THE OPENING OF THE LODGE

When all is ready for the opening of the Lodge in the Third Degree the R.W.M. once more commands the W.J.W. to see that the Lodge is properly tyled. This time the forces with which we have to deal in the work of the meeting will be mainly on the higher mental plane, so the defenses of the Lodge are now reinforced at that level by the invisible hosts, and therefore a blue tinge henceforward predominates, though the lower levels are by no means neglected.

The Brethren are then called to order as Craftsmen, and the R.W.M. turns to the W.J.W. again, with the question: "Are you a M.M.?" On his replying that he is, the Master asks him by what instrument in architecture he will be proved, and he replies: "By the square and compasses."

This means that a M.M. may be tested and known by the fact that both the higher self and the lower self are in working order, are functioning together and in harmony. The M.M. is symbolical of the Initiate of the fourth degree, whom the Buddhists call the Arhat; at that stage of attainment on the occult path the battle against the lower quaternary is practically over, and the latter has become an obedient instrument in the hands of the higher triad, which is awake and active in all its three parts.

Next the R.W.M. puts a number of questions alternately to the W.J.W. and the W.S.W., and they answer as acting together. A little later on it will be seen that they act together also in the work of raising an F.C. to the degree of M.M. On the present occasion the W.s tell the R.W.M. that they have come from the east and are going to the west to seek the genuine s … s of a M.M., which were lost by the untimely death of the Master H.A., and that they hope to find them on the c …

THE C …

It will be remembered that at the closing of the F.C. Lodge it was asked of the J.W. what the brethren had discovered while in the position of F.C.s, and the reply was that they had found a s … s …, in the c … of the building, which stood for God. The consummation of the F.C. work was to discover that c …; but the M.M. has his eye upon it all the time as the place where he hopes to find the lost truth.

It is on the c …, the officers now say, that they hope to find the genuine s … s of a M.M. It is by finding in himself that deeper Self which is the Monad, beyond even the higher triad, that the M.M. will at last discover the supreme secret of life, and will then find in very truth by his own living experience that he is and always has been one with God. There is something almost Vedantic in this Masonic conception of lost s … s, for the Vedantins say that in this maze of life men have lost themselves, as it were, in a great and terrible forest, and now their entire aim in life is to escape from it and to find that real happiness which is the very nature of their own true and essential being.

A study of the meaning of the working tools of a M.M. throws much light on this subject of the c …; we will therefore treat of them here, instead of later on in the chapter.

The working tools of the third degree are the s … t, the p … and the c … The s … t is an implement which acts on a center pin, whence a line is drawn to mark out the ground plan of the intended structure. Pith the p … the skilful architect delineates the building in a plan for the instruction and guidance of the workmen. And the c … enable him to ascertain with accuracy and precision the limits and proportions of its several parts. So runs the ritual.

But there is a meaning deeper than this, for these are the tools with which the Arhat is to become an Adept. In earlier degrees his consciousness had to be raised from the s … to the c …, that is, from the quadrilateral to the triangle, from the lower to the higher self; but now it has to be raised from the triangle to the point, from the higher self to the Monad. The Monad is now beginning to work its will in the higher self, as before the higher self worked its will in the lower. The s … t represents the action of that Monad, as it turns upon a center pin, and sends out a line from its own body as it spins the web of life, just as a spider spins its web from its own body. The p … marks that chosen path or ray of the Monad, the line of life and work which the Arhat must discover and on which he must specialize in order to make rapid progress. And the c … once more represent the triangle, the powers of the triple spirit which he must use in his work.

The conversation between the R.W.M. and the W.s goes on to define the c … as a p … within a c …, from which all parts of the c … ce are equidistant, and to say that it is a p … from which a M.M. cannot err. I have already written on this subject in Chapter II, but I could here add that there is a great distinction between the things of the natural world and those of the inner life of consciousness. All material objects are characterized by boundaries - they are delineated; but the inner life always proceeds from a center, so that it is quite impossible to set bounds to love or thought. They take their rise in and stand upon a center, and radiate from that. The circumference of their circle is nowhere, but the center is within the man. When he has risen to the fullness of his divine nature the circumference will still be nowhere, but the center will be everywhere; no life whatsoever will be excluded from his sympathies. That is what is symbolized by the statement that all parts of the c … ce are equidistant from the c … The M.M. who keeps his eye on that c … and acts from that p … cannot err. It is on that c … that the R.W.M. opens the Lodge.

