An Esoteric Freemasonry Omnibus

[Music] [Music] [Music] in [Music] welcome to from the quaries I think tonight I might have suffered from a bit of overreach with the topic of the video rosac crism and Freemasonry the publication of the three rosac chrisan manifestos in Germany between 1614 and 1616 has been a topic of Fascination for me for as long as I can remember at least 20 or 30 years and I hubristically thought that it would be easy enough to toss off a video looking at the relationship between Rosicrucianism specifically the manifestos and Freemasonry but of course the more I read and the more I researched the bigger the topic became and I quickly realized it's just not possible to do justice to this topic in one video so tonight I'll be presenting two short papers the first is an introduction to the rosac crui manifestos for those who may not be too familiar with the topic which is written by Gian jepi Philippi the copy I have of this paper is undated the second section is an extract from a fascinating book called the beginning of masonry by Frank C Higgins which was published in 1916 and is entitled Rosicrucianism and Freemasonry there is just so much more that I could cover on this topic so please let let me know in the comments if you'd like to hear more I do have a fascinating work by Arthur Edward we giving the history of the order of the rosy and Golden Cross which I think would make a great video so let me know if you'd like to hear more anyway here's tonight's video I hope you enjoy it good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from the quaries an archive of masonic law [Music] [Applause] [Music] in 1614 in Castle vilhelm vessel's Printing House published a book in German the farmer fraternus it tells the story of a frier called C an impoverished nobleman and German monk who traveled to the Holy Land heading first to Damascus with the intention of reaching Jerusalem he fell ill in Damascus where he became known for his ability in the Medical Art he got in contact with local doctors and after a while he lost interest in Jerusalem and Begg them to take him to the town of Damar there he was generously welcomed by the wise men and doctors in the story of the farmer Damar appears as if it were a republic of sages a sort of Utopia however its location is unclear CR stayed there for 3 years learning the wonders of the book of nature taught by the philosophers of Damar during his stay he translated into German the mysterious liba m which later became the reference text for his followers once he was fully instructed CR was sent to the city of Fez in Morocco to a circle of wise men closely connected with those of Damar about this second stage of instruction the farmer informs us that in Fez CR refined his knowledge in magic cabala medicine and philosophy what he learned from the Sages AFF Fe was a superior cabala which he adopted to the Christian religion in a form more appropriate to its origins in this manner he learned a science that allowed him to understand and harmonize all the fields of knowledge after 2 years CR left for Spain here he exposed his knowledge to local Scholars but they were irreparably infected by the Catholic prejudices still following the te teachings of perryy Aristotle and galin so he left for Germany there he found true intellectuals who enthusiastically embraced his teachings and the content of the mysterious liba m in the beginning Three Brothers joined CR and they all traveled the streets of Germany bestowing the blessings of their knowledge their clothes did not distinguish them from other Germans they introduced themselves as doctors and they treated their patients free of charge in addition the farma tells us that those first four brothers developed a magical written and spoken language in which they compiled a dictionary of all wisdom they used to gather in a building called the sancti spiritus after a few years they doubled their number and later on the organization counted 36 members their aim was to increase scientific knowledge in order to improve the living conditions of the time and by performing prodigies to change the Antiquated mentality still prevailing in Europe after the death of the first of the brothers CR took care to build for himself a tomb in a secret Place full of allegorical meanings and filled with books and wonderful objects C predicted that for 120 years his tomb would remain concealed but after that period of time his successors should have started to interfere in European events revealing their presence as an invisible College the farmer goes on to describe the miraculous discovery of the tomb of CR in 16004 the description of the Tomb is a lengthy allegory in which mathematical and geometrical symbols are associated to the presence of the library of the late founder of the lia M and the prodigious automater that was somewhere in between Magic and mechanics the conclusion of the libellus includes a utopian plan of magic scientific Universal Improvement in a few words a religion devoid of dogmas Rights hierarchies and which was inclusive of pagan cabalistic and alchemical wisdom the following year 1615 a second Manifesto published by the same Printing House appeared this time written in Latin this is known as the confessio fraternus and it was obviously addressed to the educated classes it comprises a series of statements of faith and descriptions of a universal plan of reformation a Reformation generically Protestant and therefore rooted mostly in the Old Testament in fact from the very beginning Jehovah is invoked as lord of the imminent Sabbath however this God called by his Hebrew name is intended as the guarantor of the becoming of Nature and through its phenomena he would manifest himself to the wise men and through calamities he would punish the wicked since the appearance of the farmer fraternus had been received with understandable hostility by the Orthodox circles the confessio had a cautious outset so that no one may accuse us of the slightest heresy nor of following evil principles nor of plotting against temporal power we condemn the East and the West the pope and Muhammad who were blasphemers of our Lord Jesus Christ and we offer with good faith our prayers our secrets and our great golden Treasures to the Supreme head of the Roman Empire what the meaning of the ambiguous formula Supreme head of the Roman Empire is is unclear why use the formula Supreme head of the Empire instead of the more common title of Emperor the answer to this question will be provided by examining the third and last Manifesto the content of the confessio also lists the ideals that the reform plan should have implemented