THE BRETHREN ASSIST

When the ceremony of lighting the candles is completed, the Brethren take their seats, and the R.W.M. asks them to spend a few moments in aspiration to T.G.A.O.T.U., earnestly resolving that the work to be done that evening shall be well and thoroughly done, and that each member shall never forget that he is doing it in His name and to His glory.

The R.W.M. then gives a single k … k and calls upon the Brethren to assist him in opening the Lodge. Some may ask why he needs their assistance in so simple an act as declaring the Lodge open; but the fact is that it is by no means so simple as this. The opening of a Masonic Lodge is in itself an exceedingly beautiful and interesting ceremony, and the success of the evening's work depends upon its being properly and thoroughly done. The work before us is no light matter, for it is nothing less than a concerted effort to carry out the duty that is laid upon us, as those who possess the Light, to spread that Light abroad through the world, and actually to become fellow-laborers with T.G.A.O.T.U. in His great plan for the evolution of our Brethren.

He pours spiritual strength into the world just as the sun pours out its light; but as there are many dark places in the world which the sunlight cannot directly reach, so are there many souls in the world who are unable to receive and assimilate this divine force. As man by means of mirrors can reflect the sunlight into a cave or cellar, so also can man reflect the spiritual light upon those darkened souls, and perchance present it to them so that they may be able to receive it and profit by it. All light in the world is but transmuted sunlight; if we burn coal and make gas, or if we burn oil in a lamp, the energy is none the less converted solar energy.

The Great Architect sends forth His power at all levels, but most of all on the higher planes. But the majority of men are not yet sufficiently developed on those higher planes to be directly affected by this force. If, however, those men who are already somewhat developed at those levels will lay themselves open to receive that force, and slow down its vibrations by passing them through their own subtle bodies, it can then be poured out upon the world at large in an assimilable form. And this is a great part of the work that is being done by all those who wish to co-operate with Him.

I have explained in The Masters mad the Path how one who approaches a Master of the Wisdom with a view to becoming His pupil and working under Him for the good of mankind, is first drawn into a wonderfully intimate association with that Master, so that he may become a perfect channel for the distribution of spiritual forces. Precisely the same thing on a much smaller scale is being done by every human being who wishes well to his fellow-man. Being developed somewhat above the average, he is able to receive and to profit by some at least of these forces, and he assuredly pours them out again on lower levels in good-will and kindly feeling. The ceremonies of all great religions aim at producing such results on a larger scale by some sort of common action. In The Science of the Sacraments I have explained the mechanism of this common action as far as the great Christian services are concerned; and the ceremonies of Freemasonry attain a similar object, though in a different way.

The Christian service begins by building a great thought-form to act as a kind of storage-battery or condenser for this force, in order that as it is gradually generated it may be stored up for use instead of being allowed to dissipate itself uselessly in the ambient air; and we in Freemasonry have to take the same precaution. In both cases we invoke the aid of non-human entities - the inhabitants of those subtler planes, who are thoroughly accustomed to deal with and control the forces belonging to their respective levels; but there is a certain difference between the methods adopted in the Christian religion, and in the old Egyptian Mystery-faith from which Masonry is derived.

In Christianity we invoke great Angels who are far above us in spiritual unfoldment, and place ourselves to a considerable extent in their hands, supplying them with the material of love and devotion and aspiration which the service calls forth from us, and leaving them largely to do the form-building and the distribution.

In Freemasonry also we invoke angelic aid, but those upon whom we call are nearer to our own level in development and intelligence, and each of them brings with him a number of subordinates who carry out his directions. All around us there is a vast unseen evolution, which may be thought of as parallel to our own.* (*See plate, "The Evolution of Life" in The Hidden Side of Things, vol. i, p. 116 (1st edition) And just as our line of progress passes through the vegetable kingdom, the animal kingdom and the human kingdom, and then carries us on to the superhuman developments of Adeptship, so does that parallel evolution run through the various elemental kingdoms, the kingdom of the nature-spirits, and then the kingdom of Devas or Angels. There are many levels of intelligence and holiness in this great angelic kingdom; and while it stretches upwards to heights far above those at present attainable by human beings, it has also members who are hardly at a higher level than our own.* (*In the course of involution the Second great Outpouring of divine Life descends from the Second Logos into the matter already vivified by the Third Logos. Very slowly and gradually this resistless life pours down through the various planes, spending in each of them a period equal in duration to one entire incarnation of a planetary chain - a period which, if measured as we measure time, would cover many millions of years. As a whole, this life-wave is spoken of as monadic essence when clothed only in the atomic matter of the various planes at different stages of its descent. When it energizes the matter of the higher mental plane, it is known as the First Elemental Kingdom. When it descends to the lower or rupa levels of the same plane it is the Second Elemental Kingdom, and on the astral plane it is the Third Elemental Kingdom. Even when this monadic essence first comes before us, in the earliest of the elemental Kingdoms, it is already not one monad, but very many - not one great life-stream but many parallel streams, each possessing characteristics of its own. The monadic essence ensouls the matter of the sub-planes below it on each plane or division of a plane, and thus forms the Elemental Kingdoms. It is the same life that goes on into the mineral kingdom, and then begins to ascend, and proceeds through the vegetable and animal kingdoms until, upon its junction with rays from the life of the First Logos, human beings are formed. See Man, Visible and Invisible, Chapter vi.)

Those, however, are only the lowest members of the angelic kingdom; next below them in development come the highest of the nature-spirits, in the same way as the highest members of the animal kingdom come only just below the lowest human beings; and indeed in many cases the kingdoms overlap, for the most intelligent of the animal kingdom are frequently superior in many respects to the most degraded of human beings. In the Church service we invoke the great Archangels - beings very far above ourselves - though they also have their cohorts of assistants at a level much below their own; in Freemasonry we call rather upon beings at our own stage or slightly above it, and they bring with them assistants from the kingdom of the nature-spirits and even of the elementals.

In both cases the work is initiated by someone who is specially qualified and set apart to do it; in the Church the priest; in Freemasonry the R.W.M. Still, the assistance of the brethren present is always a matter of importance and significance. In ecclesiastical circles they often speak of the priesthood of the laity. Certain things the priest is commissioned to do, and only he can do them. But he requires the help and co-operation of the laity in order that he may work at the highest degree of effectiveness. It is exactly the same with the Master of a Masonic Lodge; he also has certain work to do, and unless there are other P.M.s. present, he is the only man who can do it; but it will be done better and more easily if the Brethren understand and co-operate.

