Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
This was understood by the priests ol Apollo to refer to Ins altar , which was of a cubical form . They obeyed the injunction—increased the altitude ol the altar to its prescribed dimensions—and the pestilence ceased . Minerva , Neptune , and Hercules were also represented by a square or cubical stone . "A remarkable instance of this custom occurs in
the temple of the great goddesses , or Cabirte , at Megalopolis , in Arcadia . A large stone of the same description was also the emblem of the Indian Buddha : and a square stone of the Arabian Manah , or Venus ; and the stone by which she was symbolized was at length demolished by Saad in the eihth year of the Hegirah . In a similar manner ,
g Theus—Ares , the Arabic Bacchus , was worshipped under the same form of a square stone ; and if we direct our attention to the north , we' shall find that a cube was no less the emblem of the Gothic Odin . " * Our Foundation Stone is said to have been marked and impressed with the mystical characters which represent that
awful NAME or WORD confided to the Perfect Master when he is exalted to the highest degree of the science . These characters were inscribed in an equilateral triangle , as a symbol of the Divine Being under whose protection this remarkable stone was reputed to be p laced ; and hence it was sometimes termed the Stone of Life . The Rabbis believed
that from the potency of this word , the stone was invested with oracular powers ; and possessed of many other singular virtues . Several remarkable instances of these inherent properties will come under our notice in the course of this dissertation . The idolatrous Teraphim , mentioned in scripture during its history of the patriarchal ages , are said to
have been constructed on the same princi ple , and for the same end . Godwyn informs us that " the manner how they were made is fondly conceited thus amongst the Rabbis . They killed a man that was a first born son , and wrung off his head , and seasoned it with salt and spices , and ivrote upon a plate of gold the name of an unclean spirit , and put it under
the head upon a wall , and li ghted candles before it , and worshipped it . " The legend commences with an account of our first parents in the garden of Eden ; of their unhappy fall , and expulsion ; aud speaks of Adam holding this stone in the hi ghest estimation , because it bore the sacred characters , and reminded him of that sublime and hol y Being , who had
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
This was understood by the priests ol Apollo to refer to Ins altar , which was of a cubical form . They obeyed the injunction—increased the altitude ol the altar to its prescribed dimensions—and the pestilence ceased . Minerva , Neptune , and Hercules were also represented by a square or cubical stone . "A remarkable instance of this custom occurs in
the temple of the great goddesses , or Cabirte , at Megalopolis , in Arcadia . A large stone of the same description was also the emblem of the Indian Buddha : and a square stone of the Arabian Manah , or Venus ; and the stone by which she was symbolized was at length demolished by Saad in the eihth year of the Hegirah . In a similar manner ,
g Theus—Ares , the Arabic Bacchus , was worshipped under the same form of a square stone ; and if we direct our attention to the north , we' shall find that a cube was no less the emblem of the Gothic Odin . " * Our Foundation Stone is said to have been marked and impressed with the mystical characters which represent that
awful NAME or WORD confided to the Perfect Master when he is exalted to the highest degree of the science . These characters were inscribed in an equilateral triangle , as a symbol of the Divine Being under whose protection this remarkable stone was reputed to be p laced ; and hence it was sometimes termed the Stone of Life . The Rabbis believed
that from the potency of this word , the stone was invested with oracular powers ; and possessed of many other singular virtues . Several remarkable instances of these inherent properties will come under our notice in the course of this dissertation . The idolatrous Teraphim , mentioned in scripture during its history of the patriarchal ages , are said to
have been constructed on the same princi ple , and for the same end . Godwyn informs us that " the manner how they were made is fondly conceited thus amongst the Rabbis . They killed a man that was a first born son , and wrung off his head , and seasoned it with salt and spices , and ivrote upon a plate of gold the name of an unclean spirit , and put it under
the head upon a wall , and li ghted candles before it , and worshipped it . " The legend commences with an account of our first parents in the garden of Eden ; of their unhappy fall , and expulsion ; aud speaks of Adam holding this stone in the hi ghest estimation , because it bore the sacred characters , and reminded him of that sublime and hol y Being , who had