Still one point in the conversation remains for consideration. The officers state that their journey is from the east to the west. This may be taken to refer to the path of the sun, which is typical of the path of the Initiate. Here we have the well-known solar myth again. The sun is new-born at the beginning of the year in the darkness of winter; he struggles through the clouds of the early spring, which seem to threaten his life; in the summer he rises to his highest point in the sky, giving freely of his life to ripen the corn and the grape. But now enemies close around him; autumn hems him in with its shadows, and at last he falls stricken before the onset of winter. Yet, passing through a figurative death in the west, he discovers the secret of renewed life, and rises once more in the east and ascends again into the mid-heaven. So in many successive lives he has to deal with the world, and gradually to disperse the clouds of ignorance which resist the unfoldment of his potentialities, before he can rise into the high noon of his glory at the completion of his work of temple-building, when he finally travels onward into the west and finds the secret of perfect immortality. Then he need journey no more, for he has reached the center and is at rest; he has become a pillar in the temple of God, and he shall go out therefrom no more.

But in the preparation for this high consummation both East and West take part. Although the East has always been the place of light, whence comes all knowledge, yet when the sacred word was lost men journeyed westward in the hope of finding it, and the chivalry of the West joined with the philosophy of the East in that high quest. The East contributes the spiritual teaching, but the West provides the accuracy and definiteness which make it readily assimilable, and the practicality which enables us to apply it to the helping of the outer world.

THE PREPARATION

In the preparation of the candidate both a … are made b … because in the due-guard both are raised in blessing; both b … are laid open to the double influence of the c …, which have always at the same time a positive and a negative quality, conferring simultaneously power and sensitiveness, one point being always at rest in the center, while the other describes a circumference.

However far we may travel from God, and however long and hard the journey, the divine spark within us can never be truly separated from Him, or err from that Center.* (*The M.M's Book, by Bro. J. S. M. Ward, p. 22.)

Both k … are b …, because both are used in the ceremony, and both h … are s … p - s … d because in this way the fullest advantage is taken of the very concentrated magnetization of the mosaic pavement.

THE INTERNAL PREPARATION

In this degree the candidate seeks his object by the united aid of the s … and c …, which may be taken to signify that his development depends upon the right use both of the body and the soul, the square and the triangle. In the method of symbolism adopted the candidate is always required to look forward to that which shall be, rather than to rest content with that which is. The perfection at which the M.M. is aiming will be attained in its fullness only when the three points of the triangle, the spiritual will, the intuition and the intelligence shall be fully aroused and in entire control of the four lower vehicles - the mental, astral, etheric and dense physical bodies.

As Bro. Powell has said:

In the Third Degree in Freemasonry we find an appeal quite different and distinct from those of the two preceding degrees. The M.M. comes within the range of a fresh influence, entering a new world, piercing through another of the veils which separate him from a true understanding of life - and death. Perhaps the most characteristic feature of the Degree is this atmosphere which it creates, so real and yet so elusive in description - a sense of mystery.* (*The Magic of Freemasonry, p. 92.)

ENTERING THE LODGE

As he enters the Lodge he is received upon the points of the compasses, and through them he gains the first touch of this higher atmosphere, this new influence of the M.M, degree. The raising of the Lodge to a higher degree changes the dominant vibrations, not only of the Lodge as a whole, but of every Bro. present. That is why it is necessary that a Bro. who was not present at the opening of the Lodge in a higher degree - as for example the candidate for passing or raising - needs a special pass-word, a word of power, which is intended to do quickly for his vibrations what the opening ceremony has done more gradually for those of his Brethren In the p … g … leading from the Second to the Third Degree is shown the necessity of extending self-control still further, and gaining some mastery over that strange intermediate tract beyond the lower mind which in a certain school of thought is denominated the subliminal consciousness.

