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Post by Tamrin on Jul 2, 2008 7:13:56 GMT 10
Desaguliers' Code: Freemasonry's Lost Secret is a Goddess!
Philip Carter, Australia The changes attributed to Desaguliers in the 1720s lay out a pattern with a surprising twist. Among these changes were the reorganisation of the rudimentary two degrees described in the Early Masonic Catechisms and the creation of the third degree; changing from the Noachidic legend described in the Old Charges, to the Hiramic legend; from passing mention of the antediluvian pillars of Enoch or Lamech to the crucial place given to the Solomonic pillars; and additions to the Ancient Penalties. Desaguliers’ Code barely warrants the term 'code,' involving not so much an orderly substitution as a simple repetition, (not so much: 1 = X, 2 = Y and 3 = Z; as 1 = X, 2 = X and 3, presumably, = X). This ‘code’ was meant to be solved and is corroborated by Masonic symbols characteristically being presented in sets of three. Perhaps the most enigmatic of Masonic trinities are those three great pillars, said to support the lodge, when only two pillars are explicitly given proper, meaningful names (one each in the first and second degrees while, whatever takes the equivalent place in the third degree, is said to be ‘lost’). With this loss in mind, consider how the candidates progress from the porch, to the middle chamber, left with a clue alluding to ‘stability’ and, at the point where the genuine secrets are said to have been lost and substituted secrets are communicated, they would expect to have proceeded to the Sanctum Sanctorum and to have been made acquainted with a third pillar having a meaningful name. Sadly, they know of only two such pillars, at the porch or entrance of King Solomon's Temple. However, according to the Bible, a pillar-like cult object, called an ‘ashera’ (named after the Hebrew goddess Asherah and signifying ‘stability’), stood in the sanctuary. According to the Bible, the worship of Asherah was part of the state religion at the time attributed to Solomon, until the bloody reforms of Kings Hezekiah and Josiah. Thus, when we uncover the genuine secrets of a Master Mason, a goddess is unveiled.  Augustin M. lith., Lith. Fourquemin, La Maçonnerie Secourant L’Humanité (Masonry Helping Humanity), Paris, chez Kiener, Place Maubert, 41. Courtesy The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania |
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Post by prometheus on Jul 2, 2008 8:21:35 GMT 10
Asherah!
Ashlar!
hmmmmmm.....
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Post by Tamrin on Jul 2, 2008 10:04:29 GMT 10
Indeed! “The Perfect Ashlar is a stone of true die or square, fit only to be tried by the Square and. Compasses.” "Asher-ah" (Strong, #842) is the feminine form of "Asher," among whose meanings is:
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Post by maximus on Jul 2, 2008 14:33:44 GMT 10
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Post by Gaslight on May 8, 2009 11:10:25 GMT 10
(Perhaps the most enigmatic of Masonic trinities are those three great pillars, said to support the lodge, when only two pillars are explicitly given proper, meaningful names (one each in the first and second degrees while, whatever takes the equivalent place in the third degree, is said to be ‘lost’). This is the point at which I lost the thread of your long Desaguliers' Code and this abstract. I'm familiar with two rituals. One draws heavily on the Emulation tradition, the other on the Preston-Webb working. Both speak of three symbolic pillars supporting the lodge: Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. The two pillars at the porch or entrance of KST neither support the Temple itself nor the Masonic lodge which is modelled on KST. I'll be conferring a Second Degree tomorrow, and will be telling the candidate how he reached the MC and how he is now qualified to receive the wages of a FC. I'm not aware of any hint of a third pillar. I thought that what was 'lost' was a word, not a pillar. By the way, most of the 'please read in conjuction' links in your long article are broken. Also one typo noted: "King Solom's Temple" (or is that a variant spelling?) Thanks for all the links you provide to external papers. It's going to take me months to follow them up, but follow them up I will.  |
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Post by maximus on May 8, 2009 13:32:24 GMT 10
I'm familiar with two rituals. One draws heavily on the Emulation tradition, the other on the Preston-Webb working. Both speak of three symbolic pillars supporting the lodge: Wisdom, Strength and Beauty. The two pillars at the porch or entrance of KST neither support the Temple itself nor the Masonic lodge which is modelled on KST.The three pillars represent King Solomon (Wisdom), Hiram, King of Tyre (Strength) and Hiram Abiff (beauty), as well as the three principle officers of the lodge,: The WM, SW and JW, respectively, with the same attributions. |
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Post by Tamrin on May 8, 2009 18:55:43 GMT 10
(Perhaps the most enigmatic of Masonic trinities are those three great pillars, said to support the lodge, when only two pillars are explicitly given proper, meaningful names (one each in the first and second degrees while, whatever takes the equivalent place in the third degree, is said to be ‘lost’). My suggestion is that the word "stability" is a hint. We already know the significance and purported derivation of the names of two pillars and, in a sense, they set the pattern for a third of similar significance. According to the V.S.L, for the majority of the time K.S.T. was said to have stood, associated with it was a third, named pillar or at least a pillar-like object (in the Sanctum Sanctorum). This object represented the Hebrew goddess Asherah; whose name is the feminine form of "Asher;" among the significances of which is "stability." What was "lost" may well be that word: "Asherah." I further suggest this interpretation would fit with the early 18th Century emphasis on religious tolerance (beyond the Pentateuch, the persecution of followers of Asherah was a common theme in the Tanakh). BTW, thanks for pointing out the typo: Now fixed. |
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Post by Gaslight on May 10, 2009 21:03:24 GMT 10
Bro. Tamrin:
Your most recent postings of numerous illustrations of Isis, Sheba, Asherah and other manifestations have, I'm sorry to say, only confused me more.