I remember well that when first I was elected R.W.M. of my Mother Lodge, I had to do all the magnetization in the opening procession myself; I had to march round the Lodge, making an eddy in the flowing forces, building the preliminary thought-form and filling it with a strong current of magnetism. Presently I explained matters to some of the older members of the Lodge and told them how they could help in this work, and when they got into the habit of doing so I found that it made my own labors very much less.

But remember that what the H.O.A.T.F. wants is not a sort of bored acquiescence, but cordial co-operation. He wants the members really to be thinking vividly all the time and keeping their minds on what they are doing. If we hear the same thing over and over again, there is a certain tendency for it to become a matter of course, so that people give only half of their attention to it. That is not the way to get the best results; we must fig our minds strongly upon what we are saying and what we are doing. Only the officers have to give the responses at the opening of the Lodge, but every member ought to know these responses by heart. When we come to the temple, we come for a definite purpose-not to get, but to give; and the amount that we are able to give in the way of spiritual force and help depends largely upon the intentness with which we fix our thought upon what we are doing, and the amount of definite understanding that we bring to it. It means a considerable mental effort, no doubt; but it is very well worth while to make it.

When the R.W.M. asks for the assistance of the Brethren he also means that they should specially prepare themselves to co-operate in the work of the evening, and this important preliminary is achieved by his next questions.

TYLING THE LODGE

The Brethren being upstanding, the R.W.M. begins the proceedings by asking from the W.J.W. (carefully addressing him by name, and not using the title of his office) the characteristic question which is the keynote of every Masonic meeting: "What is the first care of every Freemason?" and receives the traditional reply: "To see the Lodge close tyled." He continues: "Direct that that duty be done." The W.J.W. passes on the command to the I.G., who goes to see that the T. is at his post, and reports that he is, this report being at once passed on to the R.W.M.

What is the symbolism here? The first requisite when we are about to do a great piece of work is to concentrate upon it, and in order to do that we must be free from interruption; so the fortress of Mansoul (to adopt John Bunyan's picturesque terminology) needs a strong wall all round outside, and our entrance must be well guarded. Therefore the Spirit calls to the intelligence, which is its link with the lower worlds; the intelligence asks the etheric double, who in turn signals the dense physical body to know how things look from the outside, and receives the satisfactory reply that all the defenses are in order, so that the Spirit is reassured on the important point that the Lodge may labor in safety.

Each one of us has to tyle his own Lodge on various levels, and this must be done with great care and wisdom. Through thousands of years of past evolution each man has been learning to build a strong shell for himself, so that within it he may grow into a powerful center, capable of radiating spiritual force upon his fellows. Inevitably in the earlier stages of that growth he becomes a self-centered being, thinking and caring only for his own interests - tyling his Lodge indeed, but shutting out from it much that is noble and beautiful. Only by degrees does he learn that power is given to him for use in the service of others, and that while he must so tyle his Lodge as always to maintain the strong center of consciousness which he has been at such pains to create (because without that center he would be useless in the work of the world) he must at the same time watch ceaselessly to see that the force generated in that center is employed only in the helping of mankind and in the furtherance of the designs of T.G.A.U.T.U. The man does not lose his individuality and initiative, but he learns to use them rightly.

The man must learn to tyle the Lodge of his mental body; but this must be done with discretion and indeed with exceeding great care. We often find the physical world uncomfortably crowded, especially if our lot imposes upon us the necessity of living or working in one of the great cities. But we must remember that the astral and mental worlds are also crowded - very much more so than the physical, although not quite in the same way. Those finer worlds have far greater extension than the physical, and also in them bodies freely interpenetrate one another. So the crowding is not of the same nature; but nevertheless, we need to shield ourselves even more strictly on those higher levels than down here.

It is not only that on the mental plane there are many millions of people. It is also full of centers of thought on all kinds of subjects, which have been established mostly by men like ourselves. We who are students are earnestly trying to raise ourselves somewhat above the thought of the average man; therefore a very large proportion of all this insurgent thought which is so constantly pressing upon us is at a lower level than our own, and we require constantly to guard ourselves against its influence. There is such a vast ocean of thought upon all sorts of utterly unimportant subjects that, unless we rigidly exclude it, we shall find ourselves unable to concentrate upon the higher subjects about which we really wish to think. Therefore in that respect we must tyle the Lodge of the mental body and must exercise great care to whom and to what we open its doors.

There are also other respects in which care is necessary on the mental plane. For example, there are many who are cursed with an argumentative nature. Such men throw open the doors of their mental fortress and rush eagerly out to battle on the slightest provocation, or on none at all - quite forgetting that they thereby leave the fortress undefended, so that any thought-forces which may happen to be in their neighborhood can enter in and possess it. While they are wasting their strength in wrangling over points of no importance, the whole tone of their mental bodies is being steadily deteriorated by the influences which are flowing into it. Such a man should learn to tyle his mental body, so that only those thoughts may enter it which he as an ego really approves.

The Lodge of the astral body must be tyled also, for it is even more difficult to resist the surging of emotions than the pressure of thoughts. The majority of emotions in the world are ill-directed, being motived by selfishness in some one among its many protean forms - jealousy, envy, pride, anger, or intolerance. To keep our own feelings pure and high, to retain the philosophical calm which is as necessary for right feeling as it is for right thinking, we must sternly tyle the Lodge against all this vast ocean of unnecessary excitement. Yet on the other hand we must take great care that we never fail in true sympathy. Our ears must ever be open to the appeals of suffering, even though we close them resolutely against the meaningless babble of those who pursue only their own ends. In this, as in so many other ways, the middle path of occultism is narrow as the edge of a razor, as we are told in the old Indian books; and we must watch ceaselessly lest on the one hand we are wrecked upon the Scylla of indifference or overwhelmed on the other in the confusion of Charybdis.

Even as regards our physical bodies there is the same reason for strict tyling of the Lodge. We do not despise or shun our fellow-creatures, though we do shun some of their undesirable haunts. No one who knows anything of the inner side of things will voluntarily approach such a center of ghastly influence as a prize-ring, a butcher's shop or a drinking saloon; anyone who has even to pass by such places in the course of his daily avocations should make a strong shell round himself that he may not draw into himself even the least trace of their psychic infection.

Again, there are many people who are unconscious vampires; without being in the least aware of it, they draw out vitality from those who are near them, so that if one sits and talks to such an one for a little while, one feels utterly exhausted and incapable of useful work. If such a person were helped by the strength which he draws from his healthier friends, one might at last regard it as an act of charity to allow him to deplete one; but the fact is that these unfortunate people are themselves incapable of retaining what they take, so that they gain nothing from the transaction, while their hapless victims lose health and strength. In approaching such cases, we shall do well to tyle the Lodge of our physical bodies by making a strong etheric shell round them, even while we radiate all love and kindly feeling upon the unfortunate vampire.

