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Intuitiva #307
Thank you for joining Wars of the Roses as we continue with part eight the origin and history of free masonry from ancient Mysteries and modern masonry by Charles H Vil lecture 8 the origin and history of Freemasonry the majority of the uninitiated believe that every connected
With masonry is to be kept a secret this is an error for there are many books written on masonry which are open to the perusal of all whether they be members of or strangers to the order I shall divulge no pledged secrets the eminent Masonic Scholars mess sson and huan in
Introducing the history of Freemasonry and concordant orders plainly state that neither is the work necessarily for Freemasons alone for not a few of the chapters furnish excellent and suggestive reading for those who would like to know somewhat of the Brotherhood either prior to joining its ranks or because of this eligible opportunity to
Peruse a reliable account of so venerable and preeminently respectable an organization except for some portions of the ceremony the signs and passwords which relate to the modes of recognition there is nothing Secret in masonry there has been so much misunderstanding on this subject that perhaps it might be
Well to corroborate this statement the same standard Authority just cited says at the outset therefore it is well to point out that the Masonic fraternity is not strictly speaking a secret society for it has neither secret aims nor constitutions everywhere its laws may be perused by friend and foe alike and its
Objects are exclusively those which are and always have been published to the world it is private rather than secret for unless it be our esoteric Customs which relate directly or indirectly to our Universal and special modes of recognition we Have No Secrets many absurd Notions regarding masonry have gained Credence
In the past even among Masons themselves we are pleased to see that modern Masonic writers are endeavoring to write these misconceptions formerly it was regarded as treason to speak to the profane the truth regarding the history of the order that certain exaggerated statements were made in the days when little was known
Of the history of the institution gives no reason for a continuance of these errors there is no reason today for the pretensions that Freemasonry originated in the days of King Solomon or with the Jewish Patriarchs or that the fundamental doctrines of masonry the unity of God and the immortality of the
Soul were the exclusive possession of any one people or religion such claims were made before the science of comparative religions was so well known for modern investigation of the world religions show us that these beliefs were worldwide and held by all the great nations of antiquity before the the
Jewish nation was born or Abraham had left the Valley of the Euphrates neither is the old Masonic tradition tenable that all the knowledge of the ancient Mysteries and the present interior form of Freemasonry was derived from the Tyrion workmen at the building of King Solomon’s Temple there is no evidence
That the Jews possessed this interior form or that masonry itself included it before 1717 when it was introduced into the order by those who had a knowledge of the ancient Mysteries Masonry then is not a lineal descendant of the Mysteries but is molded upon them the reconstructionists built upon the ancient myths using
Symbols known from the earliest days and wo these symbols and myths derived from the Mysteries into the symbolism of Solomon’s Temple the traveling Freemasons of the Middle Ages may or may not have been descendants of the dionan artifices of this we have no evidence nor do we know the exact date of the
Beginning of the Masonic movement but are assured it can lay claim to no no great Antiquity the actual history of The Craft extending no further back than some six centuries and then this early organization prior to the Reconstruction period of 1717 was something quite different from its present form modern
Masonry being an entirely new departure the application of the term Freemasonry to the ancient Mysteries whether Jewish or Pagan is then misleading and the designation of the former as pure and the latter as spurious is absurd and without any basis in fact both systems were derived from the same
Source and both are true however the Pagan anti the Jewish by many thousands of years it is curious what people will do and to what extremes they will go in support of a theological Creed although the origin of the Masonic movement is modern we hold that it had
Its source in true mysticism and is one of the channels of the Mystic teaching in corroboration of this let us note some of the connecting links between the esoteric schools of the early Christian centuries and the later Masonic movement the words of the well-known Masonic Authority e McBean are of interest in
This connection he says I may suggest that some portion at least of our symbolism may have come through a Templar Source romanist yet deeply tinged with gnosticism while at a later date the lards supposed to be inheritors of manism and who were but one of the many relop political societies with
Which Europe was honeycombed possibly introduced or revived some of these teachings one thing is certain that satisfactory renderings of our symbols can only be obtained by a study of Eastern mysticism cabalistic hermetic Pythagorean and Gnostic down the centuries we find enrolled the names of philosophic teachers who veiled their doctrines in
Figures similar to those in Vogue among the rosac crucians and still more recent students and often identical with the signs we blazen on the wall walls of our lodges and chapters hidden sources of masonry Cooper Oakley Pages 3435 one tradition traces masonry to manism or the sons of the Widow John