religious tolerance among the various Protestant sects and Judaism and the currents of free thought benign use of magic increased use of the Sciences especially mathematics and mechanics support for the Arts particularly the allegorical and utopian ones economic and social development for the well-being of all all these Innovations and discoveries were intended above all all to create a change of mentality in order to arase all memory of the medieval ecumenical Europe the document recommends the foundation of a free zone in Europe that it should be governed only by wise men in order to achieve this it was necessary to spread the use of free individualistic examination of the Bible and thus freeing its reading from any magisterium these first two manifest explicitly invited all those who are interested in the magic scientific reform of Europe presented here as a new Universal religion to make contact with the brothers the third document the chemical wedding of Christian Rosen croz appeared in Strasburg in 1616 published anonymously like the two previous manifestos in this work the meaning of the different acronyms presented his in the previous manifestos was the first for the first time revealed the novel narrates the marriage of Two Princes which Christian roosen CS would be invited to in their Enchanted Castle A Place full of magical wonders and animated mechanisms the wedding ceremony lasted a week every day Rosen CS had to go through various experiences lavishly described by mysterious allegories obscure symbols and Elusive theatrical performances the intent was to represent the seven steps of some not well- defined hermetic cabalistic initiation the weeklong ceremonies ended with the ordination of Rosen cots and the other guests as Knights of the Golden Stone order the Arcane atmosphere of the farmer and the confessio was immediately successful in the late Rena occult Circles of protestant Europe many personalities of the secular Protestant culture tried to get in touch with the mysterious members of the fraterna tarus since the manifestos did not indicate any contact details the publishing houses were stormed first and foremost The vilhelm Vessel house which had published both the farmer and the confessio subsequently other publishing houses were also subject to Urgent requests for contact since no one answered these demands some of the Seekers had the idea of publishing booklets by the very same printing houses with requests for admission to the fraternus or at least for an epistory contact but all was in vain as often happens in pseudo initiatic environments the lack of answers was not considered a reason either of disappoint or of Suspicion keeping their own Origins mysterious not revealing the name of the Masters concealing an overt Doctrine behind abstruse symbols and allegories invincibly attracts those who wish to be deceived everyone had referred to the enigmatic acronym C until the book of the chemical wedding of Christian Rosen CRZ appeared and finally revealed the name of the founder and the title of the fraternus Ros aana after having recognized Christian Rosen croz as brother C it will now be appropriate to give a more detached look at the farmer fraternitas the main character went to the town of Damar in Arabia a name that does not exist in that region where he was expected as a predestined pupil there he learned magic cabala medicine and philosophy he then moved to Fez where another community of sages taught him a superior cabala which he later adapted to his Christian religion the confessio for its part confirms those data those who live in the city of Damar of Arabia have a political and social order completely different from that of the other Arabs a kind of order that s should have exported to Europe the Masters belonged to those communities in Islamic lands and their rosac crucian Protestant disciples they both practiced the art of medicine they wore the clothes of the countries they visited and not those that would have identified them as belonging to another community in the Pharma the cabala is mentioned four times and twice in the confessio and both manifestos speak ill of the Pope and Muhammad calling them Heretics and Blas feur therefore it is quite evident that the rosac chrans did not go to the east to receive the teachings from the sufis it is unknown what the meaning of the name Damar is what is certain is that between Damascus and Jerusalem there is the city of safed in the 16th century the city was the seat of cabalistic Messianic School of Rabbi Isaac luua this closely relates to the mystical deviation of the ancient Jewish initiation created by abaia and is from this school that in the 17th century came the false Messiah shabat Savi the town of safed obtained a wide autonomy from the Ottoman Empire even today that City on the lake Tiberius is considered the capital of the Messianic apocalyptic cabala we frequently hear of an alleged connection between Freemasonry and so-called Rosicrucianism brotherhoods in the course of the last couple of centuries there have been many hundred claims set up to the title of society or fraternity of the rosie cross any brother who feels inclined to dip into the question of extinct Masonic rights and degrees by a short course of Mackey's Masonic encycl opedia will be if not already informed astonished to find that all the masonry are we are officially aware of today is but a mere fragment of that that has at one time or another figured as of impressive importance to the craft in The Archives of the Scottish right there are preserved evidences of the voluntary abdications of a number of imposing Masonic rights that once enjoyed High favor and numerous membership but which eventually dissolved under pressure of internal dissensions and the larger hope embodied in the rise of a body so constituted as to obviate the possibility of Unbecoming strife and other weaknesses at the present moment the empty dignities and now meaningless powers of obsolete rights are occasionally heard of as passed from hand to hand for trifling money considerations wherever a gull can be induced to believe that he is receiving High Masonic degrees even though the same may be conferred upon Him by a single individual by virtue of the powers Etc in a basement dining room or a hall bedroom the chief significance that attaches itself to the Revival of interest in rosac crucians lies in the fact that according to the strict Spirit of the ancient Brotherhood there can be but one organization in existence entitled to their name and secrets and that organization never had nor it is claimed never will have any public or exoteric existence it is not