The constantly repeated charge to see that the Lodge is close tyled should bring to our minds a succession of useful warnings; and whenever we hear it we should remember to ask ourselves: "Is my heart full of the divine love, and have I kept it close tyled against all evil and foolish thought since last I heard these mystic words?"

So when this question comes now, just before the opening of the Lodge, it serves to remind us of the instant necessity of bringing ourselves into the right frame of mind for the wonderful piece of work which we are going to do.

The Egyptians taught that this phrase had yet another meaning, though one which scarcely concerns us. They understood the necessity of tyling the world as a whole. Our earth is surrounded by a gaseous atmosphere in which the lightest matter tends to find its way to the top. Hydrogen is the lightest, and what little of it there is in a free state gradually rises to the top of the atmosphere, and some of it escapes and becomes lost in space. That is one of the reasons why the older planets always have less hydrogen than the younger - it leaks away to a certain extent as the planet rushes along through space. That reduces the amount of water on the globe. Thus we find that Mars, which is older than the earth in proportion to its size, and is in a later period of its life, has slightly more land than water on its surface, while Jupiter and Saturn which are younger, not in actual age, but in proportion to their size, are almost entirely liquid. There is a great being called the Spirit of the Earth, who uses the earth as his physical body; he has made his own arrangements to prevent the too rapid escape of his hydrogen, and takes constant care to tyle his Lodge; but we of course have nothing to do with that.

In thinking of all these symbolical meanings, we must not forget the actual tyling of the Lodge in which we sit. There are several reasons for our extreme care in this matter. We want to keep the Lodge shut not merely to preserve our mysteries from the outer gaze, but because only so may we keep its influence pure and undisturbed. The thought-form that is about to be built is a thing very delicately balanced and carefully graduated, and is composed not only of the etheric substances of our material plane, but also of the still finer matter of the emotional and mental worlds. This thought-form is constructed for a definite purpose, and if outsiders, whose minds are working along different lines, were present, they would quite unintentionally cause a good deal of friction and destroy the balance and efficacy of the form. It is not that we consider ourselves to be superior to those other people, but that we are training ourselves to think along certain definite lines, and they as a rule arc not.

We must also keep prominently in our minds the obligation to preserve absolute secrecy in the outer world about our Masonic meetings and all that takes place at them. There unquestionably is a certain danger of inadvertence in these matters. None are likely even for a moment to contemplate the betrayal of any Masonic secret, nor to exhibit any lack of caution with regard to the w … s and s … s which we have solemnly sworn never to reveal, but in other matters there is sometimes incaution; for example, on one occasion I heard some Brethren discussing in a tramcar the excellent manner in which a certain J.D. performed his work in the Lodge. This is, of course, no betrayal of any of the secrets, but it contains an element of distinct danger, for it is so easily possible when speaking of the ceremony to make some reference from which an intelligent and inquisitive bystander might deduce more than he ought to know.

THE E.A. S … N

After it has been seen that the Lodge is close tyled, the next thing to be done is to see that all is right within - that all present are Freemasons. As a matter of fact we are already sure of that, for the members of a Lodge are well known to each other, and any stranger presenting himself is always carefully proved before he is admitted. But this is the formal proof appointed in the ritual, to make assurance doubly sure; so the R.W.M. calls his Lodge to order, and all adopt a certain attitude of attention with a s … p and s … n, both of which are highly symbolical, and have remained unchanged for a very long period. It should be distinctly understood that a man who joins Freemasonry does thereby take a step forward in evolution, and the fact that his identification as a Freemason begins with that s … p is a constant reminder and acknowledgment of that.

The l … f …, because it is nearest to the heart, symbolizes the intuition, while the r … f … is supposed to represent intellectual faculty. The meaning of the s … p is therefore obviously that in occult matters intuition always takes precedence over mere reasoning processes. The position adopted is intended to show that reason must always spring from the center of right feeling.

Having thus indicated the method of our advancement, we proceed in Co-Masonry to give the Dieu-garde, a contraction of the French "Dieu vous garde," which means "God keep you," though in English it has been corrupted into due-guard. In addition to the thoughts suggested by the s … p, this shows us that we learn but to bless, for this position is that which the candidate adopted at the moment when he took his O. It indicates that the E.A., being himself but a beginner, has as yet neither the right nor the power to give any blessing but that which is prescribed in the V.S.L.; he may use only the words which are taught to him, for he is not yet in the position to be either a direct channel or a reservoir of the higher force.

Then follows a gesture which is at the same time a salutation to God and a declaration of power. The rest of the s … is commonly interpreted as a reminder of the p … y attached to any violation of the E.A.O.; and it is certain that the idea of that p … y has been associated with it from an early period in history, as may be seen by reference to the works of Dr. Albert Churchward. There is, however, yet another more occult meaning for that s … than the explanation usually given. Students of the inner side of man's constitution and of Oriental occultism are aware that there are seven great force-centers (called in Sanskrit chakras) in the human body, and that in the course of occult progress all of them have to be opened, developed and made effective.

There are many methods of psychic development, some of which commence with the opening of one center and some with another; but in the scheme advocated in ancient Egypt and continued in Freemasonry the center indicated by that s … is taken first. So when the Freemason makes that movement he not only designates the opening up of that center as the special work, from the occult point of view, of this degree, but he also commands the aid of the powers in nature connected with and controlled through that center in whatever work he is about to undertake. The gestures and words taught in Freemasonry are not chosen at random; each has a definite meaning and a definite power in the world of the unseen, quite apart from its signification on the physical plane. Lodges in Europe usually know nothing whatever of all this; perhaps there may be some in Oriental countries which are better instructed.

The force-centers exist as points of connection at which energy flows from one vehicle or body of a man to another. Anyone who possesses a slight degree of clairvoyance may easily see them in the etheric double, where they show themselves as saucer-like depressions or vortices in its surface. When quite undeveloped they appear as small circles about two inches in diameter, glowing dully in the ordinary man; but when awakened and vivified they appear as blazing, coruscating saucers, much increased in size. We sometimes speak of them as roughly corresponding to certain physical organs; in reality they show themselves at the surface of the etheric double, which projects slightly beyond the outline of the dense body. If we imagine ourselves to be looking straight down into the bell of a flower of the convolvulus type, we shall get some idea of the general appearance of a chakra. The stalk of the flower in each case springs from a point in the spine, so another view might show the spine as a central stem, from which flowers shoot forth at intervals, showing the opening of their bells at the surface of the etheric body.