In this Degree, as in the others, he kneels under a triangle made by the crossed wands of the deacons while the blessing of T.M.H. is invoked; indeed, it is noteworthy that all the O.s in Craft Masonry are taken within that same triangle, indicating that the whole of the threefold man, body, soul and spirit, is engaged in the work that is being done. Bro. Ward draws attention to the fact that the candidate now takes three symbolical journeys, as in the First Degree, but with a different object:

He first satisfies the W. J.W., representing the Body, that he is an E.A. - i.e., a man of good moral character. He next satisfies the W.S.W., representing the Soul, that he has benefited by the lessons of life and acquired intellectual knowledge. Then comes the third journey, when he is once more challenged by the Soul, who demands the P.W. … Let us combine these meanings. He comes laden with worldly possessions, which in themselves carry the seeds of death, unconsciously representing in his person the worker in metals who made the twin columns and is about to be entombed. Therefore the Soul presents him to the Spirit as one properly prepared to carry out the part of his great predecessor.* (*The M. M.'s. Book, by J. S. M. Ward, pp. 28, 29.)

THE SEVEN S …

In all the Degrees the candidate advances towards the East, the place of Light, but in each Degree more than in the previous one. In the first he takes three s … s - though even then they steadily increase in length - 9, 12, 15; in the second not only are there five instead of three, but they tend definitely upwards and form a staircase. In the third there are seven, and furthermore, the first three are symbolically over an o … g …, showing that, on the higher plane to which the winding staircase led him, the candidate has triumphed over death, and marches on unwaveringly along his path of progress on the other side of it. Some writers think that in taking these s … s over the o … g … the candidate should after the first s … face due north, after the second due south, and after the third due east, looking thus at the three entrances to the temple, through which H.A.B. endeavored to escape.

THE O.

He then takes the M. M.'s O. - perhaps one of the finest and most far-reaching that have ever been written. If only every M.M. kept his pledge to the uttermost, in spirit as well as in letter, this earth of ours would soon become a veritable heaven. To quote again from Bro. Powell:

"Faithful unto death" may well be taken as the motto of the M.M., and if this were truly the keynote of his whole life, then indeed would Freemasonry have performed a splendid service to all men, and its name would be honored above all other names from generation to generation. If every M.M, could carry out his O … without evasion, equivocation or mental reservation of any kind, and prefer to suffer death rather than slander a Brother's good name or fail to maintain at all times the honor of a Brother as his own, then indeed would there be, right in the heart of humanity, such a brotherhood as would bring the completion of the H.T. almost within range of our earthly vision. Such a standard of fidelity amongst M. M.'s would in time lead humanity to so high a level of goodwill that not only would men cease from injuring one another, but even inaction in a deed of mercy would become action in a deadly sin. This, and nothing else, is the true meaning of the F … P … of F …, to uphold which the M.M. is pledged. It is no light matter to enter the First Portal and become a Freemason; it is an even more serious undertaking to take the O … of a M.M. and swear to be faithful unto death. Let every M.M. ponder this well and re-affirm to himself, by all that he holds sacred, his determination, in all cases of trial and difficulty, to follow the noble example of the great symbolic figure who suffered death rather than be false to his oath.* (*The Magic of Freemasonry, p. 98.)

The O. needs no comment, save perhaps a reference to the promise to attend meetings when called "if within the length of my c … t …" It has apparently been the custom to interpret this as meaning "within three miles"; it probably was originally equivalent to "within convenient walking distance". Assuredly no M.M. who understands how great is the privilege of taking part in the work of the Lodge will be likely to disregard any such call if it is in any way possible for him to respond to it.

In this case, as so often in others, Bro. Wilmshurst gives us a beautiful mystical interpretation, taking the c …, t … to represent the "silver cord" which links the subtler part of the body to the denser, and suggesting that a Bro. who for some good reason cannot obey a summons physically may yet attend astrally and take part in the ceremony on a higher plane. If this explanation be accepted, the length of the c … t … would be the distance to which the M.M. finds himself able to travel astrally. It is perfectly possible and even eminently desirable that the M.M. should attend Masonic meetings astrally, in this way giving his strength and his blessing to many Lodges, and doing much more work for the Craft than he can do by confining himself to his own Lodge. A closer study of the physics of the higher life will show him that the actual "silver cord" is observable only when etheric matter is withdrawn from the dense body, as in the case of a medium and that the connection between the astral and physical vehicles of the ordinary man is a wonderfully exact sympathetic vibration; perhaps better symbolized by a chord of music than a cord of silver; but the interpretation is nevertheless quite permissible.

