district in which it labours.
Sometimes orders and rites
which were once channels of great force have admitted, as the years passed by,
Brn. less worthy than their predecessors - Brn. who thought more of their own
gain than of service to the world. In such cases the spiritual powers
associated with those grades were either entirely withdrawn by the H.O.A.T.F.,*
(*See The Hidden Life in Freemasonry, pp. 15, .) to be introduced later into
some other and more suitable group, or allowed to remain dormant until more
fitting candidates should be found to hold them worthily - the bare succession
passing down and transmitting, as it were, the seeds of the power, although
the power itself was largely in abeyance.
40 On the other hand, there
have been cases in which a rite or grade has been manufactured by a student who
wished to throw some great truth into ceremonial form, but knew little of all
this inner side of Masonry; if such a degree or rite were doing useful work and
attracting suitable candidates, sacramental powers fitted for that rite or
grade were sometimes introduced into it, either by some Bro. on the physical
plane who possessed one of the lines of succession mentioned above, which was
then adapted by the H.O.A.T.F. for the work, or by a direct and non-physical
interference from behind.
Furthermore, the inner
effect of a given degree, even in a rite that may be fully valid, may vary
greatly with the degree of advancement and general attitude of the Bro. upon
whom it is conferred; so that in one case, let us say, the 33 ° would confer
stupendous spiritual power, and in another, less worthy, the powers given would
be much smaller, because of the candidate's incapacity to respond fully to them.
In such cases a fuller degree of power will manifest itself as greater advancement
is made in the development of character. It also appears to be possible for
power to be temporarily withdrawn in cases of evil-doing by one of the Brn.,
and to be restored later when the evil-doing has ceased.
All this may seem a little
bewildering to the student of the form side of Masonry; and indeed it is a fact
that there is but little means on the physical plane of judging the inner
effect of a given degree without reference to those who may be working it. It
may however be generally stated that the chief lines of Masonic tradition -
those which are of the greatest inner or spiritual value - are the Craft
degrees, upon which all other grades are superimposed, the Mark and the Arch
degrees, and the chief degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, the 18 °, 30 ° and 33 °. Other degrees
that are worked have their own peculiar powers, and these are often valuable;
but the grades which I have mentioned are those which are considered by the
H.O.A.T.F. to be of the greatest value to our present generation, and they are
therefore those which are worked at present in the Co-Masonic Order. Another
line of great interest, though very different from any other degrees existing
among us, is that of the rites of Memphis and Mizraim, which are relics in
their occult power, although not in their form, of perhaps the very oldest
Mysteries existing upon earth. These too have their part to play in the future,
as in the past, and they have therefore been preserved and transmitted to us in
the present day.
THE FORM AND THE LIFE
In all cases we must
realize that the form of the degrees of Masonry and their life are two very
different things, although of course in a perfect system, as in that of the
ancient Mysteries at the height of their glory, they would correspond
perfectly. Masonry is yet in a transitional stage, and is but emerging from
the ignorance of the Dark Ages. The rites of
The whole position will be
best understood if it can be realized that the plan of Masonry is in the hands
of the H.O.A.T.F., who rules His mighty Order with perfect justice and the most
marvellous skill, so that all that can be done is done for the greatest good of
all. The powers that stand behind Freemasonry are great and holy, and it is but
right that they should be conferred in their fullness only upon those who are
likely to use them as they should be used and to treat them with the reverence
they deserve. There is a great and glorious reality in the background all the
time, ever pressing towards realization, and employing whatever channels are
available for its manifestation. Whatever can be used is always used to the
very fullest extent, and none need fear that he is overlooked. It is obvious,
however, that where the Brn. think more of gratifying their own vanity than of
the Hidden Work, where they spend their time in banqueting and revelry and
curtail the sacred ritual in order that they may adjourn as quickly as possible
to the South, they are less worthy channels of the Divine Glory than those more
spiritual Brn. who are willing to study and to understand. All the time the
H.O.A.T.F. is watching; He sees the slightest endeavor of the Craftsmen to
serve, and He will pour forth His wondrous power just in so far as the Brn.
become worthy of it.