The seven centers with which we are at present concerned are indicated in the accompanying illustration. (Plate IX.) It will be seen that they are situated at: (1) the base of the spine; (2) the spleen; (3) the navel or solar plexus; (4) the heart; (5) the throat; (6) the space between the eyebrows; and (7) the top of the head. I have described them fully in The Inner Life; and I have also published a monograph on them, called The Chakras, with unique colored illustrations.

There are several force-centers besides these, and there are schools of magic that use them; but the dangers connected with them are so serious that we should consider their awakening as the greatest misfortune. It is precisely in order to avoid the arousing of those lower centers that so much importance was attached in Egypt to the belt or girdle of the apron, and the etheric web which stretched across it.

When at all in action, these centers show signs of rapid rotation, and into each of their open mouths, at right angles to the surface of the body, there rushes a force from the higher world - one of those which

Plate IX

T.G.A.O.T.U. is constantly pouring out through His system. That force is sevenfold in its nature, and all its forms operate in each of these centers, although one of them in each case greatly predominates over the others. Without this inrush of energy the physical body could not exist. Therefore the centers are in operation in every one, although in the undeveloped person they are usually in comparatively sluggish motion, just forming the necessary vortex for the force, and no more. On the other hand, they may be glowing and pulsating with living light, so that an enormously greater amount of force passes through them, with the result that there are additional faculties and possibilities open to the man.

This divine energy which rushes into each center from without sets up at right angles to itself, that is to say, in the surface of the etheric double, secondary forces in undulatory circular motion, just as a bar magnet thrust into an induction coil produces a current of electricity which flows round the coil at right angles to the axis or direction of the magnet. The primary force itself, having entered the vortex, radiates from it again at right angles, but in straight lines, as though the center of the vortex were the hub of a wheel, and the radiations of the primary force its spokes. The number of these spokes differs in the different force-centers, and determines the number of waves or petals which each of them exhibits. Because of this these force-centers have often been poetically described in Oriental books as resembling flowers.

Each of the secondary forces which sweep round the saucer-like depression has its own characteristic wave-length, just as has light of a certain color; but instead of moving in a straight line as light does, it moves along relatively large undulations of various sizes, each of which is some multiple of the smaller wave-lengths within it. The number of undulations is determined by the number of spokes in the wheel, and the secondary force weaves itself under and over the radiating currents of the primary force, just as basket work might be woven round the spokes of a carriage wheel. The wavelengths are infinitesimal, and probably thousands of them are included within one of the undulations. As the forces rush round in the vortex, these oscillations of different sizes, crossing one another in this basketwork fashion, produce the flower-like form to which I have referred. It is, perhaps, still more like the appearance of certain saucers or shallow vases of wavy iridescent glass, such as are made in Venice. All of these undulations or petals have that shimmering iridescent effect, like mother-of-pearl, yet each of them has usually its own predominant color.

In the vivification of the particular center with which this degree of E. A. is principally concerned, three factors are important. When the center in the emotional body which corresponds to this is awakened, it gives to the man the power of hearing in the subtle world at that level - that is, it causes a development of that sense which, in what is usually called the astral world, produces on our consciousness the effect which on the physical plane we call hearing. So, if the etheric center were fully working, the E. A. would be clairaudient as far as the etheric and astral planes. Its slow and partial unfoldment gradually tends to dissipate prejudice in the man, to open his mind to suggestions and, generally speaking, to widen and liberalize his thought.

Secondly, the development of the brain largely depends upon the opening up of this center, because it plays an important part in the division and distribution of one of the main streams of vitality which course through the human body. I have already explained the detail of this action in The Chakras and The Hidden Side of Things, to which I must refer any reader who desires further information on the subject of vital circulation.

Thirdly, another important action of this center deserves our notice, as the especial object of the first Degree is the conquest of the passions of the physical body and the development of morality. Among the various kinds of vitality is an orange-red ray, which contains also a certain amount of dark purple. In the normal man this ray energizes the desires of the flesh, and also seems to enter the blood and keep up the heat of the body; but if a man persistently refuses to yield to his lower nature, this ray can by long and determined effort be deflected upwards to the brain, where all three of its constituents undergo a remarkable modification. The orange is raised into pure yellow, and produces a decided intensification of the powers of the intellect; the dark red becomes crimson and gradually increases the power of unselfish affection; while the dark purple is transmuted into a lovely pale violet, and quickens the spiritual part of man's nature. The man who achieves this transmutation will find that lower desires no longer trouble him; and it is with that consummation in view that the development of the center in which those modifications and transmutations are achieved is so strongly emphasized in the preliminary stages of Freemasonry.

The unfoldment of this center is closely associated with the power of paying attention, as well as with the opening of higher forms of hearing. In all occult systems of training great importance was attached to this in the case of the neophyte. In the school of Pythagoras the pupils were kept for several years in the order called Akoustikoi or Hearers; in the mysteries of Mithra the lowest order was that of the Ravens - a name which signifies that they were allowed only to repeat that which they had heard, precisely as a raven or a parrot does; for in all these ancient systems students were strictly forbidden to launch out upon the perilous waters of originality until they were thoroughly grounded in the established principles of philosophy. The s … also evokes or calls to the assistance of the man who uses it a particular class of non-human intelligences of the subtle world.

In view of the great influence of this s … of power, all will see the necessity that it should be preserved with the greatest care and secrecy. If it is made wrongly, not in exact form and at the proper place, the effect will be lost. In these matters we are working what is commonly called magic; and that is a dangerous thing to play with and should be taken up only with the greatest seriousness of purpose and precision in work.

If a member should make this s … carelessly and without thinking what ho is doing, he opens himself up to influences of which he is unaware, for which be is unprepared; and things may happen which should not happen. It is this idea which is at the basis of the grossly exaggerated and misleading statement that a man who takes the Holy Sacrament in the Church, while permitting his mind to be full of evil, really eats and drinks damnation to himself. The man who receives the Holy Communion becomes a very high center of radiating force, and is also made receptive to the highest degree; let him be sure therefore to eliminate evil thoughts, lest such thoughts may draw into him other influences like unto themselves. It is the same with the Masonic s …. He who performs it as a salutation to another opens up his heart towards that person, and that is good; but all should be on guard lest they carelessly open themselves to unpleasant influences which might otherwise have passed them by.

When made thus at the opening of our Lodge, this s … reminds us that we must put ourselves in a receptive attitude, so that we may obtain the greatest possible benefit from the influx of spiritual force which we are about to invoke.

