Light Of Ages.

LIGHT OF AGES .

ANCIENT SCIENCE AND SYSTEMIC RELIGIONS . FfvOM THE VOICE OF MASONRT . PART I . —EVOLUTION OF MASONRY . TO the outside world Masonry has doubtless appeared merely a system of unseemly rites and mysterious ceremonies , being to the thoughtful a vain show , to the indifferent absurdity , " to the Greeks foolishness . " To the initiated , however , each rite has its

foundation deep in human experience , and every ceremony is full of significance . Whence come these rites and ceremonies is a question that can be answered only by going back to the earliest experiences of the race ; and solved , if solved at all , as like questions in regard to religions and other institutions of serious nature are to be solved , by studying

their origin and progress . As first in order of time , let us seek the source of the religious rites and ceremonies that have possessed men ' s hearts and lives throngh long ages , and see how these came to have snch a sway over human actions ; and then , how in the main they correspond with , and compliment the institution which forms more especially

the subject of this study—Masonry . All the rites and ceremonies above referred to have arisen from the idea that the world , nature , and man , mnst have had a beginning , and some agency to pnt them in progressive motion . To the rational observer God is in nature as mind is in man . In the early ages of humanity the attention of thinking men was

very strongly attracted to the study of the most striking appearances of the material universe ; and among these were the positions of the heavenly bodies at different times of the twenty . four hours , and at various periods of the twelve-month . The succeeding seasons of the year spread wonders before such observers . In pre-historio and legendary days these operations of nature were represented by

symbolic forms whose significance was understood by the enlightened only . In the minds of the unlearned , who had not " yet been raised to perceive the light , " such forms became endowed with individual , distinct life , and to them were ascribed physical and emotional qualities of man's nature . The symbols of the wise became the idols of the ignorant . The masses worshipped forces of nature , the various

manifestations of which were thus made actual personalities . Those persons who controlled the minds of the people naturally became their acknowledged rulers . This group of thinkers being , by force of circumstances whioh they had utilised , a sort of superior class , formed themselves into a kind of society , with ideas widely differing from those of the multitude . Ceremonies were adopted by

which they could perpetuate the existence of the truth , and keep it safe from the corruption of ignorance . At times , such societies became places of refuge for truth-seekers , because too plain speech in presence of superstitious people is not without danger , to incur which would be useless . From such associations of superior minds some forms of government have grown . At first , credulous man was

controlled by superstitious beliefs and practices , and often so for his own good . Later , these associations became means of possible op . pression , inasmuch as they were secret , existed among , and derived their power from , an enlightened populace . The government of Ancient Egypt , where knights and priests were members of one organisation , is an illustration .

The wise men of Ancient Egypt represented the astronomical circumstances which caused the succession of day and night by a four-cornered figure , with an image of the sun at each angle . One of these corners indicated East ; one , West ; one , South ( midday ) ; one , North ( midnight , the " placeof darkness" ) . They signified morning , evening , highest noon , deepest night ; that is , light , at its birth , in

its full glory , at its disappearance , and the " total absence of light . " The sun , in this figure , occupied successively these four points . The imaginative mind of the eastern sage pictured the sun on this journey , in the growing morning , as a beautiful young man ; at noon as a mature , full-bearded man ; at evening as an old man , with " shaggy hair and leathern raiment . " As darkness was opposed to light , so a

spirit of the midnight region was supposed to antagonize the god of light , the midday sun . This sun-god , just after being exalted to the meridian in the South , began to go down ; at the West he was further hurt , but the third was the " fatal blow , " and the prince of darkness , the midnight North , overcame him . This going down of the sun toward the point of midnight darkness was called the death of the now personified day star ; but as ho hacl before been seen to rise , so

now , on his going down , all living nature was content , trusting in the promise of the joy to come . He who was to be the sun of the new day , the " Prince of Peace , " and " King of Glory" to the world , was guided by the " Great Architect of the Universe " through the valley and shadow of death , to the resurrection morn , and was raised again , " by might and by power , " to royal splendour , and to a new course of beneficence . The hope of the snn worshippers had full fruition .