THE ETHERIC FORCES

The O … being taken, the R.W.M. proceeds to the actual ceremony of admission, the external ritual of which is the same as in earlier degrees, except for the k … s and the name of the degree; but the inner effect is very different.

In each of the previous Degrees I have referred to certain currents of etheric force which flow through and around the spine of every human being. Madame Blavatsky writes of them as follows:

The Trans-Himalayan school … locates Sushumna, the chief seat of these three Nadis, in the central tube of the spinal cord, and Ida and Pingala on its left and right sides. Ida and Pingala are simply the sharps and flats of that Fa of human nature, which, when struck in a proper way, awakens the sentries on either side, the spiritual Manas and the physical Kama, and subdues the lower through the higher. …* (*The Secret Doctrine, vol. iii, p. 503.)

It is the pure Akasha that passes up Sushumna; its two aspects flow in Ida and Pingala. These are the three vital airs, and are symbolized by the Brahmanical thread. They are ruled by the will. Pill and desire are the higher and lower aspects of one and the same thing. Hence the importance of the purity of the canals. … From these three a circulation is set up, and from the central canal passes into the whole body. …* (*Ibid., p. 537.)

Ida and Pingala play along the curved wall of the cord in which is Sushumna. They are semi-material, positive and negative, sun and moon, and they start into action the free and spiritual current of Sushumna. They have distinct paths of their own, otherwise they would radiate all over the body.* (*Ibid., p. 547.)

It is part of the plan of Freemasonry to stimulate the activity of these forces in the human body, in order that evolution may be quickened. This stimulation is applied at the moment when the R.W.M. creates, receives and constitutes; in the First Degree it affects the ida, or feminine aspect of the force, thus making it easier for the candidate to control passion and emotion; in the Second Degree it is the pingala or masculine aspect which is strengthened, in order to facilitate the control of mind; but in this Third Degree it is the central energy itself, the Sushumna, which is aroused, thereby opening the way for the influence of the pure spirit from on high. It is by passing up through this channel of the sushumna that a yogi leaves his physical body at will in such a manner that he can retain full consciousness on higher planes, and bring back into his physical brain a clear memory of his experiences. The little figures below give a rough indication of the way in which these forces flow through the human body; in a man the ida starts from the base of the spine just on the left of the sushumna, and the pingala on the right (be it understood that I mean the right and left of the man, not the spectator); but in a woman these positions are reversed. The lines end in the medulla oblongata.

Figure 14

The spine is called in India the brahmadanda, the stick of Brahma; and the drawing given in Fig. 14(d) shows that it is also the original of the caduceus of Mercury, the two snakes which symbolize the kundalini or serpent-fire which is presently to be set in motion along those channels, while the wings typify the power of conscious flight through higher planes which the development of that fire confers. Fig. 14(a) shows the stimulated ida after the initiation into the First Degree; this line is crimson in color. To it is added at the Passing the yellow line of the pingala, depicted in Fig. 14(b); while at the Raising the series is completed by the deep blue stream of the sushumna, illustrated by Fig. 14(c).

The stimulation of these nerves and the forces which flow through them is only a small part of the benefit conferred by the R.W.M. when he wields the sword at the moment of admission. I have already referred to the widening of the connection between the individuality and the personality, and to the formation of a link between certain principles of the candidate and the corresponding vehicles of the H.O.A.T.F. The changes induced are somewhat of the same nature as those which I have described on page 319 of The Science of the Sacraments, but of a less pronounced character.

I cannot emphasize too often or too strongly that while these effects are absolutely real, unmistakable and universal, their result in the spiritual life of the candidate depends entirely upon himself. The link made with the H.O.A.T.F. and the widening of the channels of communication offer the man an opportunity quite unparalleled in the ordinary life of the layman; but they in no way compel him to take that opportunity. If through ignorance or sluggishness he makes no attempt to utilize the new powers bestowed upon him, they remain dormant; if he uses them intelligently they steadily increase in effectiveness as he becomes more familiar with them. As Bro. Ward remarks: "The spiritual benefit a man receives from Freemasonry is in exact proportion to his desire and ability to comprehend its inner meaning."* (*The M. M.'s Book, p. 3.)