the sort of club or society that has offices holds public or even private meetings and elects eligible persons to memberships the true rosac crucian may never meet another of his Mystic order on the physical plane he is not initiated in a hall or Chapter Room after having paid a fee but it is made known to him by occult means that he has been found worthy of admission into this literal band of Immortals and thereafter he has shown how to project his perceptions onto a Higher plane upon which it is possible for him to meet know and commute with all his fellow members who assemble like witches Upon A Sabbath in a twinkling of an eye by merely willing to do so no matter where their physical bodies may happen to be souring in fact the first public gossip concerning the rosac crucians and their wonderful powers began to be brought it about at the beginning of the 17th century membership in the fraternity was attributed to very ious Alchemists by the herd and claimed by numerous charlatans on the other hand many tales are told of the discovery of weird underground vaults in otherwise desert places which upon being opened were found to be brilliantly illuminated by perpetually burning lamps that is to say until it's extinguished by the admission of outer air these were said to have been the secret meeting places of the rosac Cru from the very nature of Rosicrucianism as described however that of tradition must necessarily be spurious as the mere fact of publicity upon however private or restricted a scale is sufficient to stamp it as such the existence of Rosicrucianism might be claimed and certain highly endowed Scholars and scientists be suspected nay openly charged with being members of its Charmed Circle but no genuine record exists of any ancient rosac crucian Society upon which any theory of continuity might be based by a modern group of students of the occult there is quite a successful modern rosac crucian society in London the moving Spirit of which was the late Dr Win westcot former coroner for the county of middlex as a research body disining many interesting legends about the reputed rosac crucians of the Middle Ages this Latter-Day Society has done good work it all sums up in the State of Mind of the person most interested an old pot Stam pensioner once wrote King Frederick the great in much distress over the suppression of a military decoration the only one he had ever received the king smilingly wrote on the margin of the complaint pensioner X has herewith a royal permission to wear all the abolished decorations he likes just as The evolutionary process through which all organic beings have arrived from lower forms to present High states of De development may be traced in the structures of those beings themselves so the structure of any mystical order claiming extraordinary Antiquity will reveal the foundation of its claims to the student IR perspective of any personal contentions our own craft has hardly departed from the use of ancient monitors and lectures connecting masonry with the beginnings of the human race Adam Seth Enoch Noah Moses and other Patriarchs which had become a laughing stock among our strenuous modernists when it begins to transpire that the structure of Freemasonry is superior to her traditions and that he who knows masonry structurally will have no difficulty whatever in comprehending all these curious connections as apt and purposeful when this knowledge becomes more common to the fraternity we shall be in a position to understand the difference between that which guarantees the genuiness of our our own Antiquity and the claims that any mystical Brotherhood May at present set up of surpassing age royal descent and the possession of the fundamental Arcana of the universe without the average Masons being able to prove that his pretentions have any greater value than those of the newcomer welcome to from the quaries tonight's video the occultism of the Bible and the cabala was written by Rabbi H geffin in 1950 and was first published in the New Age it is unfortunately very brief but it does open up the smallest glimpse into what is an immense and fascinating topic I hope you enjoy it good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from the quaries an archive of masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law kabala is a knowledge of divine wisdom this truth is the foundation stone upon which the regenerating and saving portion of every true religion is based the cabala transmits to us such knowledge as the adapts of those times chose to commit to writing our Masonic spiritual allegories are based on the cabala which is known to us moderns as the cabalistic doctrine monoe ism is the only true religion Masonic students claim the Bible to be an occult book wherein the cabalistic system is embodied in allegories and symbols the written and oral laws are dependent on and complete each other the cabala originated with the essin and also with the initiated talmudists who arranged cabalistic schools that followed akba and Simon benjer who Consolidated it into a scientific system in the books Jeter and zoha the Two Chief Classics of the cabala Jeter and zoha attributed respectively to akba and Simon benjai reveal the basis of the occult religion of the Hebrews the most ancient and most comprehensive is the seph yera probably written by the rabbi Akiba the zoha teaches us that the true Torah or law of Moses is not in the literal but in the allegorical interpretation of the pentat pho Judas in his Treatise on the allegories of the Sacred laws elucidated in a very cautious manner a few of these subjects The Creation The Garden of Eden the Deluge the tilling of the Earth by man the conf Fusion of languages the migration of Abraham his two wives and many more such subjects having mistic truth as their foundations Moses probably received and revived the monotheism of Abraham but the Divine cabala is the spiritual interpretation of material symbols and emblems it is in this tradition namely the esoteric law of Moses which is the Torah whereof is recorded in the talmud Moses received the oral law from sin and delivered it to Joshua and Joshua to the elders and the elders to the prophets and the prophets to the men of the great synagogue it must therefore be well understood that the Torah thus mentioned by the talmud is not the written but the oral law or cabala transmitted by tradition from generation to generation until collected by Simon benjai and preserved in the volume of the zoha the talmud is the oral law and is in itself in some places of a cabalistic character as a symbolical vehicle of the Divine cabala there were two traditions in the occult