ORTHODOXY AND HERESY
Another point which arises
in connection with the transmission of Masonic degrees will be developed more
fully as we proceed. We must realize that in Masonic ritual it is not a case of
one orthodoxy, and a number of heresies and schisms; it is rather that there
are as many lines of tradition in form as there are types of succession in
inner power. The Mysteries worked in the different countries of the ancient
world varied considerably in the details of their form and legend, and vestiges
of these differences remain in the various workings now in use among us. Many
equally valid streams of tradition have crossed and recrossed one another
throughout the ages, and have influenced each other to a greater or less
degree. The seating of the principal officers in a Craft Lodge, for instance,
differs in English and Continental Masonry. English Masonry follows the old
Egyptian method of arranging them, while Continental Masonry follows the Chaldaean
plan and seats them in an isosceles triangle.
The powers of the
succession of I.M.s in these two systems are in essence the same, but since in
the Continental Lodges the ceremony of Installation is reduced to the merest
vestige, only the minimum of power necessary for the actual transmission of the
degrees is conferred, and very much less is done for the R.W.M. than under the
English plan. But this is a question of imperfection of form rather than of
absence of power. The spiritual powers behind Masonry work through the
different forms according to the value of the form and the will of the
H.O.A.T.F. behind, who is the only judge of the much-argued difference between
genuine and spurious Masonry. In the light of this view of the Masonic
succession, it will be seen that genuine rites are those which possess and
transmit spiritual power, whereas spurious
Masonry is the working of a form from which for one reason or another
the life has been withdrawn, or to which it has never been linked.
In the following chapters
I shall endeavour to trace the descent of the Masonic tradition from the
Egyptian Mysteries to the present day, not in any way attempting to delineate
each separate link in the chain of succession, for that would be the work of a
life-time and would not be of any fuller value to the student, but touching
rather upon important periods of Masonic history, as revealed by the inner
sight, and confirmed in the writings of Masonic scholars.
2 The Egyptian
Mysteries
THE MESSAGE OF THE
WORLD-TEACHER
In The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry I have described to some extent the form and meaning of Freemasonry
as I knew it in
The authentic history of
According to Manetho, the
Egyptian historian of the Ptolemaic period, whose works are now lost (except
for certain fragments preserved in quotations), the gods and demigods reigned for
12,843 years. After these came the Nekyes or Manes, who are said to have
reigned for 5,813 years; and some of these may perhaps be identified with the
Shemsu Heru, or Followers of Horus, who are frequently mentioned in Egyptian
texts.* (*Sir E. A. Wallis Budge. The
The Atlantean conquest of
Egypt took place over one hundred and fifty thousand years ago, and the first
great Egyptian empire lasted until the catastrophe of 75,025 B.C., when the two
great islands Ruta and Daitya were whelmed beneath the ocean, and only the
island of Poseidonis remained.* (*Op. cit., pp. 119 and 132, and The Story of
Atlantis, by Scott Elliott.) It was during the dominance of that empire that
the three pyramids were built in accordance with the astronomical and
mathematical lore of the Atlantean priests;* (*See The Hidden Life in
Freemasonry, p. .) and it is to this age also that we look for the origin of
those Mysteries which have been handed down to us in the ceremonies of
Freemasonry. Even then the ceremonies were ancient, and we must search a still
more remote past for their ultimate source. In the great catastrophe of 75,025
B.C. the whole land of Egypt was flooded, and nothing remained of all its glory
save the three pyramids rising above the waters.* (*Man: Whence, How and
Whither, pp. 242 and .) After this, when the swamps had become habitable, there
came a negroid domination; and then the land was again colonized by the
Atlanteans, who restored the splendour of the Egyptian temples and established
once more the hidden Mysteries which had been celebrated in the great pyramid.
This empire lasted up to the time of the Aryanization of Egypt in 13,500 B.C.;
it was ruled by a great dynasty of divine kings, among whom were many of the
heroes whom Greece later regarded as demigods, such as Herakles of the twelve
labours, whose tradition was handed on to
classical times.
It was to this people
about 40,000 B.C. that the World Teacher came forth from the White Lodge,
bearing the name of Tehuti or Thoth, called later by the Greeks Hermes; He
founded the outer cult of the Egyptian Gods and restored the Mysteries to the
splendour of byegone days.
He came to teach the great
doctrine of the 'Inner Light' to the priests of the Temples, to the powerful
sacerdotal hierarchy of Egypt, headed by its Pharaoh. In the inner court of the
chief Temple He taught them of 'the Light that lighteth every man that cometh
into the world' - phrase of His that was handed down through the ages, and was
echoed in the fourth Gospel in its early Egyptian-coloured words. He taught
them that the Light was universal, and that that Light, which was God, dwelt in
the heart of every man: "I am that Light," He bade them repeat,
"That Light am I". "That Light," He said, "is the true
man, although men may not recognize it, although they neglect it. Osiris is
Light; He came forth from the Light; He dwells in the Light; He is the Light.