HIRAM ABIFF

It is only after the candidate has received this wonderful outpouring of spiritual strength that he is subjected to "the greater trial of his fortitude and fidelity" which is involved in the symbolical part of the Degree. A most remarkable drama now unfolds itself before him, and he finds himself quite unexpectedly enacting the part of its hero. The setting of the piece is well-arranged and effective; the darkening of the Lodge, the verses which are sung, the music which is played, the special vestments adopted both for the officers and the candidate - all the surroundings are admirably calculated to enhance the general impression which it is desired to create. Under such circumstances the newly-made M.M. hears for the first time the traditional history which plays so important a part in the Masonic scheme.

The name commonly given to this extraordinary narrative is perhaps somewhat inappropriate, for a little consideration soon shows us that it cannot seriously be considered as historical in the ordinary sense of the word; but if we accept it as a legend, and invest it with a moral significance, we shall find that it has much to teach us. We need not doubt that its central figure Hiram Abiff really lived, nor that he was sent by his namesake, Hiram, King of Tyre, to work for King Solomon in connection with the decoration of the temple. He is described in Jewish scripture as a clever worker in metals, and those of us who investigated the making of the pillars fully confirm that statement, though they do not find him suffering the sanguinary death which the legend asserts. As I mentioned in an earlier chapter, King Solomon himself appears to be responsible for introducing into Jewish Masonry the original form of the story, but not for the insertion of the name which we now use for its hero. Moses brought from Egypt the myth of the death and resurrection of Osiris, and that persisted in a modified form until the time of David. Solomon for patriotic reasons transferred the theatre of the drama to Jerusalem, and centered its interest round the temple which he had built, winning popularity at the same time by bringing his ritual into accordance with that of surrounding peoples, who were mostly worshippers of the Phoenician deity Tammuz, afterwards called by the Greeks Adonis.

Although he recast the legend, and made it wholly Jewish, it was not he who imported into it the name which we know so well, for we find Hiram Abiff acting as what we should now call W.J.W. at a great private ceremony of consecration and dedication at which Solomon's new ritual was performed for the first time. On the same occasion Hiram, King of Tyre, took the part of W.S.W., though for some obscure reason his visit was kept secret, and he returned home almost immediately, his place being taken for the public ceremonies by Adoniram. Rehoboam, Solomon's son, seems to have taken an intense dislike to Hiram Abiff, who had more than once reproved him for arrogance and unworthy conduct; so when after Solomon's death he came to the throne, he took a curious, perverted revenge upon Hiram by decreeing that the victim of the 3° should bear his name for ever. Exactly why this should have afforded satisfaction to Rehoboam it is difficult to see; but perhaps we should hardly hold him responsible for his actions, as he was obviously a decadent, a degenerate of the worst type. His enmity may possibly have shown itself in other ways also, for Hiram Abiff presently found it desirable to return to his own country, where he died full of age and honor.

I am told that only a few years ago a Javanese prince imitated Solomon's procedure, for much the same reasons as actuated the Jewish monarch. He and his people were at least nominally Muhammadans; but he said to them: "Why should you turn towards Mecca for your devotions? I have a very fine temple here; turn to it and not to Arabia when you recite your prayers." They seem to have accepted the suggestion, and in this way arose a variation - in the cult which may well puzzle the historians a century later.

Bro. Ward, in his recent book Who was Hiram Abiff? argues that the whole legend is nothing but an adaptation of the myth of Tammuz, that Hiram Abiff was one of a group of Priest-Kings, and was slain by the others as a voluntary sacrifice at the dedication of the temple, in order to bring good fortune upon the building. He adduces much evidence in support of this theory, and displays a vast amount of erudition and research, gathering together an amazing collection of the most interesting facts. I strongly recommend his book to the perusal of our Brethren, even though I personally still cling to the idea that Masonry originally reached the Jews from Egypt, however much it may afterwards have been influenced, as it certainly was, by the Tammuz-worship of neighboring nations. Bro. Ward cites instances of the survival of traces of the cult of Adonis in the most unexpected quarters; for instance, he writes:

When the Pope has died, a high official, armed with a small ivory hammer or gavel, goes up to the dead man and lightly taps him once on each temple and once on the center of the forehead. After each knock he calls on him to arise, and only when the third summons has been made in vain does he officially proclaim the sad news that the Pope is dead, and therefore a successor must be elected.* (*Op. cit., p. 74)

Bro. Ward further identifies Hiram Abiff with Abibaal, the father of Hiram, King of Tyre, and even suggests that Hiram was not a personal name at all, but a title of the Kings of Tyre, just as Pharaoh was of those of Egypt.

