The Mysticism of Masonry Introductory in Placing This Volume, Which Is The

The Mysticism of Masonry Introductory In placing this volume, which is the revised edition of the book first issued under the title, Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry, I do so without the thought of an apology, owing to the fact that the first edition was received by the earnest students of Masonry and the Occult not because it was an expose, but because it was an interpretation of Masonic symbolism as handed down to us through the ages from the Mysteries of the Ancients. As a Masonic work, the book must stand unchallenged for the reason that the basis of its symbolism is from the highest and universally accepted Masonic writers. The interpretation is also Masonic, with an additional Mystic interpretation appearing within brackets. For this I am personally responsible, though these explanations are based on and entirely harmonious with the inculcations of the Ancient Mysteries as received by myself through my various journeys in the realm of the mystic. It is therefore entirely lawful for me to offer them to the aspiring neophyte. There are indeed many reasons why the present volume should be generously circulated among all classes of students of the Occult and Mystic, especially the members of the Masonic bodies. Entirely too little is known to the vast majority of these brethren of the modern organizations known as Masonic. They have been given the letter, which, though beautiful in itself, does not contain the life, and because of this lack, they cannot successfully defend the expression frequently heard, that Masonry is a religion. Initiation is not what it is generally supposed to be. All Masons are familiar with the ceremonial form of Initiation but in reality this is no more than an outward symbolization of an inner, an esoteric work, which should take place within each man seeking the Mysteries. A man may have received the degrees of the Blue Lodge and may be an honor to that lodge and yet be wholly unfamiliar with the method of procedure which would bring into manifestation the results of the personification of the life as symbolized in these three degrees. It is this outcome of which, not only Masons but the entire human race are now so very much in need. Thousands of good men and true accept the letter of Masonry for the spirit or as including the spirit. Here is where begins the first great error. Nothing new can come to Masonry but there is a world of truth in Masonic symbolism of which the vast majority of the membership of the honored body has not even heard, to say nothing of having a comprehension of the saving truth therein contained. It is for the purpose of helping these and pointing them the way, that the present work in its new form of interpretation is presented to them, as well as to the public, it being the author's contention that this plan cannot possibly harm Masonry but, contrariwise, will help to glorify the institution by showing that it is kept alive and moving forward by a spirit which makes for the welfare not alone of the members of the association, but of mankind generally and universally. Masons who know and Initiates of the true Occult Brotherhoods who have had life and strength enspirited within by the knowledge of basic truths harmonious with universal (God's) irrevocable Law, uncontradictably maintain that: INITIATION AND REGENERATION ARE SYNONYMOUS TERMS "The ritual of Freemasonry [Masonic symbolization] is based on this natural law, and the ceremony of initiation illustrates, at every step, this principle, and if the result attained is a possession [of words and symbols] rather than a regeneration [of the candidate], in the great majority of cases, the principle remains none the less true. The mere inculcation of moral principles, or lessons in ethic, and their symbolic illustration and dramatic representation, are by no means in vain. These appeal to the conscience and moral sense in every man and no man has ever been made worse by the lessons of the lodge. By these rites and benefits, the Freemason is, above all men, in our so- called modern civilization, the nearest to the Ancient Wisdom. He has possession of the territory in which lie concealed the Crown Jewels of Wisdom. He may dig deeper and find not only the Keystone of the Arch, the Ark of the Covenant, the Scroll of the Law but, using the spirit concealed in the wings of the Cherubim, he may rise untrammeled by the rubbish of the temple and, meeting Elohim [Jehovah Adonai - the Father of Light], learn also to say "I am that I am!" Does this read like a rhapsody, and are the landmarks, traditions and glyphs of Freemasonry, nothing more? "The Universal Science and the Sublime Philosophy, once taught in the Greater Mysteries of Egypt, Chaldea, Persia and India [ and now in the Priesthood of ÆEth] and among the many other nations of antiquity, is a dead letter in modern Freemasonry. The intelligent Mason, however, should be the last person in the world to deny that such a Wisdom once existed, for the simple reason that the whole superstructure of Masonry is built upon the traditions of its existence, and its ritual serves as its living monument. Proficiency in the preceding degree is everywhere made a reason for advancement in Masonry. This proficiency is made to consist in the ability of the candidate to repeat word for word, certain rituals and obligations already passed, the meaning and explanations of which constitute the lectures in the various degrees. The usage at this point, in the United States at least, serves to secure the rights and benefits of the Lodge [the lodge is symbolic of the heavens as well as the universe] to those entitled to them, and to withhold them from others, rather than to advance the candidate in real knowledge [i.e., the bringing into existence, manifestation and personification the potencies and forces innate within this universe which would become heaven]. -Dr. Buck, Mystic Masonry. Centuries ago, a real Mysticism existed within the Symbolic Masonry and this is the legend:(*) ----------------------------------------------------------- (*) All the Degrees of Ancient Mystic Masonry are in possession of the Fraternity, Sons of Osiris. ----------------------------------------------------------- It came to pass when the Great Temple was completed that Solomon hesitated to dedicate it for two reasons: First, on account of the death of Hiram Abiff. Second, due to the fact that with the death of the Widow's Son, the Master's Word and the secret manner of using it had been lost. Therefore, Solomon in his extremity called a Secret Council at low-twelve in the secret crypt under the Sanctum Sanctorum. This Secret Council consisted of Solomon, King of Israel; Hiram, King of Tyre; Zadok, the High Priest and Benaiah, Captain of the Guards. After Solomon had deplored the loss of Hiram Abiff and, with him, the Master's Word and the secret manner of using it, Hiram, King of Tyre, arose and reminded King Solomon that Nathan, the Prophet, was still alive and might be able to render some assistance in the present calamity. Solomon, therefore, ordered Benaiah, Captain of the Guards, to search out and bring before him Nathan, the Prophet. Benaiah, having ascertained that Nathan the Prophet was at the house of Abiathar, a former High Priest under King David, repaired to the palace only to find that Nathan had died of old age but a very short time previous to his arrival. He therefore set about to return and discovering a stranger wandering near the Secret Crypt, he thereupon took him into his custody and brought him before the Secret Council. The stranger proved to be Abdemon, a very wise man and a subject of Hiram, King of Tyre. Upon examination it was found that he had been initiated as an Entered Apprentice, passed to the Degree of Fellow Craft, raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason by Seisan, a Scribe, who had journeyed into the country of the Tyrians, so that the secrets of Masonry preceded Hiram, King of Tyre, into his own dominions. Abdemon, being a Master Mason, and recognized by King Hiram as a very learned and crafty man, was at length admitted to the Secret Council after giving into the hands of King Solomon a manuscript that had been given to him in a wonderful and mysterious manner by an Egyptian during the time he was held in confinement by the Secret Council. Solomon was so pleased with the manuscript that he then and there admitted Abdemon as a member of the Secret Council which was then sitting. Abdemon, in his turn, felt himself so highly honored that he begged leave and received permission to journey into the land of Egypt that he might be initiated into the secrets of the Initiates of the Great Pyramid and, in turn, promised to journey back into the land of the Israelites and disclose to the Secret Council what he had learned. Abdemon was successful in his efforts and the following degrees were instituted to preserve the knowledge he had gained in the land of Egypt and his journey and initiation in the Great Stone Pyramid: The King's Pioneer; Degree of Master of the Secret Cavern. After resting for three days at the well of Beersheba, Ameni, the Singer, the Horoscopus and Abdemon, under the escort of the King's Pioneer, journeyed by easy stages to Mount Serbal, where the parties took refuge in a natural cave and there Abdemon received his final instructions before his initiation into the Degrees of the Pyramid.

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