Yaker in speaking of this order says about the year 200 ad the most noteworthy Gnostic sect was a Persian branch of the manes it was divided into three classes Auditors elect and perfect and the sect was ruled by 12 Apostles with a 13th as president the right had a theosophical gospel
Which taught that the basis of all religion was one in 657 they had changed their names to policians and later cathari yukes bogam miles and in still more recent times still lards they were a secret speculative Society with degrees distinguished by signs tokens and words like Freemasonry the KF Volume 5 number
Four this order was founded by Mani as a statement of the old truths of the Mysteries and contain the true nosis he combined the teachings of zoroaster with those of Jesus both being aspects of the same wisdom but the mystery teaching had come to be regarded as heretical by the established
Orthodoxy of both religions consequently he was put to death by the Persians and his disciples likewise slain by the Christians the manans from the 4th century were bitterly persecuted by the Roman Church the society however spread rapidly in spite of all opposition says regel deso a well-known Italian Mason in
The lifetime of Manis Mani his pupil Herman had spread his teaching in Egypt where the Coptic priests and other Christians mingled it with the Mysteries adopted from the Jews it was through these same Coptic priests and the Eastern Christians that both the mysteries of the children of the Widow
And the cult of the great architect came to us in consequence of apparently unforeseen events and it will be seen that it was principally by means of the Crusades that they obtained a secure footing in the west the Mysteries maintained their existence under the name of the cult of the great architect
Of the universe a name that has its origin in the allegory of hyam which represented in the Mysteries the unknown God the Eternal the long time that elapsed during the war of the Crusades gave them the opportunity of being admitted into all the Mysteries of the children of the
Widow the Crusaders who had been admitted to the mysteries of the children of the Widow and initiated therein imparted them on their return home to their pupils in Europe quoted in Hidden sources of masonry page 37 the secret teaching is supposed to have passed from the Templars to the
Freemasons eka traces the connection of the manans with the Johannes Bruder of the West and links them also to the German building corporations and societies the manans were known at different ages under different names after the death of the founder there was a fusion of the order with some of the
Leading Christian Gnostic sects thus was further intermingled the two Rich streams of divine wisdom one coming from Egypt through Palestine the other from India through Persia the name of the external form which preserved the secret science Through the Ages was ever changing so we are not Sur surprised to
Find one tradition tracing Freemasonry to the Gnostic Brotherhood of St John and it might equally as well be ascribed to the alenes johannite Christians troubadors and a host of others for all were possessors of the same Mystic tradition and transmitted their knowledge from age to age when persecuted under one name they veiled
Their Mysteries under another the cologne record which is dated 1535 Bears witness that a secret society existed before 144 40 under the name of the Brotherhood of St John and since then and up to 1535 under the title of St John’s order of free masonry or Masonic Brotherhood This Record contains the
Following passage the Brotherhood or the order of Freemason Brothers bound together according to St John’s holy rules traces its origin neither from the Templars nor from any other spiritual or temporal nightly order but it is older than all similar orders and has existed in Palestine and Greece as well as in
Various parts of the Roman Empire before the Crusades our Brotherhood arose at a time when in consequence of The Strife between the sects teaching Christian morals a small number of the initiated entrusted with the true teaching of virtue and the sensible exposition of the secret teaching separated themselves from the
Mass of course the authenticity of this record is rejected by materialistic Masons but is usually accepted as genuine by all Mystic Masons Mr McKenzie point points out that the record is referred to in the register of The Lodge at haue as there in existence so if it
Is a fraud it is one of at least two centuries standing the Mystic teaching of the Brotherhood of St John must have been the same as that of the other Mystic orders and the value of this record is in the testimony it Bears to the known existence of this secret teaching
Whether masonry received it from the Templars or from some older organization is not important some contend that until the Revival in 1717 the mysteries of the craft were merely The Peculiar methods or rules employed in their special art this may be partly true of the body as a whole
But that an inner occult teaching existed is quite evident General Pike says that among Freemasons of a certain class and limited in Number the same symbolism or a large part of the same as afterwards placed in the degrees did exist long before perhaps some centuries before 1717 if they possessed the symbols they
Must have had a knowledge in part at least of their meaning again General Pike says the art of building then stood above all other arts and made all others subservient to it it commanded the services of the most brilliant intellects and of the greatest artists the old symbolism was embodied