cabala an exoteric tradition perpetuated and an esoteric tradition wherein the cabala was transmitted the exoteric tradition is permeated with cabalism one must be a studious Mason to discern the E esoteric direction from the exoteric Customs having no Divine object it is not my purpose here to write the story of Moses it is well known that he had obtained the hidden mysteries of Egypt but he annuled the superstitious belief of the Egyptians and he built a true monotheistic Creed of divine wisdom hence he insisted on worship being directed exclusively to Jehovah the one universal omnipotent God he also insisted on Perfect Purity of thought word and deed as a true Prophet we must suppose that his sacrifices consisted not of the shedding of innocent blood but his intention was to prevent the people from Human Sacrifice ices in studying diligently Masonic Occult Philosophy we must thus take into consideration that the Bible is a cabalistic book allegorically written and symbolically Illustrated the systems of the cabala and esoteric masonry are identical and for this reason the Masons call their Temple the Temple of Solomon all the Masonic ceremonies have a cabalistic base their virtue is not doubted there are moral hygienic and spiritual rules of conduct given the highest thought that the cabala and masonry ever expressed was universality although the Bible History is allegoric and symbolic and has much Fable it is doubtless founded upon truth Moses and the prophets the essin and the tanim were occultists and consequently most if not all of their writings are manifestly or occultly treatises on the cabala and we can say with certainty that they were the forerunners of masonry this assumption must naturally occur to the minds of only right thinking Masons who are penetrated by the sublime virtue of our order and are justly entitled to Bear the name of ult Masonic students welcome to from the quaries tonight's presentation sects secret societies and initiatic orders was written by Eve Fred B in 1998 in this work he gives a very convincing argument to prove that Freemasonry is neither a sect nor a secret society but is very clearly an initiatic order this he proves through careful definition and clearly explains why Freemasonry belongs to the third of these three types of societies I hope you enjoy it good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation ation from the quaries an archive of masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law for quite some time now the euroamerican media abounds with publications of all kinds on sects secret societies and initiatic orders which in the mind of the average reader and even the above the average often represent one and the same thing however this is nothing but a superficial view of an extremely old phenomenon at least as old as socialized Humanity itself and is likely to spread confusion in the mind of the public in addition at a time when the question of sects is more than ever under public scrutiny and at this time when there is a multiplicity of controversies on the subject it seems appropriate to establish certain ideas with regard to the differences between these three groupings in this regard it would be useful to recall some fundamental concepts because even if for us traditionalists things in this field seem to be obvious things could only go better if we said them therefore after Consulting a few dictionaries and encyclopedias the following definitions emerge sect this word has two eological Origins both of which are Latin SE to follow and sakar to cut off from this fact and sticking simply to this double double atmology one could uce that a sect is constituted of a gathering or coming together of people who have separated themselves cut themselves off from a common trunk and or who more or less blindly follow a leader it is well known that throughout their history all of the great religions have given birth to a certain number of sects this generally occurred each time an individual or group of individuals disagreed on a point of the Dogma a moral principle or even with the uses of the religion which they professed in any event a sect is always endowed with religious or pseudo religious nature it is through ignorance or derision that one sometimes calls sects groups which are completely indifferent to any religious preoccupation on the other hand there is reason to distinguish between sects sakar such as the multiple Protestant sects born of successive schisms and those sects sequi hatched of their own initiative such as those which are more precisely the subject of recent attention secret societies they consist of individuals socius who jointly pursue a mission which is hostile to the established order this fact obliges them for obvious reasons of safety to meet and act in a clandestine way sheltered from the inquisitive eyes of the mass and more particularly from public authorities and the forces of law enforcement this appellation of secret society can cover a broad range of activities these range from a network of resistance whose goal is to release the Fatherland from foreign occupation by kicking the enemy out of one's National territory to the subversive movement which aims to destabilize or to re reverse a regime already in place these latter also ferment disorder and perpetrate acts of terrorism and by way of the information Services engage in Espionage and against Espionage which are for obvious reasons organized within secret societies initiatic orders attached to a traditional movement an initiatic order has as its razon de the conduct of its members from the ordinary State of Consciousness to a philosophical state that is to say initiatic orders are concerned with the moral intellectual and spiritual elevation of their members through the knowledge of those great mystical principles which govern life in its apparent multiplicity initiatic orders differ from the religious orders only in the esoteric dimensions of their teachings even though certain religious orders are much closer to the initiatic orders than it may appear at first sight that having been said and acknowledged the entire history of humanity testifies to the fact that membership in a sect in a secret society or in an in in an initiatic order arises from the real needs of human nature the need to withdraw oneself from a world which is often too oppressive the need to belong to an elite or to that which One Believes to be an elite the need to share in secret with a small number of PE one's peers the need to feel protected modern terminology would say secure while taking Refuge ug in a social microcosm a veritable cell in which one feels