From another source comes the somewhat fantastic suggestion that Solomon also was not a personal name, but is capable of the subdivision Sol-om-on; sol meaning the sun, om being the sacred word of the Hindus (a substituted word, because the real word is a Name of Power, the Name of the Logos, to pronounce which would shake the world and destroy the speaker) and on, from the Greek to on, the absolute existence. This interpretation may be fanciful; but it seems true that the King's compatriots called him Solomon, pronouncing his name as an amphibrach, not as a dactyl, as we do.

The name of Hiram Abiff is somewhat altered in higher degrees, and even in the Bible it sometimes appears as Huram. A further modification is Khairum or Khurum. Khur by itself means white or noble. There is a variant Khri, which under certain circumstances becomes Khris. This would suggest some possible connection with Krishna and Christ. There are certain passages in the Book of Job where he speaks of the orb of the sun, and the word he uses is Khris. It is on record that Hiram, King of Tyre, was the first man who offered the sacrifice of fire to the Khur, who afterwards became Herakles. Plutarch tells us that the Persians of his day called the sun Kuros, and he connects it with the Greek word Kurios, which means Lord, which we find in the Church service as "Kyrie eleison". Khur is also connected with the Egyptian name Horus, who was also Her-Ra and Haroeris, names of the sun-god. The Hebrew word Aoor also means light or fire or the sun, and from that we get Khurom, which is equal to the Greek Hermes. Bro. Wilmshurst also regards the name Hiram as identical with Hermes, and thinks that a connection can he traced between the form Huram and the Sanskrit word Guru, which means "spiritual teacher". He therefore takes Hiram Abiff to signify the Father-Teacher, or the Teacher from the Father.* (*The Masonic Initiation, p. 100) That Hiram was a widow's son is also a significant fact. Horus as the child of Isis was the reincarnation of his own Father Osiris, and so as a posthumous child might well be described as a widow's son.

Though of the tribe of Naphtali, he was born and resided in Tyre, and may well therefore have learned from the Dionysian fraternity which had a center there.

DEATH AND RESURRECTION

Whatever we may think of the traditional history as a story it is clear that it is a myth of death and rising again. The expression of it is perhaps somewhat clumsy, for no reference is made to the soul; it is merely the body which is raised to its feet, but it is obviously implied that when this was done in the proper manner life returned to it, as was said to be the case when Anubis raised Osiris from the bier with the very same gesture.

In the exoteric religion of Egypt two prominent features were the mourning for the dead Osiris and the universal rejoicing over his resurrection. Both of these are commemorated in the Co-Masonic ritual; the former by the various readings prescribed for the Orator, and the latter by the little anthem "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory".

In the exoteric religion of Egypt two prominent features were the mourning for the dead Osiris and the universal rejoicing over his resurrection. Both of these are commemorated in the Co-Masonic ritual; the former by the various readings prescribed for the Orator, and the latter by the little anthem "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory".

Apart from the instruction given as to life after death, there is in this strange story an allegorical lesson which should be taken to heart by every M.M. Once more Bro. Wilmshurst expresses it for us, explaining that just as:

… the turning away from the attractions of the outer world … the purification and subdual of the bodily and sensual tendencies … the work of detachment and self-purification is our Entered Apprentice's work … [just as] the analysis, discipline and obtaining control of one's inner world - of the mind, of one's thoughts, one's intellectual and psychic faculties - is the extremely difficult task of the Fellow Craft stage … [so] the "last and greatest trial" lies in the breaking and surrender of the personal will, the dying down of all sense of personality and selfhood, so that the petty personal will may become merged in the divine Universal Will, and the illusion of separate independent existence give way to conscious realization of unity with the One Life that permeates the Universe. For so only can one be raised from conditions of unreality, strife and figurative death to a knowledge of ultimate Reality, Peace and Life Immortal. To attain this is to attain Mastership, involving complete domination of the lower nature, and the development in oneself of a higher order of life and faculty.* (*The Masonic Initiation, pp. 19, 20.)