THE OFFICERS

Having thus done our best to prepare our selves for the work of the evening (a) by the purifying of the Lodge-room by means of the censing, (b) by closing our hearts and minds against all distracting thoughts and feelings, and (c) by putting ourselves in a receptive attitude, we now proceed to set in motion the marvellously arranged Masonic machinery by which we can invoke the assistance of non-human beings in our altruistic labours. The method by which this is done is exceedingly ingenious and most skilfully concealed. Man is a complex being, and the rough division into body and soul is not sufficient for scientific working. For the purposes of his evolution he exists upon five of the seven planes of nature, and has sheaths or bodies built of the matter of the lower of those planes, and principles or constituents within himself which correspond to the higher. This will be made clearer by Fig. 13, and its accompanying diagram.

Therefore for our work we need forces of all these different levels, and each officer of a Masonic Lodge has, besides his duties on the physical plane, the function of representing one of these levels, and acting as a focus for its special energies. The arrangement made by the Founders of Freemasonry is that the enumeration of the officials and the recitation of their positions and duties shall act as an evocation of the devas or Angels belonging to and working on those respective levels. The fact that thousands of R. W. M.s have asked the appointed questions without the faintest idea of producing an effect in unseen worlds has not deprived them of angelic assistance which, if they had known of it, would have astounded them beyond expression, and probably even terrified them.

So the spirit turns again to the intelligence, and calls on it to formulate the great divisions; intelligence responds and names the three lines through which the force flows, thereby attracting the attention of the Angels of those lines. To symbolize that, the R.W.M. asks how many principal officers there are in the Lodge, and receives the answer that there are three. These are the R.W.M., the W.S.W., and the W.J.W., who represent the divine or spiritual trinity which appears in the Deity, and also in man, who is made in the image of that Deity. These three principles in man are familiar to many students of Theosophical psychology under the names of atma, buddhi and manas, which may be rendered into English as the spiritual will, the intuitional love and the higher intelligence.

Then the R.W.M. asks how many assistant officers there are, and is told that these are likewise three, not including the O.G. or. T. These represent the personal constitution of man or his lower self-composed of the lower mind, which the S.D. represents, the emotional nature, personified by the J.D., and the etheric double of the physical body, for which the I.G. stands. The T. represents the dense part of the physical body.

The porchway of the Lodge is the entrance to the inner world which is invisible to ordinary sight. Therefore the T., who typifies the denser part of the physical body, is the only officer of the Lodge who stands outside it, visible to the sight of the profane. All the other six principles of the human constitution are beyond physical sight, which deals with only one grade of the matter of the world, and that the lowest and densest. Those principles exist on distinct planes of nature, of ascending degrees of subtlety or fineness of matter.

Fig. 13 and the diagram connected with it show the seven principles in man, the planes of nature on which they exist, and the corresponding officers in the Masonic Lodge.

The upper triangle, containing the first, second and third principles, represents the ego or higher self in man, commonly called the soul, who in the course of his long pilgrimage or evolution towards human perfection, takes many incarnations, each of which is called a personality. The lower triangle is a reflection of that higher one in the matter of the lower planes, and it forms with the dense physical body the lower quaternary, which constitutes the personality, and lasts through one incarnation. The evolution of man is really the development of the ego or higher self, but in most people at the present stage of human progress that ego may be described as still in his infancy; he has not yet fully awakened to the positive and purposeful life of a man on his own planes, nor has he realized what can be learnt through incarnation in the lower planes. In course of time and many incarnations the three higher principles gradually unfold themselves, and the man realizes more and more of the divinity which is truly his. Though the principal object of Freemasonry is the collection and distribution of spiritual force for others, it is also deeply concerned with the welfare and progress of the Brethren, so its ritual and its teaching clearly indicate the path which man should tread, and offer him the most valuable help as he passes along it.

Figure 13

THE DUTIES

The list of situations and duties is then rehearsed. It is commonly supposed that the object of this enumeration is to make sure that the facts are thoroughly known to all the Brethren, and that all the officials are duly present. It has in reality another and far more important function, as I have explained.

Several interesting points of symbolism are brought out in the apparently curious answers which are given with respect to the duties attached to the various offices. The physical body should protect the lodge of a man's soul from the dangers of the outer world, from temptations or evil influences. The T. is ordered to keep out all cowans and intruders to Freemasonry, and when we recollect that the word "cowan" is simply the Greek kuon, a dog, and that from time immemorial the dog has been used as a symbol of violent animal passions, we shall readily comprehend what the work and office of the T. are intended to typify.

The etheric double, in the person of the I. G., also joins to defend the Lodge, and is especially under the command of the higher mind or intelligence, the W.J.W., who is concerned with testing all who seek to enter; which shows that it is the duty of the intelligence to discriminate, and to decide what thought or emotion shall receive lodgment within the temple of man. The R.W.M. communicates with the T. only through the W.J.W. and the I.G., which signifies that spirit does not act directly on dense matter, but through his intelligence impresses himself upon etheric matter; though when he has once sent out his enquiry, the mind may instruct the etheric double to report directly to the R.W.M. on the particular subject. To typify this, in many Lodges it is the custom that the W.J.W., in passing on his command, should say, "Bro. I.G., you will see who seeks admission, and report to the R.W.M."

The reflection of the upper triangle in the lower takes place point for point, and there is therefore a sympathetic relation between principles 2 and 5, as well as between 3 and 4, and between 1 and 6. It is with the aid of the emotions, by their purification and development, that the man unfolds principle 2, the intuitional love, so that it is brought into activity in his life. And it is with the aid of the mind that he casts off the five fetters to further progress (namely, the delusion that his personal self is the real self, doubt about the reality of spiritual things, superstition, and unreasoning likes and dislikes) and so enables the spiritual will to express itself in his life. About these stages, and the great Initiations that accompany them, I have written in full in The Masters and the Path. They are mentioned here to show why it is that the J.D. acts between the W.S.W. and the W.J.W. and the S.D. acts between the R.W.M. and the W.S.W. They explain also why it is that the W.J.W. takes charge of the E.A.s, and the W.S.W. of the F. C.s, while the M. M.s may be considered to be under the immediate charge of the R.W.M. As the open Lodge is a place where the Brethren are symbolically undergoing the advanced course of evolution before mentioned, the officers who represent the principles in man must show those principles acting in relation to one another as they do in man in the course of that evolution.

The Third Aspect of the Divine Being is typified by the W.J.W. when he directs the passage from the labor of evolution to the refreshment of periodic rest; while it is the Second Aspect which is symbolized by the W.S.W. when he closes the Lodge at the R. W. M.'s command, because when the Second Aspect of Deity withdraws from the forms that He has made, everything is resolved into its primal elements and the universe as such ceases to exist, and so the Lodge of the solar system is for the time closed. This is what is called among the Hindus the end of the manvantara and the beginning of the pralaya.