sheltered from external aggression and in one which may temp one may temporarily abdicate one's responsibilities the need to distinguish oneself from the herd let us now examine the principal criteria upon which these various types of organizations rest in doing so let us for the moment set aside consideration of secret societies and confine ourselves to the examination of those differences which exist between sects and initiatic orders differences which one finds in their modes of recruitment their methods and their objectives modes of recruitment sects have the habit of recruiting their members from among the anxious and the depressive in a word from among those who are not comfortable within themselves that is to say from among all those who rejecting Society Family Social and family obligations are in search of an indefinable ideal of Life due to their lack of reflection sects like the Moonies or Harry Krishna as well as others are Past Masters in art and the manner of trapping these unhappy Drifters these Castaways of existence initiatic orders recruit their Associates from among men and women of desire in other words from among those who also in search of an ideal and who in truth is not wish to participate in the construction of a better world a Freer and more fraternal World these are men and women who at a given moment in their lives have sensed the vanity of the material aspects of Life aspects which are but the support of the universal Spirit which hovers above water unstable individuals desperate individuals do have no place in initiatic orders and are generally not accepted except by error or by laxity and under those conditions they never remain very long methods in sects the teaching is dispensed by Masters who are considered to be infallible gurus in other words it is laced with repeated drafts of false certainty and often founded on the doubtful amalgam of desperate Bor borrowings from the Bible and Hindu texts the whole remaining deliberately superficial physical and moral constraints drug addiction along with complete and prolonged isolation from the external world complete the work of intellectual and psychological conversion of the individual in this respect the leaders of these sects behave in the same way as do the brainwashers in the work camps or reeducation facilities of certain states on the other hand and in initiatic orders the recipient is encouraged to preserve and develop his or her critical sense his or her free will the teaching is not authoritative but Mutual prayer is practiced but it should be well understood that prayer is not a source of alienation but in truth assures intellectual and spiritual freedom because it connects man to God that is to say prayer is the link between man and the generative and dispensing principle of the spirit and flies Beyond Masters Beyond gurus and other followers above dogmas and fixed teachings the purpose of the rituals which are based upon symbolic language are not to condition the participants but to create within them the serenity NE necessary to any constructive exchange while keeping alive the traditional roots of initiation finally it will be noted that the members of initiatic orders retain their social freedom and are not cut off from the world goals sects work toward the goal of creating easy to handle groups which in the short term could be subjected to economic interests and in the longer term to remote control by political Ambitions all of this under the cover of a vague religious ideal centered on the arbitrary rejection of the western values which is only a pretext as for initiatic orders they have as their goal the spiritual elevation of their Associates so that they may better serve humanity and and in addition that they better accomplish in society in their family life as well as in their professional life in their Private Affairs as in their public affairs any goal which they be may be led to set for themselves one will notice in passing that sects and secret societies at all times have applied themselves to mimicking the initiatic orders they invent for themselves rituals words and signs of recognition concoct secrets and make their members take Oaths one sees that they are there only pretenses intended to impact the mind of those who have fallen into their snares the better to retain them moreover one does not easily withdraw from this kind of organization and without quoting the extreme rules of the mafia which wishes that Ren rades be assassinated even the mildly Renegade ones one knows that the moral and physical treatments undergone in so many of these sects and secret societies greatly limit the chances for deserters to resume a normal life on the other hand one can at any time and for any reason whatsoever freely quit an initiatic order without incurring reprisals contrary to what is claimed with dishonesty by certain authors in Bad Company it is neither a lack objectively nor to prove one's mental C capabilities from the bell tower to affirm that there exists at the present time but few veritable initiatic orders and that martinism and Freemasonry certainly appear to be the most traditionalists and most regular among them neither one nor the other is a sect because they are not the result of a Schism one does not find gurus there and furthermore they are not secret societies because they respect the freedom of their members they entertain no political goals the participation in political debate by certain Masonic obediences for example arises only from their civic duties which is very proper for the initiate freedom of conscience and of expression equality of Rights and duties of members the hierarchy of the ranks and the functions being only initiatic true F Fraternity in joy as well as in Affliction such are the criteria of the initiatic orders such orders have no other desire than the spiritual intellectual and moral progress of all Humanity the Gathering of the men and women of Good Will and [Music] desire welcome to from the quaries tonight's presentation is an extract from from the two-fold nature of Freemasonry by Kenneth H hully the copy I have is undated but it appears to be a presentation given to the Brethren of Virginia in the United States sometime in the last couple of Decades of the 20th century this is a very profound and thought-provoking work which asks some challenging and important questions I hope you enjoy it good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from the quaries an archive of masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law among the craft very little is known about the origins of Freemasonry the designed purpose of its exoteric or outer