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Article ON THE HISTORY OF INITIATION. Page 1 of 5 →
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On The History Of Initiation.
ON THE HISTORY OF INITIATION .
BY ROB . T . CRUCEFIX , M . D ., P . G . D . , & C . & C . WE have long entertained the idea of presenting our readers with an article on the ancient History of Freemasonry , as connected with those extraordinary institutions which existed among the heathens , under the denomination of the Mysteries ; and Dr . Oliver ' s History of Initiation , a new edition of which has just been published , * has furnished us with guide bwhich our inquiries be safeldirected .
a y may y It is a matter perfectly settled in our mind , that a knowledge of these institutions is essential to a perfect understanding of the true principles on which our sublime order is based . The philosophic Mason , in his researches throughout antiquity for evidences of the existence of our science in the earliest times , meets , at every step , with some vestige of this substituted institution , which excites his curiosity , and arrests the progress of his inquiry . The surreptitious mysteries of idolatry , indeed ,
occupied such a large share of public attention in every age , that all investigations which embrace the religion , manners , and customs of those mig hty nations which successively swayed the sceptre of the world , are incomplete if they do not include a view of these remarkable appendages to the heathen mythology . To the adept in Masonry it will be unnecessary for us to recommend this particular branch of study ; for he cannot be ignorant that the general views which he may entertain of its philosophical tendency , must necessarily embrace a competent knowledge of the spurious
initiations ; not only because they are incidentally referred to in our authorised lectures , but also because they constituted a feature in the civil polity of every ancient kingdom , so grand and majestic , and withal so terrible , as to excite the admiration and astonishment of all posterity . They formed the potent machinery by which every state and empire was governed ; their agency was resorted to when the people showed symptoms of insubordination ; and their influence never failed to be decisive . They were objects of awe and veneration to the uninitiatedwho imagined
, them to be under the protection of potent and vindictive deities ; and even those who had been admitted to the preliminary degrees only , Were little less affected with the idea of their divine operation and supernatural efficacy . In their administration , the hierophant was supreme , and lungs and princes trembled at his power . But let us consider , from the work before us , how they originated , and the causes which led to the proud station wliich they occupied in the ancient ivorld .
in the infancy of mankind it appears exceedingly probable that the posterity of Seth preserved some secret institution amongst themselves , the principles of which were carefully concealed from the apostate race of Cain , until that fatal period when " the sons of God" made marriages with " the daughters of men , " or in other words , when the respective races of Cain and Seth promiscuously intermarried . This unhappy union revealed to the Cainites the mysteries attached to the sacred institutions of truth , and they became prostituted to the purposes of a false and spurious worship . The rites at first would be few and unosten-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The History Of Initiation.
ON THE HISTORY OF INITIATION .
BY ROB . T . CRUCEFIX , M . D ., P . G . D . , & C . & C . WE have long entertained the idea of presenting our readers with an article on the ancient History of Freemasonry , as connected with those extraordinary institutions which existed among the heathens , under the denomination of the Mysteries ; and Dr . Oliver ' s History of Initiation , a new edition of which has just been published , * has furnished us with guide bwhich our inquiries be safeldirected .
a y may y It is a matter perfectly settled in our mind , that a knowledge of these institutions is essential to a perfect understanding of the true principles on which our sublime order is based . The philosophic Mason , in his researches throughout antiquity for evidences of the existence of our science in the earliest times , meets , at every step , with some vestige of this substituted institution , which excites his curiosity , and arrests the progress of his inquiry . The surreptitious mysteries of idolatry , indeed ,
occupied such a large share of public attention in every age , that all investigations which embrace the religion , manners , and customs of those mig hty nations which successively swayed the sceptre of the world , are incomplete if they do not include a view of these remarkable appendages to the heathen mythology . To the adept in Masonry it will be unnecessary for us to recommend this particular branch of study ; for he cannot be ignorant that the general views which he may entertain of its philosophical tendency , must necessarily embrace a competent knowledge of the spurious
initiations ; not only because they are incidentally referred to in our authorised lectures , but also because they constituted a feature in the civil polity of every ancient kingdom , so grand and majestic , and withal so terrible , as to excite the admiration and astonishment of all posterity . They formed the potent machinery by which every state and empire was governed ; their agency was resorted to when the people showed symptoms of insubordination ; and their influence never failed to be decisive . They were objects of awe and veneration to the uninitiatedwho imagined
, them to be under the protection of potent and vindictive deities ; and even those who had been admitted to the preliminary degrees only , Were little less affected with the idea of their divine operation and supernatural efficacy . In their administration , the hierophant was supreme , and lungs and princes trembled at his power . But let us consider , from the work before us , how they originated , and the causes which led to the proud station wliich they occupied in the ancient ivorld .
in the infancy of mankind it appears exceedingly probable that the posterity of Seth preserved some secret institution amongst themselves , the principles of which were carefully concealed from the apostate race of Cain , until that fatal period when " the sons of God" made marriages with " the daughters of men , " or in other words , when the respective races of Cain and Seth promiscuously intermarried . This unhappy union revealed to the Cainites the mysteries attached to the sacred institutions of truth , and they became prostituted to the purposes of a false and spurious worship . The rites at first would be few and unosten-