It is not implied that the officials who happen to hold the positions representing the principles in man in any given Lodge are necessarily able to function upon the planes to which they correspond; but it is to be understood that not only the nature-spirits, but also the strange half-conscious creatures which we have called elementals, existing on the downward arc of evolution on each of these levels, will and do respond to the invocation which is employed in this closely condensed formula of opening. The enumeration of the officials in answer to the earlier questions of the R.W.M. is in the nature of a call to attention - a call which reverberates through these different kingdoms of nature - and lets devas, nature-spirits and elementals know that an opportunity is about to be offered to them. For that, remember, is the way in which these creatures at all levels look upon such a call. It is one of the chief methods of their evolution to be used in work such as this, and they therefore greatly rejoice to respond.

That general enumeration by the W.s is quickly followed by the specific questions addressed to each of the officers; and of these the first enquiry as to their situation in the Lodge sets the machinery in motion, acts as a call to a deva of the particular type required, who immediately presents himself and acts as a captain of the nature-spirits and elementals who next gather round. The second question and answer in each case, as to the special duty of the officers in question, brings round him these myrmidons of his, and he influences them to arrange themselves as required. For example, when the J.D. is mentioned a thrill shoots out through the astral levels, and when he is asked what is his situation in the Lodge, a deva, having for his lowest vehicle a body of astral matter (what is called in Buddhism a kamadeva), at once steps forward and takes up his position above the head of the J.D. At the same time the attention of a number of nature-spirits wearing bodies of astral matter is aroused, and also a great mass of the elemental essence belonging to the third of the great elemental kingdoms is awakened into activity. Then when the question as to the duties is asked, the deva captain draws round him those astral myrmidons, and arranges them as he needs them, and at the same time seizes upon the floating mass of elemental essence and welds it into thought-forms such as he requires to carry out the work that has to be done.

In exactly the same way the S.D. is represented by a deva captain whose lowest vehicle is built of the matter of the lower sub-planes of the mental plane (a rupadeva), and lie employs nature-spirits and elemental essence at his own level. It will be noticed that in each case not only the actual situation and duty of the official are defined, but also his relation to other officials, his part in the work as a whole. The deva captains corresponding to the three principal officers are all what are called in the East arupadevas, and they possess the consciousness and wield the forces of the planes which they respectively represent. It is not easy for us to understand the working of forces at such levels, as they act upon the corresponding principles in man, and those principles are only slightly developed as yet in the majority of human beings.

By the time, therefore, that the last of the list of questions and answers has been exchanged, the whole Lodge is pulsating with elemental life, all of which is filled with the most intense eagerness to launch itself upon the work in hand, whatever that may be. The elementals and nature-spirits of the different levels vary greatly in development and intelligence, some being fully defined and exceedingly active, whereas others are comparatively vague and cloud-like. But a very striking appearance is presented by the Lodge when these various groups of beings are gathered together, each group showing its distinctive color and floating over the head of the official who is its physical plane representative - all this taking place while the Lodge is still in semi-darkness, lit only by the three candles and the sacred fire. It is to this condition that the R.W.M. refers (whether he knows it or not) when he says: "Our Lodge being thus duly formed."

In the case of the lower officers, at any rate, it requires but a slight development of clairvoyance to see these creatures floating in their appointed places, each group making a sort of luminous sphere or cloud. (See Plate X.) This cloud is violet-grey in the case of the I. G., crimson for the J.D. and yellow for the S.D. It is not so easy to define the hues of the three principal officers, for each of them seems to carry something of all possible colors; but it may perhaps be said that a golden hue predominates in the W. J. W.'s sphere, and a strong electric blue in that of the W.S.W. The R. W. M's light-globe is the brightest of all, glowing equally with rose, gold, blue and green, each of which flashes out into prominence at certain points of the ceremony. It is through these deva representatives of the various officers that the building of the thought-form and the outpouring of the force is really done; but on the physical plane the officer of the Lodge should also participate in the work to the extent of his power. If he reaches upward to his deva representative, and allows the force to flow freely through him, blending his will with it as it flows, his higher principles will become one with that deva; and he will not only be an excellent channel for the divine force, but will himself be greatly helped and strengthened in the doing of the work.

THE OPENING

The deva-representative of the R.W.M. is a highly developed and very capable seventh-ray Angel, and the moment that he arrives with his cohort of assistant-angels and elementals he takes full charge of the whole of the proceedings. The captains of all the other little groups spring to attention, and everything is at once made ready for the supreme moment of the opening of the Lodge. The R.W.M., having declared that his Lodge is duly formed and that he stands there as its head and representative, turns to express his gratitude to T.G.A.O.T.U. for this, and then offers up an earnest wish that the work of the evening, having thus begun in order, may be continued in harmony and closed in peace. To this his whole Lodge replies with a ringing response, like the cheer of an army: "So mote it be." "Mote" is an old Anglo-Saxon form of "may", and this expression is the Masonic "Amen". But just as "Amen" is often interpreted "so may it be", so is this splendid Masonic expression often degraded to the level of a mere assent or pious wish. And again, just as "Amen" is not a wish but an assertion - the most sacred oath of ancient Egypt, which none would ever dare to break - "By Amen it shall be so" - so is this Masonic exclamation to be taken as the strongest affirmation - "so shall it be". Not: "We pray or we hope that it may be so", but "We shall make it so". This is shown by the emphatic outstretching of the right hand at the level of the shoulder, this being a well-known sign of power and command.

Immediately after this the R.W.M., acting in the name of T.G.A.O.T.U., declares the Lodge duly open, and all the lights are turned fully on. It is not only the physical light which leaps forth at this moment, for as the R.W.M. says the opening words his deva-representative also lifts his staff, and all the seven groups of assistant spirits, which until now have been seen even by clairvoyant sight as merely luminous clouds, flash out into their full brilliancy and their natural beauty of color. At once also each group is connected by a line of living light with the physical official over which it hovers, and through this line its force is poured down upon him whenever he is called upon to take part in the ceremony. The deva representative usually remains floating above the regular situation of the official, but as the latter moves about the Lodge in the course of his work the line of light never leaves him for a moment, though it becomes more vivid during his activity.