work and even less about the esoteric aspect of its ritualistic work how better to begin than to open the first great light in masonry to page one in the beginning God created the above and the below and the Earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep and God said let there be light and there was light thus is stated two Divine laws one the Hermetic law As Above So Below as within so without and two a coroller of the first law the law of Duality the six days of creation is really a declaration of The evolutionary devolutionary process which governs all of creation including the destiny of the soul of man then follows the story of Adam's creation and his aler from the Garden of Eden symbolically Eden was that temporary state of suspension of inaction before the in breathing of the spirit of God upon his Waters eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil was a programmed necessity it was a predestined event the moment Adam partt took of that Sacrament two things happened one he became subject to two conflicting inner drives the constructive and the destructive and two he became subject to the law of personal responsibility for his choices I.E his actions thus did God launch man upon the long road towards his eventual Destiny it took Eternal salvation as God's co-creator or Eternal Oblivion as the price of refusal to accept this Builder's responsibilities thus from the beginning was created the inner and the outer the above and the below from the beginning man like Prometheus has been bound to that necessity also like Prometheus man's only unbinding from the limits of the lower law will come through his total Obedience of the higher law wherein lies a freedom never promised by Satan and all of his Ruffians he must curb his undue Passion by the horizontal plane of the level he must erect his aspiring goals heavenward by the perfect vertical of the plum line thus the Mason May complete the work of the Entered Apprentice and the fellowcraft by the completion of the right angle the Master Mason degree is a representation of the finished work it is the transformation of the right angle into the right triangle by connecting the ends of the horizontal and the vertical planes with the hypotenuse a representation of infinity it represents the completion of the temple not made with hands and in that completion is found the philosopher stone or the true word of the Master Mason each Entered Apprentice must first build his horizontal level each fellowcraft must direct his vertical pillar of goals and aspirations set his Jacob's Ladder thereupon and climb rung by rung of experience until he arises to that level where he might might find that special path which leads to the building of his hyp this is God's evolutionary law there is no possibility of Escape his only option is Unthinkable to drown in the depths of Eternal Oblivion because of the foregoing we can better understand that subjective disciplines have two aspects remember the law of Duality one is the objective exoteric or outer appearances the other is the hidden esoteric or inner obscure meanings esoteric philosophy obscures the inner truth in part by necessity and in part by deliberate purpose Freemasonry also has an esoteric aspect and its exoteric work the esoteric aspect is embodied by its secret signs tokens and ritual the ritual is really a type of ancient mystery play its plot is the ageold legend of the fall of Man The Legend also Intimates the existence of a path by which man May rearise to Sublime Heights if he will accept the challenge and successfully run the gauntlet this plot and the sacred law is basic to all time tested religions this is the common bond by which Masonic Brethren May kneel about the three great lights in masonry and offer up their supplications to deity in this manner fraternal Harmony is established within the craft in this fashion acceptability of the craft is established in outer Society let me quote from the meaning of masonry by WL wilmshurst an English Mason of high rank who bridged the 19th and 20th centuries but the depth of his insight into the subjective nature of masonry and by his manner of expression we may well suspect that he was also a spiritual Mason as well this book is a must for every Master Mason who is strongly drawn towards the goal of esoteric or spiritual masonry from page five it seems taken for granted that reception into the order will automatically be accompanied by an ability to appreciate forth with and at its full value all that one there finds the contrary is the case for masonry is a veiled and cryptic expression of the difficult science of spiritual life and the understanding of it calls for a special and informed guidance on one hand and on the other a genuine and Earnest interest on the part of those seeking to be instructed not infrequently one finds the brethren continuing their membership because they find that masonry means nothing to them and that no explanation or guidance is vouched safe to them Brethren hearken to those words investiture of the substitute Master Mason's word is a disappointment future Generations can never find out the right within any Masonic body The Originators of Freemasonry never vested that special knowledge within their creation spiritual initiates of authentic Arcane secret societies were the founders of Freemasonry it seems that they labored at least two centuries evolving operative Guild masonry of the Middle Ages into what became Freemasonry as it emerged about the middle of the 17th century these illumined men foresaw the coming of the Renaissance its special opportunity for man and its singular Deeds they built into Freemasonry the basic idealism and moral requirement which they knew to be essential to the success of the work Freemasonry was to perform however they reserved exclusively to themselves the esoteric Arcane process which was and still is required to realize the goal which the true word of the Master Mason signifies in the words of wilmshurst I emphasize that the method was necessarily to be not a haphazard but a scientific one it is interesting to note that in Europe after the appearance of Freemasonry many of the Arcane societies required that their applicants be Masons primitive or speculative however in the United States Masonic membership has never been an admission requirement the esoteric aspect of Freemasonry was designed to operate on two planes the first plane is that of the collective or group function the second plane is that of the inner being of the individual Mason Wilms Hurst emphasizes this in his meaning of masonry know thyself was the injunction inscribed over the portals of