The rituals I work with are so riddled with inconsistencies and factual inaccuracies, that I find it difficult to imagine anyone could have slipped in such an ambiguous code and hoped it would make sense to a Mason three hundred years hence.
The dreadful conflation of the brazen pillars of KST with the prediluvian pillars designed to withstand water and fire, not to mention varying accounts of the dimensions of the former, nor the mysterious globes that suddenly appeared on top of them -- all suggest ritual written and then hacked about by brethren with no system of coherent symbolism in mind. There are dozens of other places in our ritual where we can see evidence of the same ignorance, editing, and rewriting.
Your suggestion that Desagulier deliberately implanted some kind of code referring to an ancient goddess or group of goddesses is fascinating, but I find myself unable to connect the dots.
One other concern: how familiar would the Masons of the early 18th century be with Egyptian studies? Modern Egyptology didn't get into its stride until the decipherment of the ancient scripts. Before that, I suspect people had to rely on classical sources and maybe Renaissance translations from the Arabic.
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Post by Tamrin on May 10, 2009 21:43:51 GMT 10
Bro. GaslightI guess much may need some time to digest. For me, the key is with our use of the word "stability," which is the import of the Hebrew word "Asherah" and of the Egyptian word "Djed," both were represented by pillars. And Asherah appears to be an archaic or regional variant of Ashesh or Au Set, whom the Greeks called Isis (the region had been Egypt's province of Retjenu). Egyptology was very much in vogue throughout the Enlightenment (for example, please consider Napoleon's scientific expedition to Egypt, over twenty years before Champollion's decipherment). Indeed, much of the mysterious glamour of Egypt was lost in Europe after that decipherment: Before then much was open to wild speculation, especially among free thinkers. Another key may be the Calvinists' interest in Biblical exegesis and what they found had been lost in translation. I don't imagine Desaguliers, et al., were looking three hundred years ahead but to the religious strife of their own day; seeing this as a Biblical and cautionary example of religious persecution, with which many may have identified (a disproportionate number of the early members of the Premier Grand Lodge were Huguenot émigrés and other Calvinists). The theme appears to have continued longer on the Continent than in England, where attention was soon diverted by the rivalry with the Antients and their Royal Arch degree, which originally featured Josiah's repairs (as it still does in Ireland) rather than Zerrubabel's rebuilding, and thus directly conflicted with the earlier theme (Josiah had been the main persecutor of the Kadoshim).
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Post by Tamrin on May 11, 2009 17:37:11 GMT 10
One other concern: how familiar would the Masons of the early 18th century be with Egyptian studies? Modern Egyptology didn't get into its stride until the decipherment of the ancient scripts. Before that, I suspect people had to rely on classical sources and maybe Renaissance translations from the Arabic. An Anachronism?
If the general facts confirmed by modern research and outlined here were unavailable to Desaguliers and others at the time, then it would be anachronistic for one to suggest they acted on them. Basically, the essential points are spelt out in the Bible, while some of the finer points had long been current in learned circles. For instance, in 1405 Christine de Pizan wrote (I.12.1):“Please tell me where there was ever a king endowed with greater skill in politics, government, and sovereign justice, and even with such lofty and magnificent style as one can read about the most noble Empress Nicaula. For though there had been many kings of great fame called pharaohs in the vast, wide, and varied lands which she governed. And from whom she was descended, during her rule this lady was the first to begin to live according to laws and coordinated policies, and she destroyed and abolished the crude customs found in the territories over which she was lord and reformed the rude manners of the savage Ethiopians. This lady accomplished even more praiseworthy deeds than reforming the rough manners of others, according to the authors who speak of her. She remained the heiress of these pharaohs, and not just of a small land but of the kingdom of Arabia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and the island of Meroë (which is very long and wide and filled with all kinds of goods and is near to the Nile), which she governed with wonderful prudence. What more should I tell you about this lady? She was so wise and so capable a ruler that even the Holy scriptures speak of her great virtue. She herself instituted laws of far-reaching justice for governing her people. She enjoyed great nobility and vast wealth—almost as much as all the men who have ever lived. She was profoundly learned in the Scriptures and all fields of knowledge, and she had so lofty a heart that she did not deign to marry, nor did she desire that any man be at her side.” De Pizan, Christine, 1983 (org. 1405), The Book of the City of Ladies, Translated by Earl Jeffrey Richards, Picador (Pan), London |
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