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Article ORIGINAL AND SUPPLEMENTARY FREEMASONRY. ← Page 3 of 9 →
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Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
directed zeal , or high reaching ambition , need excite no surprise in any one who reflects on the proneness to sin and error of the human heart ; and it is undeniable , that throughout these Mysteries , even in the worst times of their superstitious degradation , there are evidences of original purity and excellence , which even the learned author with whom I differ , is compelled to derive from an inspired source , namely , the holy progenitor of God ' s chosen racethe patriarch Shem , The errors and
, abominations of the later periods of the Mysteries , are no more to be attributed to an original and inherent depravity , than the crimes and bloodshed of the religious wars of Christian Europe , are to be considered the effects of a religion which inculcates peace and good will to all men . The Cabiric Mysteries , from whatever source derived , were the grand type upon which the Mysteries of all other nations were modelled , and their rites and ceremonies were followed with much exactness . The
members of this society cultivated and practised the useful arts and sciences , and were long celebrated as Operative Masons , being the reputed builders of those vast and imposing architectural remains scattered over Western Europe , and generally called Cyclopean structures . It does not appear , from what has come down to us of history and tradition , concerning the ceremonial ofthe Mysteries , ( for in consequence of the solemn obligations of secrecy administered to the initiatedour
, knowledge of them is somewhat limited ) , what was the nature of the various grades or degrees acknowledged . AVe know , however , that the Eleusinian Mysteries , the Grecian copy of those of Samothrace , contained two grand divisions , the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries . The rites and ceremonies of initiation at the Mysteries have been so
well described by Dr . Oliver , in his History of initiation , that I shall pass by this portion of my subject , with a reference to that able work for all information on this head . But there are certain circumstances connected with the ceremonies used in the ancient Mysteries , on which I must venture to make some remarks . And here I would observe , that I look on Freemasonry , as at present practised , to consist of two distinct and divisible portions , derived from two distinct sources , and which may be termed Oriinal and Supplementarythe former of which is
comg ; prised in the third or Master Mason ' s degree . The general tenor of the ceremonies practised at initiation into the ancient Mysteries was this : that the candidate , after passing through various trials and perils , both mental and physical , was made , figuratively , to represent some personage who had descended into the grave , or who had been confined in an ark or coffin ; and who , after a certain period , was restored to life and happiness . By this allegorical process of a second birththe candidate
, was supposed to be regenerated , and imbued with a certain purity of spirit , and illumined by the rays of divine wisdom . ' Faber says , " The ordinary title by which initiation itself was distinguished , was that of a descent into hell , for as the Great Father was thought to have gone down into Hades , when he entered into his floating coffin , so every aspirant was made to undergo a similar imitative descent . As the Mysteries were all typical of the important events which took lace at
p that great catastrophe which overwhelmed the whole human race , save the Noachine family , so every candidate was made to take upon himself the character of the great patriarch , in his confinement in the ark , his allegorical death and subsequent resurrection . " In the mystic rites of the British Druids , the candidate was enclosed in a stone cell , called the chest or ark . In the Osiric and Eleusinian Mysteries , the greatest
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Original And Supplementary Freemasonry.
directed zeal , or high reaching ambition , need excite no surprise in any one who reflects on the proneness to sin and error of the human heart ; and it is undeniable , that throughout these Mysteries , even in the worst times of their superstitious degradation , there are evidences of original purity and excellence , which even the learned author with whom I differ , is compelled to derive from an inspired source , namely , the holy progenitor of God ' s chosen racethe patriarch Shem , The errors and
, abominations of the later periods of the Mysteries , are no more to be attributed to an original and inherent depravity , than the crimes and bloodshed of the religious wars of Christian Europe , are to be considered the effects of a religion which inculcates peace and good will to all men . The Cabiric Mysteries , from whatever source derived , were the grand type upon which the Mysteries of all other nations were modelled , and their rites and ceremonies were followed with much exactness . The
members of this society cultivated and practised the useful arts and sciences , and were long celebrated as Operative Masons , being the reputed builders of those vast and imposing architectural remains scattered over Western Europe , and generally called Cyclopean structures . It does not appear , from what has come down to us of history and tradition , concerning the ceremonial ofthe Mysteries , ( for in consequence of the solemn obligations of secrecy administered to the initiatedour
, knowledge of them is somewhat limited ) , what was the nature of the various grades or degrees acknowledged . AVe know , however , that the Eleusinian Mysteries , the Grecian copy of those of Samothrace , contained two grand divisions , the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries . The rites and ceremonies of initiation at the Mysteries have been so
well described by Dr . Oliver , in his History of initiation , that I shall pass by this portion of my subject , with a reference to that able work for all information on this head . But there are certain circumstances connected with the ceremonies used in the ancient Mysteries , on which I must venture to make some remarks . And here I would observe , that I look on Freemasonry , as at present practised , to consist of two distinct and divisible portions , derived from two distinct sources , and which may be termed Oriinal and Supplementarythe former of which is
comg ; prised in the third or Master Mason ' s degree . The general tenor of the ceremonies practised at initiation into the ancient Mysteries was this : that the candidate , after passing through various trials and perils , both mental and physical , was made , figuratively , to represent some personage who had descended into the grave , or who had been confined in an ark or coffin ; and who , after a certain period , was restored to life and happiness . By this allegorical process of a second birththe candidate
, was supposed to be regenerated , and imbued with a certain purity of spirit , and illumined by the rays of divine wisdom . ' Faber says , " The ordinary title by which initiation itself was distinguished , was that of a descent into hell , for as the Great Father was thought to have gone down into Hades , when he entered into his floating coffin , so every aspirant was made to undergo a similar imitative descent . As the Mysteries were all typical of the important events which took lace at
p that great catastrophe which overwhelmed the whole human race , save the Noachine family , so every candidate was made to take upon himself the character of the great patriarch , in his confinement in the ark , his allegorical death and subsequent resurrection . " In the mystic rites of the British Druids , the candidate was enclosed in a stone cell , called the chest or ark . In the Osiric and Eleusinian Mysteries , the greatest