ancient temples of initiation for with that knowledge was promised the knowledge of all secrets and all Mysteries and masonry was designed to teach knowledge much deeper vaster and more difficult than is popularly conceived the wisest and most advanced of us is perhaps still but an Entered Apprentice at this knowledge however High his titular rank here and there there may be one worthy of being hailed as a fellowcraft in the true sense the full Master Mason the just man made perfect who has actually traveled the entire path endured all its tests and ordeals and becomes raised into conscious Union with the author and Giver of Life and able to mediate and impart that life to others is at all times hard to find every coin has two sides this is but another vernacular statement of the law of duality it is universal and all pervading the Supreme architect designed man to conquer his external environment and to expand it in an evolutionary fashion by use of his five physical senses and objective mind but he also endowed man with a subconscious capacity to function as a bridge which crosses the Obscure boundary between the outer material world and the in unseen inner spiritual World likewise The Originators of Freemasonry designed our fraternity to perform a double function one to supply and apply the idealistic and ethical motor for securely binding the unfolding social organizations of man on the west side of the foreseen Renaissance and two to serve as the concealed connector to the illuminated spiritual initiates and their Arcane societies this last point is affirmed by wilmshurst nevertheless to point to that path of self- perfecting to those who care and dare to follow it modern speculative masonry was instituted [Music] welcome to from the quaries tonight's lecture the mystery degrees was originally presented by Leslie M Scott 33° who was Sovereign Grand Inspector General in Oregon it was given as an address before the maltoma Council of kadosh at Portland Oregon in August 1946 I hope you enjoy it good evening and welcome to tonight's presentation from the quaries an archive of masonic [Music] [Applause] [Music] law old us for philosophy is the phrase to know is to live we find that thought in the ancient Mysteries running back thousands of years to know said the sages of antiquity is to believe in the unity of God to purify the soul to prepare for the future life and to do our duty to our fellow men so said zarathustra Socrates and the man of Nazareth the author of Jewish and Christian scriptures the authors of masonic Doctrine the thinkers and reformers of every age to know is to live men seek to know so that they may live wiser better and happier seek and ye shall find the Phrase live and learn is a cynical reversal of words better for Spiritual and material progress is first to learn so that one may thereafter live and keep himself unspotted from the world the Ancients practiced a moral science which the Greeks 2,500 years ago called Mysteries the word generically meant to close the eyes and mouth to hide the hidden things inspired the Apostle Paul who was versed in the Mysteries to say for the things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal the science seems to have originated in India and to have spread to Ethiopia Egypt Phoenicia Greece Persia Assyria Rome Britain and Scandinavia it consisted originally of secret religious rights the Egyptians made much of them and attached Legends to their Supreme Gods Osiris the father Horus the son and Isis the spirit these Legends were imitated in the religious and philosophical law of the peoples of antiquity including the Goths and Scandinavians of Northern Europe and The Druids of Britain the early Christians used them in their sacramental rights especially as to the Eucharistic elements of Christ the communion and the exclusion of strangers and persecutors the unity of design of the mysteries of all lands shows their common origin they contained secret knowledge and rights of secret worship at first religious they became political and promotive of cast and then degenerated into shoty they were imitated in public Pageants the Rose Festival of Portland uses some of the imitations as in the obligation of Rosaria likewise the might of New Orleans such pageants were common in linian and orphic Greece but the real Mysteries were exclusive and secretive to their devotes and initiates the obligations and penalties were solemn and harrowing the rights contain not only the moral precepts and doctrines of deity the soul and future life but also knowledge of astronomy the harmonious and regular procession of the stars and and the seasons and the Precision of numbers and Mathematics they taught lessons of Life Death and afterlife they were ferial heroic dramatic as in our mysteries of hyam to the Egyptians hyam was Osiris to the Persians mithis to the Greeks dionisis to the Christians the man of Nazareth hyam is kuram Hebrew meaning Noble born higher type of humanity Exemplar of what man May and should become in the course of Ages gifted with a glorious intellect a noble Soul a fine organization and a perfectly balanced moral being the possibility of the race made real cisero said of the Mysteries for a wild and ferocious life they have substituted Humanity and urbanity of manners it is with good reason they use the term initiation for it is through them that we in reality have learned the first principles of life and they not only teach us to live in a manner more consoling and agreeable but they soften the Pains of death by the hope of a better life Hereafter Plato around 400 BC said that the object was to reestablish the soul in its primitive purity the Roman philosopher 500 years later epicus to uphold the instruction of man and the correction of morals Aristotle said the Mysteries were the most valuable of all religious institutions Socrates that they brought to the dying the most glorious hopes for eternity the Mysteries were practiced in Rome until 400 ad in Athens until 700 AD in Wales and Scotland until 1100 ad they contain conceptions that have deeply affected the religious history of the world in Greece they were given in four stages preliminary purification communication of Mystic knowledge revelation of holy things and crowning of the Mystic as a privileged person the humic poems of 800 BC speak of the Comfort brought to The Afflicted modern Catholics are said to receive similar consolation from the elevation of the host at Mass which is imitative of the Mysteries the early Christians adopted the mass of mithis of the Persian Mysteries and then took their sacraments and their rights of confirmation the priests of mithis