In the churches and Cathedrals and some of these were adorned with figures and devices which would never have been tolerated there if the priesthood had known what they meant to the adepts this proves their possession of occult knowledge Mr findle sums up the opinions of the leading Freemasons of
Germany as follows the Grand Lodge of Germany further assumes that in the building fraternities of the Middle Ages besides their art a secret science was carried on the substratum of which was a real Christian mystery serving as a preparatory or Elementary School and stepping stone to that and the St John’s
Masonry which latter was not a mere system of moral philosophy but closely Allied and connected with this mystery it was conceded that the Freemasonry of our days St John’s Freemasonry sprang from the building fraternities of the Middle Ages but at the same time asserted that in the early ages there
Existed a secret society which strove to Compass the perfecting of the human race precisely in the same manner and employing similar means as did the Swedish system which in fact only followed in the wake of its predecessor being concealed in the building fraternities so that our society did not
Arise from them but made itself a way through them the secret science the mystery was very ancient indeed this mystery formed the secret of the higher degrees of the right which were not merely kept hidden from the rest of the Confederation but also from the members of the inferior degrees of the system
Itself this mystery was fully confirmed by documents which the Grand Lodge of Germany had in its keeping this secret Legend is the same as that of the carpac crans which is that Jesus chose some of the Apostles and confided to them a secret science which was transmitted afterwards to the
Priests of the order of the nights Templars and through them to the building fraternities down to the present Freemasons of the Swedish right the Swedish system teaches that there have been men of all Nations who have worshiped God in spirit and in truth and surround Ed by idolatry and Superstition
Have yet preserved their purer faith separate from the world and unknown to it this wisdom has been preserved by them and handed down as a mystery in the time of the Jews they made use of the ases in which SE Jesus was brought up and spent the greater part of his life
Having been instructed by him in a more perfect knowledge of holy things they had amid persecution taught in silence that which was committed to their keeping at the period of the Sarah in the Crusades they were so greatly oppressed that they must ultimately have sought for protection from without as
Fate however would have its seven of them Syriac Christians pursued by unbelievers near bastam were rescued by the Knights Templars and afterwards taken under their protection when they had lived there for a certain time They begged for permission to dwell with the Cannons or praries of Jerusalem as the life they
LED agreed better with their own inclinations and habits this was accorded them and Andreas Monte berenis affected a union of these syrians with the Cannons to whom out of gratitude they imparted all their science and so completely did they make the priests of the order the depositories of their
Secrets that they kept and handed them over to others under certain conditions thus this secret knowledge lived on in the very heart of the order of Knights Templars till its abolition the clergy were dispersed with the persecution that ensued but as the secular arm did not
Touch them as it did the knights they managed to rescue many of their secret writings and when the knights sought refuge in Scotland they founded a chapter at abedine the first prior of which was Petrus de bononia the science was disseminated from this place but very cautiously
First to Italy then to the extreme North Sweden and Russia and France history of Freemasonry findle Pages 299 through 310 to be sure Mr findle quotes this history in a rather skeptical way but the claim of a secret teaching is too well attested to be seriously questioned the Middle Ages were honeycombed with
Mystic societies each an instrument used in keeping alive and handing along the Mystic teaching under various disguises if masonry had no part in this work it was truly an exception to the many societies that existed from the fourth to the e 18th centuries the early history of Freemasonry is very meager owing perhaps
To the nature of the organization the earliest records of actual Lodge meetings were in 1599 but there are copies of old charges and laws dating from The 14th Century it doesn’t appear from the oldest manuscript that they used signs tokens and words such as later on were employed to secure
Recognition however such may have been the case there were certain Secrets which pertained to the art of building which the members of The Lodge were bound to keep and it was these Trade Secrets which gave to the order its Monopoly but in the course of time the strict
Regulation of the guilds relaxed and their gradually grew up another body of operatives which succeeded in breaking down the Monopoly thus opening the way for the purely speculative Society the term Freemason which originally meant a worker in free Stone came later later on to be applied to all
Craftsmen who had obtained their freedom as Masons to work in lodges with the fraternity after due apprenticeship and passing as fellow crafts as early even as the oldest charges persons not operative Masons were admitted to the order and were designated by the term accepted to distinguish them from the
Working Masons for many of this class were attracted to masonry by the moral principles and perhaps the Mystic knowledge of the fraternity some of these were men of learning and it was this class undoubtedly that had much to do with the Reconstruction of the order the introduction of this speculative
