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Post by Tamrin on May 29, 2009 7:16:10 GMT 10
For what it's worth, Pike's take on The Monument is to be found in his Morals and Dogma, under "Prince of the Tabernacle," (1871, pp.378/9):
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Post by Tamrin on May 29, 2009 7:32:26 GMT 10
We need not repeat the vapid and trivial explanation there given, of this representation of Isis, weeping at Byblos, over the column torn from the palace of the King, that contained the body of Osiris, while Horus, the God of Time, pours ambrosia on her hair. For those unaquainted with the Preston-Webb form of our ritual, we may need to repeat that explanation:
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Post by Gaslight on May 29, 2009 8:56:48 GMT 10
For those unaquainted with the Preston-Webb form of our ritual, we may need to repeat that explanation: That, word for word, is the explanation used in the Grand Lodge of Japan ritual. Many thanks for pointing out the Egyptian connection, of which I was completely unaware. Another daily advancement in Masonic knowledge.
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Post by Tamrin on May 29, 2009 20:11:41 GMT 10
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Post by Gaslight on May 29, 2009 22:48:38 GMT 10
"The allusion to the Broken Pillar is evident." Not to me, I'm afraid. The illustration reminded me of dozens of superimpositions I've seen in fringe books: patterns of lines superimposed on maps of the Rennes-le-Chateau area, on plans of Rosslyn Chapel, on a host of other sites. Most of the time the 'fit' that is obvious to the author strikes me as no fit at all. The Sephiroth is mentioned so often in discussions of esoteric Masonry that I've tried to familiarise myself with it and the underlying concepts. But try as I might, it continues to strike me as just another attempt to impose order on the unknown by creating labels and then arranging them in patterns. If I thought for a moment that the key to Masonry lay in the Kabbalah or Gemetria -- in the Hebrew language and the Judaic tradition -- I think my interest in Masonry would evaporate very quickly.
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Post by maximus on May 30, 2009 3:49:46 GMT 10
Kaballah serves as a method of classification of the universe, among other things. I see similarities to the Word Tree, Yggdrasil, among others. One can apply these symbols as one will, if it furthers one's personal understanding, but I do not see it as necessary to fully appreciate Freemasonry.
It seems to me the columns should properly be Wisdom, Strength and Beauty, to keep it in a proper masonic symbolic context. In a Kabbalistic context, they should be Severity, Mercy and Balance.
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Post by Tamrin on May 30, 2009 8:38:48 GMT 10
"The allusion to the Broken Pillar is evident." Not to me, I'm afraid. A major omission in the article was some explanation of the nature of the "fracture," which has to do with that most enigmatic of the sephiroth on the "Tree of Life", Da'at (knowledge), not even shown on the illustrations. While respecting some aspects of Kabalah as providing useful, heuristic models, I find other aspects are indeed strained, especially, Gematria (numerology). Bro. JMD, at his Four Hares site, would be better able to expound on the subject matter than I. I guess the relevance here is not so much whether Kabalah is meaningful to us but, rather, what it may have meant to the members of the Premier Grand Lodge who introduced the changes under discussion in the Desaguliers' Code thread. The question naturally arises as to their purpose in introducing those changes and, that purpose may have had to do with the disproportionate number of Calvinist members and their interest in the mystical side of Protestantism, such as that expressed through Rosicrucianism. Early Calvinists tended to emphasise so-called "Primitive Christianity" and sought to restore what they believed to be the mysteries of the Early Church, repressed at the Council of Nicea. Gnostic notions would have been appealing to them in this regard. And, in their enthusiasm for translating the Bible from its original languages to vernacular tongues, they would have dealt with Hebrew scholars, from whom they may have conceived a notion concerning the several passages like Luke 8:10 And he [Jesus] said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. We get a clue from some fudges in translation (e.g. rendering "Asherah" as "grove") that not everything they found in their studies was considered suitable for all. Perhaps I need to start a separate thread on Freemasonry and Protestant notions of "Primitive Christianity," it would however be more speculative than my thoughts advanced under Desaguliers' Code.
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Post by Tamrin on May 30, 2009 9:03:06 GMT 10
One can apply these symbols as one will, if it furthers one's personal understanding, but I do not see it as necessary to fully appreciate Freemasonry. Agreed: For some it is irrelevant but, for those seeking an understanding of the changes wrought during the early years of modern, speculative freemasonry, we may need to consider if, how and to what extent Kabalah was regarded by such people as Desaguliers.
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Post by Tamrin on May 30, 2009 12:03:51 GMT 10
Perhaps I need to start a separate thread on Freemasonry and Protestant notions of "Primitive Christianity," it would however be more speculative than my thoughts advanced under Desaguliers' Code. In the meantime, the following may give an idea what I mean: For a credible explanation of why A 3° was dramatically enacted (but not why THE 3° was created), I recommend Masques of Solomon, by C. Bruce Hunter.
From seventeenth century northern Italy there appears to be some hints of the Hiramic Legend depicted in Raising the Master, by Il Guercino.
My conjecture is that it may have been part of the 'heretical' milieu of northern Italy, as depicted in Umberto Eco's, The Name of the Rose. At the time of the Reformation, The Piedmont Valleys of the Italian Alps were virtually the last redoubt of the Albigensians. Among whom were three major divisions: The Auditors who were sympathetic to the teachings, but only listened; the Credentes, who believed in the teachings but had yet to take the Consolamentum, which would commit them to the austerities of the Perfecti (the third division) and which was otherwise conferred as a last rite. Luther (whose seal featured a rose and cross) regarded the Waldenses' teachings as preserving the mysteries of the early church, as did Calvin and other early Protestants who found refuge among them. Waldensian Crest & Motto( A Light Shining in the Darkness) On the Late Massacre in Piedmont
Avenge O Lord thy slaughtered Saints, whose bones Lie scatter’d on the Alpine mountains cold, Ev’n them who kept thy truth so pure of old When all our Fathers worship’t Stocks and Stones. Forget not: in thy book record their groans Who were thy sheep and in their ancient fold Slayn by the bloody Piedmontese that roll’d Mother with infant down the rocks. Their moans The vales redoubl’d to the hills, and they To heav’n. Their martyred blood and ashes sow O’re all th’ Italian fields where still doth sway The triple tyrant: that from these may grow A hundred-fold, who having learnt thy way Early may fly the Babylonian woe.John Milton
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Post by Tamrin on Dec 3, 2014 20:08:53 GMT 10
Preston-Webb Ritual (USA)
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