This realization of absolute unity is perhaps the most wonderful experience that comes to man in the course of his evolution-a depth of bliss which is utterly indescribable. No person, no thing is separate from any other, and yet everything is perfectly clear; all are "partial expressions of a single, sublying, inexpressible unity". Lord Tennyson wrote of it thus:

All at once, out of the intensity of the consciousness of individuality, the individuality itself seems to dissolve and fade away into boundless being; and this is not a confused state, but the clearest of the clearest, the surest of the surest, where death is an almost laughable impossibility, the loss of personality (if so it were) seeming no extinction, but the only true life. I am ashamed of my feeble description. Have I not said the state is utterly beyond words? This is the most emphatic declaration that the spirit of the writer is capable of transferring itself into another state of existence, is not only real, clear, simple, but that it is also infinite in vision and eternal in duration.

Another Bro. of the Craft has written:

You know everything and understand the stars and the hills and the old songs. They are all within you, and you are all light. But the light is music, and the music is violet wine in a great cup of gold, and the wine in the golden cup is the Scent of a June night.

THE STAR

Even after the symbolic resurrection has taken place we are still warned that any light which can penetrate to these lower planes is but darkness visible, and that for true light and fuller information we must lift our eyes to that bright and morning Star whose rising brings peace and salvation to the faithful and obedient among men. There is no doubt that in the myth as taught in ancient Egypt the star to which reference was made in these terms was originally Sirius. Bro. Ward remarks:

The association of these ideas with the Dog Star is undoubtedly a fragment which has come down from ancient Egypt, for the rising of Sirius marked the beginning of the inundation of the Nile, which literally brought salvation to the people of Egypt by irrigating the land and enabling it to produce food.* (*The M. M.'s Book, p. 50.)

For us, however, the star is invested with a symbolical meaning, and reminds us of the Star of Initiation which marks the assent and approval of the Lord of the World when a new candidate has joined the mighty Brotherhood which exists from eternity to eternity. So we endeavor to carry out the precept of our ritual:

Let that Star be ever before your eyes, and let its light illumine your heart; follow it, as did the Wise Men of old, until it leads you to the gateway of Initiation, where it shines above the portal of that glorious temple, eternal in the heavens, of which even King Solomon's was but a symbol.* (*The Masters and the Path, p. 157.)

THE RAISING OF HUMANITY

Humanity is but one stage of the mighty ladder of evolution. The divine life which is now manifesting through us has in long past ages animated in succession the elemental, mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Now that particular life-wave has reached the human kingdom. It entered that kingdom by the gate of individualization ages upon ages ago; it will leave that human kingdom by the gateway of initiation - that Fifth Initiation which makes a man into a superman or Adept. Humanity is slowly - very, very slowly - treading a great broad road that winds round and round a mountain, ever rising gradually until it reaches the summit. The process is deliberate and often irregular, until the soul suddenly realizes the purpose of his evolution, God's plan for man, and resolves to use all his power to reach the goal as soon as possible. Then he begins to climb straight up the mountain side, and each time that his path crosses the winding road he achieves a definite stage of his progress; at each such point there is an Initiation.

The great Initiations are five; the first marks the soul's stepping off the beaten path, and the last his entering the Temple at the summit of the mountain. To make this shorter but steeper path a living reality should be the effort of every M.M.; and the three degrees undoubtedly typify stages on this road.

The E.A. should as a personality be employed in organizing his physical life for higher use; but at the same time as an ego he should be developing active intelligence in his causal body, exactly as does the pupil of the Masters who is preparing himself for Initiation. I do not of course suggest that each E.A. is doing this, or even as yet can do it; but the Degree is intended to put that development before him as a goal, and the sooner he begins his upward climb, the better. In the same way the F.C. is organizing his emotional life at the lower level, while he unfolds intuitional love in his buddhic body; and the M.M., while arranging his mental life down here, should as an ego be strengthening his spiritual will.