Membership that is those who did not follow the trade as a means of livelihood proved a most fortunate thing for the preservation of the order at a time when the old charges had practically ceased to be influential had this not been done it is doubtful if the institution of Freemasonry would have
Been in existence today speculative masonry existed as far back as the oldest charges but the proportion which the speculative element bore to the operative is not known from the few records we have of the 17th century it would seem that at that time the great majority were speculative Freemasons
Although some bodies were chiefly operative we learn from the old records that apprentices served seven years and that being passed to fellow crafts depended upon the result of an examination as to their operative skill and likewise the passing of fellow craft to Master Masons of course this did not
Apply to the honorary members apprentices were members and exercised all the Privileges as such just the same as fellow crafts and Masters for at that time the separate Masonic degrees had not come into existence three grades or classes were recognized but this did not signify esoteric stages and we find no
Intimations of two or more degrees being worked before the Revival of 1717 by the latter part of the 17th centur masonry in England had begun to retrograde the society became so commercial that it applied merely to selfish gain causing some who were more deeply interested in the order to
Realize that something must be done to prevent total extinction of the fraternity the two moving Spirits were Dr Anderson and Dr desagulier and at their hands the order saw a complete change in 1717 during that year four lodges met in London on June 24th and formed the
Premier Grand Lodge of the world this however did not include the Masonic body at York the York Masons remained independent and formed in 1725 a Grand Lodge of their own called the Grand Lodge of all England this body continued until 1790 but it never chartered lodges outside of England Dr Anderson and Dr
Des aulier together with other old members chosen for their ability were designated by the order to formulate a new and better method of the history charges regulations Etc as the result of their work we have the free and accepted masonry founded on the apocryphal Legend of hyam and the symbolism of Solomon’s
Temple in the formation of degrees many of the customs of the ancient Mysteries were adopted the third or master’s degree based upon the hyam legend came into use about 1723 in fact the whole degree system was the work of the reconstructionists says Dr Macky it is now the opinion of the best Scholars
That the division of the Masonic system into degrees was the work of the revivalists of the beginning of the 18th century that before that period there was but one degree or rather one common platform of ritualism and that was the division into Masters fellows and apprentices was simply a division of
Ranks there being but one initiation for all art degrees Mack’s encyclopedia wh huan says I have carefully perused All the known Masonic manuscript script from The 14th Century down to ad. 1717 of which I have either seen The Originals or have certified copies and have not been able to find any reference
To three degrees quoted in four old lodges page 40 Mr Gould another well-known Masonic writer says that there is no evidence to indicate the existence of the second degree as now practiced until after the year 1717 nor the third degree until the year 1735 quoted by CF Francis in mpgm
Address Philadelphia 1888 from G’s concise history wjb McLoud Moore Supreme Grandmaster ad vitm of The Sovereign great prior of Canada also says historical investigation clearly demonstrates that in 1717 the present system of degrees was entirely unknown originally there was but one degree of initiation containing all the elements
Of the degrees now practiced the names of Entered Apprentice fellowcraft and Master Mason being merely the designation of the classes of workmen not of degrees or steps the actual Society or fraternity being composed of fellows for in the oldest records constitutions and charges there is not the slightest illusion to these separate
Degrees nor any to the legend of hyam abif the four old lodges remaining in London in 1717 were composed entirely of fellows history of Freemasonry and concordant orders page 753 the symbolism and legends adopted by the revisionists and worked into the degrees are chiefly those of the ancient Mysteries the immediate source from
Which this material was derived is not definitely known many have thought that the reconstructionists derived it from the rosic crucians and Bacon’s new Atlantis Mr huan says that wixon’s books on bacon Shakespeare and the rosac crucians and Francis Bacon poet prophet and philosopher contain rosac crucian and bonic ideas which influenced the
Masonic reconstructionists of 1717 he again says that the new Atlantis seems to be and probably is the key to the modern ritual of Freemasonry page 31 masonry is Thoroughly hermetic and cabalistic and the framers of these degrees were evidently cabalistic and hermetic philosophers and well acquainted with all these works and
Other Mystic writings Mr Singleton 33rd degree most worshipful Grand Lodge District of Columbia says the cabalists were the inventors of the rituals of the original degrees and cabalistic Scholars in France and Germany have multiplied the degrees by elaborating upon the legends of the first three there was originally in speculative masonry but
One ritual which was very simple out of that one trunk have grown all the branches and the fruit from these Bears the resemblance of hermeticism and the cabala the third degree the Royal Arch and the the select of 27 are all designed to imitate the ancient Mysteries page 105 Mr Moore already