The Light is hidden everywhere; it is in every rock and in every stone. When a
man becomes one with Osiris the Light, then he becomes one with the whole of
which he was part, and then he can see the Light in everyone, however thickly
veiled, pressed down, and shut away. All the rest is not; but the Light is. The
Light is the life of men. To every man - though there are glorious ceremonies,
though there are many duties for the priest to do, and many ways in which he
should help men - that Light is nearer than aught else, within his very heart.
For every man the Reality is nearer than any ceremony, for he has only to turn
inwards, and then will he see the Light. That is the object of every ceremony,
and ceremonies should not be done away with, for I come not to destroy but to
fulfil. When a man knows, he goes beyond the ceremony, he goes to Osiris, he
goes to the Light, the Light Amen-Ra, from which all came forth, to which all
shall return.
"Osiris is in the
heavens, but Osiris is also in the very heart of men. When Osiris in the heart
knows Osiris in the heavens, then man becomes God, and Osiris, once rent into
fragments, again becomes one. But see! Osiris the Divine Spirit, Isis, the
Eternal Mother, give life to Horus, who is Man, Man born of both, yet one with
Osiris. Horus is merged in Osiris, and Isis, who had been Matter, becomes
through him the Queen of Life and Wisdom. And Osiris, Isis, and Horus are all
born of the Light.
"Two are the births
of Horus. He is born of
So taught He, and the wise
among the priests were glad.
To Pharaoh, the Monarch, He gave the motto: "Look for the
Light"; He said that only as a King saw the Light in the heart of each
could he rule well. And to the people He gave as a motto: "Thou art the
Light. Let that Light shine." And He set that motto round the pylon in a
great
And the joyous
civilization of
THE GODS OF
It will be seen from the
above that the deities, or rather forms of
Deity, Osiris, Isis and Horus were already familiar to the people, and
the World Teacher made it part of His work to draw their attention to the true
meaning of the three Persons. At what time knowledge of these three Aspects of
God was introduced into the land we do not know, but at the date of our
experience they had their places in the symbology of the Mysteries.
ISIS AND OSIRIS
Isis, to whom the Lesser
Mysteries were ascribed, was not only the universal feminine principle
expressed in nature, but also a real and very lofty Being, just as the Christ
is the universal Life, the Second Logos, and also a high Official of the Occult
Hierarchy. She by virtue of her high development and office was able to
represent the Feminine Aspect of the Deity to man. Isis was the Mother of all
that lives, and wisdom and truth and power; upon her temple at Sais the
inscription was written: "I am that which is, which hath been, and which
shall be; and no man has ever lifted the veil that hides my Divinity from mortal
eyes."* (*Plutarch. Moralia; De Iside et Osiride.) The moon was her
symbol; and the influence which she outpoured upon her worshippers to the music
of the shaken sistrum was of brilliant blue light veined with delicate silver,
as of shimmering moonbeams, the very touch of which brought upliftment and
ecstasy.
Osiris was the embodiment
of God the Father in a mighty Planetary Spirit. His symbol was the sun, and the
influence which He outpoured was a dazzling glory of light shot through with
gold, like the rays of the sun caught upon the surface of a lake. The influence
of Horus, who represented the divine Child, was the glowing rose and gold of
the eternal love which is perfect wisdom.
ANIMAL DEITIES
The Egyptians also followed the ancient practice of regarding certain animals as mirroring various aspects of the divine, because of their outstanding qualities. Thus they took the intelligence of the ape, the clear-sightedness of the hawk, the strength of the bull, and so on, and attributed the quality to some particular aspect of the Deity. They carefully bred certain animals as perfect representatives of their species, and kept them apart as symbols of those divine qualities. Such were the Apis bulls, and the cats of Bast or Pasht. These animals were regarded not exactly as sacred, but as objectified examples of the qualities. In the beginning the creature was a mere symbol, but in later days the Egyptians had the idea that those which had been especially set apart came to be linked with the godhead, and so were to some extent a manifestation of the deity. They then embalmed the animals and laid up the mummies in their temples, with the intentio