Just before the Lodge is opened, the I.P.M. is escorted by the two D.s with crossed wands to the altar, where he kneels and awaits the exact moment of opening. As the R.W.M. utters the word "open" the I.P.M. opens the V.S.L., and arranges upon its pages the s … and the c … thus displaying what we esteem the three great emblematical lights in Freemasonry simultaneously with the physical illumination. It is the I.P.M. who thus brings the symbolical light to the Lodge, just as it was he who gave the physical light from the sacred fire to the S. D., because he represents the Silent Watcher, the influence which sees that everything is correctly done and stands ready always to supply anything that is needed. He has reached the Light in its fullest sense; he has done his work and is therefore in a position to help others. It should be specially noted that he should open the sacred volume at random, not searching for any particular passage; it is the whole book that is given to us to illumine our minds, not only this verse or that. It will be found most convenient to open it somewhere about the middle.

To show that the sacred volume is here being used as a symbol, the I. P. M, solemnly recites the ancient formula quoted by St John the Evangelist at the beginning of his Gospel: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." We all know that the Greek translated in this text as "word" is in the original "Logos"; and so the opening of the V.S.L. typifies the manifestation of the Logos at the beginning of a solar system, while the c … s and the s … show further that He manifests Himself as spirit and matter; for there is nothing which is not God. To indicate that the Second Person or Aspect of the Logos is about to descend into His universe, the column of the W.S.W. is now erected, and that of the W.J.W. is laid down. The brooding of the Holy Spirit over the waters of chaos is now no longer the only divine activity; the groundwork is laid, and the active life of the system is to begin. The tracing-board which indicates the plan of its activity is now exposed, and the nature of that activity is indicated by the fact that we commence it with a hymn of praise to T.G.A.O.T.U., during the singing of which the Brethren should pour out all the love and devotion of which they are capable.

In those Lodges which use a portrait of the H.O.A.T.F. it is just before the singing of this hymn that that portrait is unveiled, all the Brethren turning towards it and saluting. In instant response to this salutation the great Adept projects a thought-form which is an exact image of Himself; just as at a higher level the Lord Christ projects that thought-form which is called the Angel of the Presence at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist. So fully is this thought-form a part of the H.O.A.T.F. that the Lodge has the benefit of His presence and His blessing just as though He stood there in physical form. The Deva representative of the R.W.M. bows low before the Head of his Ray, and leaves the direction of affairs in His hands. It will be seen that those of us who know of the existence of this great Adept, and of His keen interest in our work, have a great advantage; but it must not be forgotten that every regularly constituted Masonic Lodge is in charge of a Seventh Ray Angel, however little the Brethren may know about the matter.

I have explained how at the moment of the opening of the Lodge all the assistant angels, nature-spirits and elemental creatures and their deva captains flash out into brilliancy, and stand round ready to spring forward at the word of command. To say that they are ready is far from expressing the fact; they are overflowing with eagerness, like dogs straining at a leash. And now comes the moment for which they have been waiting, for immediately after the return of the I.P.M. to his seat and the display of the tracing-board by the S.D. comes the opening hymn, with the first note of which the super-physical entities burst into tumultuous yet ordered activity. The hymn itself, or rather the devotion and enthusiasm with which we sing it, provides them with the material for their building, and immediately they are all working away at its erection, each at his own level, and with the materials belonging to that level with which the Brethren supply him.

In the opening procession the R.W.M. and his officers have already constructed the lower part of the cella, or interior chamber of the temple, shutting in the whole of the mosaic pavement and charging it heavily with magnetism. These creatures pounce upon that first of all and rapidly make its walls both thicker and higher, the greater ones reinforcing its magnetism by filling it with the splendid power of their respective levels. Again with lightning-like rapidity they spread a ceiling over the whole of the Lodge, and from that ceiling, beginning at the edges, just within the walls of the physical Lodge, they drop supporting columns from above downwards like the roots of a banyan-tree, one of them surrounding each of the non-official Brethren It will thus be seen that our thought-form is very nearly a reproduction of a Greek temple-the rows of columns which support its tremendously heavy roof being outside the central chamber, which is the only part of the temple fully enclosed. The accompanying picture may help to make this clear, and we give at the same time in Plate V a drawing of an existing Greek temple for the sake of comparison. The mere outline of the temple is always finished during the singing of the opening hymn, but in certain circumstances friezes and other decorations may be added later on under the direction of the controlling Angel.

It will thus be seen why the unofficial Brethren who sit at the sides of the Lodge are sometimes spoken of as the columns; and some light is also thrown on an ancient text which runs: "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out." Incidentally, we see how necessary it is that the Brethren should put their hearts and souls into the words that they sing or say, for upon their efforts in this direction depends the amount of material provided for our super-physical fellow-workers, and consequently the massiveness and richness of the thought-form which they build. All through the ceremony that follows, whatever it may be, the deva representatives of the three principal officers continue to pour into the cella their beneficent influence; and though its strongest force is reserved for those who enter upon the mosaic pavement as candidates, it also somehow filters through the roof and down the columns upon all who are present.

THE E.A. K … s

At the moment of opening the Lodge the R.W.M. also gives the E.A. K … s.

K … s in Freemasonry have a double significance and a very definite use. The latter is based on the fact that they are a recognized method of communication with certain orders of earth-spirits whose attention is attracted by them, whose eager service is at once at the disposal of those who are duly qualified to summon them, though they will take no notice of a call from one who has not been properly introduced to them by initiation into the E.A. degree. Their main use in the ceremony is to create an atmosphere - the atmosphere appropriate to the degree which is being worked; and in that special work they become extraordinarily proficient, answering instantly to the call of the k … s with military promptness and precision, so that even when the Lodge is being raised or lowered by the short method they are able to produce the required changes as quickly as the commands can be issued.

This generation of the proper atmosphere is one of the most important special features of Freemasonry, indispensable to really efficient working. Any one who is at all sensitive to such influences may feel the change which takes place when we pass from one degree to another, but only those who have opened the sight of the soul can see the variations of color, or watch the busy workers who are so energetic in producing them. The Deva captains of the three principal officers take charge of this important part of the work - the W.J.W. of the servants of the First Degree, the W.S.W. of those of the Second, and the R.W.M. of those of the Third; but the earth-spirits themselves obey the call of the k … s, appearing at the first round and unobtrusively returning to their normal haunts when another battery announces that their work is done. The k … s of the closing correspond to the "Ite, missa est" of the Catholic Church. It may be noted that similar creatures are fond of announcing their presence by k … s at a spiritualistic seance.

The k … s of the First Degree have also a moral significance, indicating that the E.A. has three planes in front of him to conquer, the physical body with its impulses coming from the past, the astral with its strong desires and emotions, and the mental with its curiosity and waywardness. With each of these every man in the course of his evolution has a twofold work to do first he must conquer it, govern its impulses and bring them into a state of obedience to the soul within, and secondly he must develop it as a positive, well-trained, useful instrument for his service.