The same allegory was used to represent the apparent progress of the sun in the heavens , as the circling year brought the various seasons . The four angles , or corners of the square , represented the equinoxes and tho solstices . As tbo sun appeared in each si < - * n of the zodiac he was regarded as assuming the form of the being by which that sign was pictured on the celestial chart . Thus in the

sign of Taurus , he was worshipped by the unenlightened as a bull . The ancient sign of the zodiac in which the summer solstice took place was Leo ( or lion ) , and when the sun reached the highest point he was exalted gloriously to complete life and supreme power . These ideas were also shown by a cross with an image of the sun .

represented as a human form of various ages , placed at the four extremities . The cross , thus at first used to teach astronomical , physical truth , was afterwards an instrument employed in moral and religious instrnction . As man saw two kinds of forces aud two forms in nature ; tho

Light Of Ages.

active and passive , the male and female , so , when he placed the image of the snn triumphant in the zenith , beside him was figured the " queen of heaven . " But , since the philosopher knew there conld not be two distinct powers on the throne , that law Is the one governor throughout the universe , these forms were separate down to the

waist only . Tbe remaining portions were united . They were two , and yet but one . The Mosaic account of the creation of man is drawn from this , and is merely an astronomical allegory . The allegory of the apparent course of the sun is the history of the twenty . four hours of each earthly day , the symbolic record of the year ; and human life may be thus typified .

" Like leaves on trees , the race of man is found , Now green in youth , now withering on the ground ; Another race the following spring supplies ; They fall successive , and successive rise . So generations in their course decay , So flourish these when those have passed away . " ( HOMER ) .

Yet the "Great Architect" is over all , and the meroy of the Supreme Ruler is " from everlasting to everlasting , " that all may know his ways and obey his laws . During long ages the multitude did the hard work of building houses , cities , and temples , nnder the control of the few who were enabled to see the light of truth and obtain power . The masses were

not yet sufficiently educated to appreciate the symbolic structure which typified the march of time . As centuries passed , and throngh war and social turmoil , the true meaning of these types , thus pictured in human form , was lost ; so that even those who were the recognised teachers among men became ignorant guides of the ignorant , ' -blind leaders of the blind . " These symbols ,

having come into the possession of uninstruoted persons , were misrepresented , and the biblical account of man ' s creation was based on them . The astronomical history of the day and of the year were presented as the actual history of creation in general . In the religions systems of the Ancient Hindus and Egyptians , the material sun from being merely a type of the Creator , one manifestation of the

All-Powerfnl , became in men ' s minds very God , Law-Giver , Saviour . These symbols were also used by instructed , although vicious men , to form tyrannical governments . Throughout all systems of religion ( or more correctly , of Theology ) the elements of this sun-allegory , this astronomical symbolism ,

have been and are the essential points . In the sun the Hindus adored Brahma , the personification of the Creator of light , the Genius of Good , while Siva represented the opposing power of darkness , and waa the Genius of Evil . The Persians revered the good principle , and feared the bad . The case was the same with the Chinese . The

Egyptians regarded Osiris and Typhon as antagonistic forces of good and evil . In like manner the Hebrews worshipped the one God , Jehovah , and dreaded the power of the Prince of Darkness . Substantially the same is true of the religious systems of Greece , of Rome , of the peoples of Northern Europe , of the Mound Builders of ancient Peru * and Mexico , of the Zuni Indians , f and the Hawaiians . J

The so-called gods of the ancients , and of the eastern worlds , which played such singular parts in the theological systems of the various countries , and whose existence is yet believed in by many communities of the western world , were merely the physical elements and powers of nature . By the human mind and through the necessary mechanism of language , these have become personified . The theological

dogmas about the origin of the world , nature of God , or Deity , apparition of His person in visible form , revelation of His laws , are simply recitals of astronomical facts , figurative narrations of the movements of celestial bodies and of the natural progress of terrestrial phenomena , such as are seen going on at the present time . To the ancient Egyptians were known four principal stars which

formed in the heavens , or celestial sphere , an " oblong square . " A casket of the same shape , and made of hewn stone , has been found in the central chamber of the Great Pyramid ; and this peculiarlyshaped vessel existed at least fifteen hundred years before the time of Moses . Scientific research , as well as tradition , has , tentatively , located

the birthplace of the human race near the mountains of Central Asia . From this location man could have seen the sun , at midsummer , the time of his greatest power , rise in the north-east , ascend to mid-day in regal majesty , and occupy the kingly throne . Then began the decline toward the West , and at the close of day he sank into the

death of night . Each new appearance of the morning light was a new birth , a resurrection of the slain god , to become the life of earth , and of all that live in or of the earth . In like manner man himself comes forth from this homestead , the " north-east corner or angle " of the world , or Lodge , and proceeds South and to the West—the individual passes into the valley of night , but the race , the highest work