Quoted says some of these rights would appear to be derived from the hermetic philosophy of the German School of which no proof exists but when philosophers with others joined the craft lodges in the 17th century they may have introduced some of their hermetic rosac crucian symbols into masonry page
759 enal Pike the eminent American Masonic Authority says that two the men of intelligence who belonged to one of the lodges in 1717 is to be ascribed the authorship of the third degree and the introduction of hermetic and other symbols into masonry they formed the three degrees for the
Purpose of communicating their doctrines veiled by their symbols except to those fitted to receive them and to give to all others trite moral explanations of them which they they could receive the plan was worked out by these reconstructionists and forly approved and accepted in 1723 becoming known as the new
Constitution and is the Freemasonry of today Anderson’s constitutions 1723 in 1730 a work called masonry dissected appeared this purported to be a revelation of free and accepted masonry as the result of this many spurious lodges were formed the Grand Lodge endeavored to thwart this by introducing certain changes in the passwords
Etc these alterations caused much dissatisfaction and many withdrew from the regular lodges and formed Lodges of their own these secedes finally formed an independent body in 1751 and assumed the name ancient York Masons they claimed to have preserved the old forms thus the name ancient and they called the regular Grand Lodge the
Moderns both Grand lodges were prosperous and extended their influence even into America America thus producing dissension not only at home but abroad The Strife between these two grand lodges continued until 1813 when a union was affected under the title of the United Grand Lodge a union was also
Affected in America thus ending the Schism and to constitute a regular mode of work a union degree was adopted the Grand Lodge of Ireland was formed in 1728 and the Grand Lodge of Scotland in 1736 there is no uniformity in the degree system in the different countries
To the three symbolic degre others have been added from time to time but there has been no uniformity in their acceptance the Royal Arch appeared about 1740 but by whom it was founded is not known though it is clearly of English origin there is no record of its being worked in chapters until
1762 when a chapter of the Royal Arch was formed at York it became the fourth degree in the ancient Grand Lodge system the moderns did not recognize this degree or adopt it officially until 1767 upon the union it became a part of the English right the mark degree also
Originated about this time it was formly conferred in England under Royal Arch warrants but later was governed by an independent Grand Lodge of its own the past master degree is undoubtedly one of evolution it was originally worked in craft masonry being conferred on the newly elected Master when about to be
Installed this degree was finally adopted as a separate degree by the Royal Arch system and transferred from the lodge to the chapter although its origin is obscure it was conferred during the latter part of the 18th century the most excellent degree is also obscure in origin but we find it
Also conferred in the latter part of the 18th century in many instances the higher degrees were worked under Lodge warrants by those interested without interference from the Grand Lodge the Brethren concerned came together and conferred the higher degrees they were at first purely side degrees but but after a time they became organized
Independently Royal Arch Masonry separated from Blue Lodge masonry organized itself and adopted or invented the four degrees just considered and began an independent existence in the same way the Royal and select Masters separated themselves from The Lodge of perfection and formed councils and finally organized Grand councils and became also independent as
Already stated there is no uniformity in the different countries concerning these higher degrees the system in England is unknown in France and Germany the American system known as the York right consists of The Craft degrees or blue Lodge the Royal Arch chapter the council and the Knights
Templars and is peculiar to this country it was formulated by Thomas Smith Webb who with his associates constructed out of the conglomeration of the work of the Ancients and moderns that had previously been established in this country a new work which cross and others afterwards embellished Webb tried to show that he
Had adopted the true work of the ancient York Masons but it is well known that the claim is without foundation in concluding this chapter we will give in order the various degrees that constitute the standard Masonic work in this country they are the symbolic degrees of the blue Lodge Entered
Apprentice fellowcraft and Master Mason the capitular degrees of the Royal Arch chapter Mark Master past master most excellent master in the Royal Arch the cryptic degrees of the council royal master select master and super excellent Master the sholic degrees of the commandry of Knights Templars Knight of
The Red Cross Knight Templar and Knight of Malta and the philosophic degrees of the Scottish right system divided into a lodge of perfection a council princes of Jerusalem a chapter of Rose croa a council of kadosh a consist and the Supreme Council the history of the Knights Templars will be considered in
Our next lecture together with that of the ancient and accepted Scottish right thank you for watching and please don’t forget to share like subscribe and comment and if you can please consider donating to Wars of the Roses links to PayPal and patreon are in the description thank you so very much
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