FIRE, SUN AND MOON

We encounter in the Indian scriptures certain tests which seem to approach the same ideas from a different angle, and so should be of interest to Masons. The navel, heart and throat centers in the human body are mentioned as the places of fire, the sun and the moon respectively, and it is said that he who meditates in those centers will find there the Devis Saraswati, Lakshmi and Parvati or Girija, in that order. Those Devis are outward-turned powers or shaktis of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the three Persons of the Blessed Trinity, and have respectively the qualities of giving knowledge, prosperity and self-control - in other words, of helping the man to reach his highest mental, astral and physical aims; for the physical, astral and mental principles are a reflection (inverted, like that of a mountain in water) of the three principles of the higher triad.

Saraswati is the patroness of learning and practical wisdom; Lakshmi fulfils desires and makes life rich and full, and when she is truly worshipped she sanctifies all material prosperity; Girija or Parvati blesses the physical body and makes its powers holy. The E.A. has to bring his physical body to perfection, so the aid which he needs is precisely what is symbolized by Girija's will; the F.C, has to do the same for his astral body, with the help of Lakshmi's love; the M.M. repeats the process for the mental body, aided by Saraswati's kriyashakti or power of thought.

To conquer and organize the physical nature for the use of the higher self the E.A. must use his will, the power of Shiva, the First Person, reflected by his Devi Girija. To transmute the passions of the astral body the F.C. must use his intuitional love that comes from Vishnu, the Second Person, through Lakshmi. To conquer the wavering mind and make it a perfect instrument for the higher self, the M.M. must use the power of his thought, the divine activity of Brahma, the Third Person, reflected by Saraswati. Madame Blavatsky said that the aspirant should make a bundle of the lower things and nail them up to the higher self; when he has done this he will have fulfilled the destiny which is indicated for him - he will have stepped with t … s … over his o … g …

This allusion is similar to that of the k … s in the three Degrees, and in no way affects the fact that the E.A. is at the same time learning to control the emotions, and the F.C. is gaining mastery of the mind. The Mason is simultaneously doing two pieces of work - developing and advancing on higher planes, and yet controlling and perfecting his personal instruments.

How are these connected with fire, the sun and the moon? Remember the three lesser lights: (1) the R.W.M., (2) the sun - the W.S.W., and (3) the moon - the W.J.W. In their capacity of lesser lights these officers correspond to the Devis. It is the W.J.W. who especially helps the E.A., the W.S.W. the F.C., and the R.W.M. the M.M.

It is interesting to note that in the above explanation fire corresponds to the mind. Another aspect of the same truth is seen in the fact that it is the power behind modern science. Without fire chemistry, physics, geology, astronomy and all the practical applications of these sciences could not exist. The M.M. is symbolically a wielder of this power; he is a worker in metals, a caster of pillars, hollow within, to contain the archives of the soul and spirit. In his hand is kriyashakti, the creative power.

The path of the moon is said to typify the life of the ordinary man, who clings to objects of desire and parts with them reluctantly at death. After a period in the astral and heavenly worlds he returns to earth, to repeat the process. It is the path of rebirth after intervals. The path of the sun is that of the occult aspirant, the man of spiritual desires, who values life only for what it can give to the higher self in others as well as himself. He also is reborn, but usually without an interval, or after a very short one. The path of fire is the path of ascension, from which there is no longer any rebirth under the law of necessity, but only at the choice of the ego - only for the helping of the world.

THE VILLAINS

Little need be said of the remainder of the traditional history. We may note the curious similarity between the names given to the three villains, and the fact that the three terminations when put together make the sacred word Aum or Om. Jubel or Yehubel is said to signify "good and evil"; or it may be interpreted as containing the two names of Jah (Jehovah) and Bel or Baal - which to a Jew of that period would have been simply good and evil over again.

THE INSCRIPTION

Lastly, we may mention the mysterious inscription on the plate of the c … n on the t … b … of this degree, written in the Masonic cipher. In its ordinary straightforward form this cryptogram is known to almost every schoolboy; but it is capable of a number of permutations. In this case its letters are arranged in a somewhat unusual manner, and it must be read from right to left. Treated in this way, it yields the initials of our Master, the alleged date of his death, and the word and password of the degree. But none but a Mason is likely to decipher it.

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