used confession and baptism and promised future life of happiness or misery they celebrated the oblation of bread image of resurrection and gave extreme unction Pythagoras in 500 BC had three mystery degrees for which a preparation of 5 years of abstinence and silence was required he was familiar with the mysteries of Egypt he taught mathematics as an Evidence of God and his laws grammar rhetoric and logic to improve the reasoning powers and geometry music and astronomy for useful knowledge he taught also the omnipotence of God the immortality of the Soul truthfulness silence Temperance fortitude Prudence Justice and abstinence from Vice particularly we owe the fellowcraft instructions to Pythagoras Plato elaborated the Pythagoras doctrines 100 years later the Masonic fraternity is the modern repository of the Mysteries as used by US they are Shor of mysticism and Superstition and are retentive of spiritual and moral values and doct of doctrines of divine unity and Harmony and future life of the Soul mankind has made little or no progress in spiritual and moral excellence in thousands of years nor in expression the Golden Rule seems as distant and ideal as when it was pronounced by the founders of Christianity and confusion ISM in 500 [Music] BC masonry does not specify the type of future life nor the Dogma or doctrine that is to be followed Blue Ledge masonry pledges belief in future life but not in Immortal Life life Scottish right masonry holds the soul to be immortal but does not postulate the Soul's mode of existence Hereafter some of our degrees are liken to degrees of the ancient Mysteries that is to say our degrees in their ritual use the ancient teachings and symbolisms and ceremonials other degrees of our series follow the philosophy of the ancient Mysteries we use Hebrew symb symbolisms and discipline the Drew's combination of Hebrew Islamic and Christian and the Christian symbolism for masonry is a faith Universal sharing the beliefs that are common to all great religions of god future life Earthly Duty and personal rectitude the early Christians practiced three degrees based upon the ancient Mysteries some of ours have a similar sequence and present the Ence of Scottish right philosophy ancient astronomers saw symbols in the stars the circle triangle square parallelogram the spring constellation of Taurus the Bull ushered in the Blazing star of Sirius the three kinds of Orion the five hiades and the Seven pleades signifying the Mystic numbers 1 3 5 and 7 the Nile began to rise as our Columbia River does in the springtime Osiris returned with Taurus at the vernal equinox to regenerate the world after being slain by python 6 months before in the constellation Scorpio which is opposite Taurus in the sky Masonic Lodgers have many astronomical symbols from the ancient Mysteries churches have them also the cross is astronomical pointing four directions to the universe the Bible makes many references to the Stars the Mysteries have permeated the great religions and still live in them the birth of Christ was heralded by a star in the east have we moderns found a better way of explaining the Soul's origin and its Advent to and departure from the body than the Ancients had are the plain virtues better known now than then one of our degrees may be likened to the master's degree and to the third degree of the early Christians to their degree of the faithful in which their sacramental secrets were confined our degree uses Christian symbolism and Christian forms of discipline and leads to the explanation of the word in the final Masonic Trinity God the source of all his thought conceiving the universe his word uttering the thought and becoming the Creator the manifestation the revelation of the word is the universe material mental spiritual the triple Dogma has long been known in the sanctuaries of the sages and masonry has other expressions of Trinity such as wisdom strength and beauty faith hope and charity Liberty equality fraternity also many references to other Triads the search for the word has engaged the great minds of the ages it is a search for the logos the nature and purpose of the divine plan for spiritual life and Light by which to guide the pathways of Truth philosophers have variously struggled to define the word to a Mason the word is a synonym of the true nature of god of wisdom intellect of the soul of the universe it is the unuttered expression of being and life that are in the absolute the search is an allegory of attempts to find the word in the allegory are represented the general ignorance of the nature and attributes of true deity the worship of other deities the faulty ideas of the great architect we say the word once found was lost this is part of the allegory the writer of St John's gospel says in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God men have contrived one substitute definition after another and in this atomic age they are finding new substitutes for their Concepts we say masonry is a science of seeking and finding and such is the climax of the mystery degrees of the Scottish right paralleling the craft degrees and the Christian degrees and signifying three steps or stages one material blindness repentance light two intellectual sympathy Justice gratitude veneration geometry rule of Harmony and three spiritual rebirth death Resurrection Faith the new law love ye one another masonry holds that Justice and manificent are Divine attributes shared by imperfect man evil pain and sorrow are parts of the Divine Harmony to be balanced according to the divine plan and not by human Creed or doctrine this is the Masonic Creed expressed in these degrees belief in God's infinite benevolence wisdom and Justice hope for the final Triumph of good over evil and for Perfect Harmony as the final result of all the Concords and discords of the universe and be charitable as God is towards the unfaith the errors the Foles the and the faults of men for all make one great Brotherhood and by the Revealing Light of initiation learn know and live for more Masonic podcasts videos music texts and artwork visit fromthe quaries tocom or subscribe to our YouTube Twitter and Facebook accounts by searching from the [Music] stories for a deep dive into the history philosophy and traditions of Freemasonry subscribe to from the quaries you will find hundreds of lectures presentations shorts and other Masonic Works written by Freemasons for for Freemasons visit fromthe quaries tocom or YouTube at fromthe quaries

Channel: From the Quarries

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Length: 76min 33sec (4593 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 12 2024