The E.A. is supposed to have conquered the physical body before entering into Masonry - without that he could not be well and worthily recommended for admission - but he has still to develop it; and while he is doing that be is supposed to be gaining complete control of his astral nature; that is the special work of this degree as far as self-development is concerned, though of course the Mason is trying to perfect himself in every way all the time. The k … s of the Second Degree indicate that the physical work is complete, and that the F.C. has still two planes to conquer. He is engaged in making his astral body into a perfect instrument for the expression of high emotion, and is at the same time learning to gain control of his mind. In this stage a Mason should be making every day some advances in Masonic knowledge, till presently the mind will no longer be wayward and fickle, but controlled. At this point he will pass on to the Third Degree, and then the k … s indicate that he has but one plane to conquer, has but to perfect the mind as an instrument in the service of the higher self. This work will go on for as many years as are necessary before he passes through the Chair.

From the above it will be seen that there are four stages in Craft Masonry - three degrees and then a further attainment when the M.M. becomes an I.M. There is a similarity between these stages and those which have been prescribed in the Christian Church, although one is at a much higher level than the other. This is shown in the following diagram:

Diagram X

In the Church certain people are set apart as priests - but they have to pass through the earlier stages before reaching that position. First the man must be a subdeacon; his business then is to prepare himself for the great surgical operation which takes place at the diaconate, when he is definitely joined with the World-Teacher, in a way which has been fully explained in The Science of the Sacraments.

In the stage of the subdiaconate, which corresponds somewhat to the E.A., the man is supposed to learn to control himself perfectly. In the next grade, during the time of the diaconate, he has to learn; he is preparing himself for the work of the priesthood, just as the F.C. is preparing himself for the work of the M.M.

As I have said in speaking of the due-guard, the power of blessing of the E.A. is contained within the book from which he learns. He may use only the words of the book, and must not go beyond them. He is not himself yet a direct channel for the divine power, so he puts the book between his hands. But the F.C. puts one h … on the b … and raises the other in the f … of a s … He corresponds to the deacon, because he is a channel linked with the Christ, but only that which comes down and pours through him may he give. He is not yet himself filled with grace and power, but he is able to act as a channel. His holding of the l … h … in that way corresponds, though at a lower stage, with the bishop's holding his crosier in the left .hand. He is drawing down divine power through that highly magnetized staff, while he is pouring it out on the people with the other hand. It is the same gesture, though of course in the case of the bishop it is far more highly specialized.

Then the M.M. puts both his h … on the b … He is supposed when he has attained that high degree to be in a position of power, to be filled with the energy which has been poured into him in the symbolical death and rising again. Therefore he can give that energy; he may give a blessing to other people just as a priest does, and as the priest has authority to administer certain sacraments, so is the M.M. qualified to accept office in the Lodge.

Still, neither the M.M. nor the priest can convey his power or authority to anyone else. The bishop alone has power to ordain priests or to consecrate other bishops, and only the I.M. is able to initiate, pass and raise Masons, and to create other I. M.s. Both the bishop and the I.M. have also the power to give a fuller blessing than the priest or the M.M. can bestow. Thus there is a succession of I. M.s in Masonry, just as there is a succession of bishops in the Church.

In The Science of the Sacraments I have explained something of the inner meaning of the apostolic succession, the method designed by the Christ for handing down the spiritual powers of the Catholic Church. It will be seen that we have a similar succession in Masonry, extending back to the priests of the Mysteries of ancient Egypt, and beyond.

There is a further analogy between the degrees of Freemasonry and the orders of the Church, for just as the clergy of the Church are linked in various degrees of connection with the Head of the Church, the Lord Christ Himself, and with the reservoir of power which He has set apart for the celebration of the sacraments, so are the initiates of the various degrees in Freemasonry linked according to their rank with the H.O.A.T.F., and with the reservoir of power set apart for the work of the Craft. Every Freemason has a certain touch with Him; but the first great link directly with Him is given in the degree of I.M. (for it is practically a separate degree, although it is not called so), and closer links still are conferred in the higher degrees of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite; so that the earnest Mason becomes a veritable outpost of His consciousness, a channel of His power and a minister of His will. Such Brethren act as His representatives in their Lodges and Chapters, and have the right to give His blessing according to their Masonic rank. It is a matter of deep regret that so few of our modern Brethren realize in the least the sacredness of their office, and the heavy responsibility laid upon them to use their power without thought of self in the service of the world.

There are, however, considerable differences between the methods of transmission in these two great sacramental systems. It is recognized in Catholic theology, and confirmed by occult investigation, that the spiritual powers given at ordination are invariably conferred, provided only that the bishop be in the line of the apostolic succession, that he have the intention to confer Holy Orders and that the recipient have the intention to receive them, and that the laying on of hands take place according to the ancient tradition. The particular beliefs of the bishop and the candidate do not affect the validity of the sacrament in the slightest degree, nor will it be withheld if they are out of communion with any particular branch of the Church, or even if they are persons of questionable moral worth.* (*See notes to page 25.) The Lord Christ out of His great love for His Church is willing to overlook the human frailties of the minister, so that His flock may be fed.

But the transmission of power in Masonry seems to be by no means so unalterably fixed, probably because of the fact that Masonry is a secret Order and is not therefore in direct relation with the outer world; the whole scheme of transmittal is much more elastic than that of the Church. Although it would appear that the succession both of I. M.s and Sovereign Grand Inspectors-General has been to a large extent handed down on the physical plane, it is by no means necessary that it should be so handed down, and the sacramental powers may be introduced or withheld as the H.O.A.T.F. sees fit. When a clandestine meeting is held, even though a duly qualified I.M. be present, the inner recognition is not given, and the powers are not conveyed. Two such cases of the withholding of inner recognition are within my personal experience. In the Church a priest can anywhere and by himself perform a sacrament, and a bishop can also pass on his power at his own discretion, but in Craft Masonry the unit is the Lodge, and the presence of a number of Brethren is essential to the validity of the rites, except when degrees are conferred by communication by one who has due authority. It is said that "three rule a Lodge, five hold a Lodge, and seven or more make it perfect".

In making this comparison between Masonic degrees and Church Orders, I am not for a moment asserting that the powers conferred upon the many in the degrees of freemasonry are in any sense equal to those bestowed upon a few carefully selected and prepared candidates in the Major Orders of the Church; I wish only to draw attention to a series of curious correspondences between the two systems, too numerous and remarkable to be due to mere coincidence. Masonry does give powers commensurate with those appertaining to the Church, but only in its very highest degrees, and to the very few.

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