Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Explanation Of An Engraving On The Origin Of The Jewish Religion, As Connected With The Mysteries Of Freemasonry.
darkness , which affords but scanty means for this banquet . * The Christians observe the end of this season by the fast of Lent , symbolical of the same period of scarcity and want consequent upon winter . On the opposite side is the celebration of the feast of Autumn , which is bountifully supplied , as an indication of the season of plenty ; the table , symbolical of this banquet , is surrounded by seven persons , representing the seven planetsor the seven officers of a Lodge ; and seven glasses
, represent the seven obligatory toasts which ought to be drunk during a banquet celebrated by Masons ; besides these seven persons there are two others at table holding nosegays , according to the customs as well of the Israelites as of Masons , the meaning of which will be found in the explanation of the origin of the Jewish worship after the description of that of Easter .
It is also worth y of remark , that in tlie book of Leviticus , chap . xxv . verses 25 , 35 , and 39 , it will be clearly observed ,- that Moses in enjoining assistance to the poor , uses the expression , " We must assist our brethren , " and not , according to his usual phraseology , " Children of Israel , " from which it may be concluded that Moses was also initiated in Masonic rites , and that , consequently , Masonry goes much farther back into antiquity than is generally supposed . But what is most remarkable in this engraving is a suite of thirty-two
ovals , held up by two angels on each side of the curtain , taken from the text of the book Tetzira ( a work much estimated by learned Cabalists ) , which divides the celestial kingdom into thirty-two degrees , or regions , in Hebrew named Nesiboth Hachochma . In the middle of the lower part there is a large circle , surmounted by a crown , the number 6 being inscribed in the centre , which , according to the Cabalistic systemis the first cause of the Supreme Being . The
, great name of God is written in the middle , agreeably to the Scottish rite of Masonry , designating the thirty-third degree . It is also singular , that in counting the degrees , commencing at the bottom of the column towards the left of the spectator , and continuing to the column on the ri ght hand side , it will be perceived that the thirtieth degree is named kadosch ( holy ) , which agrees perfectly with the hierarchy of Masonic degrees of the above Masonic rite . f
On each side of the great circle are the two columns so well known to Masons , the origin of which is explained towards the end of the pamphlet , which is , in fact , a compendium of the work entitled , " Origin of the Jewish Religion as connected with Masonry . " Those interesting and ancient mysteries are , in short , infinite , but concealed in the obscurity of antiquity ; for the initiated were not at liberty either to write or even engrave any thing connected with their secrets or ceremonies , such
having been transmitted orally from Adam down to Solomon . J To make this more clear to the Brethren , it appears desirable to copy a passage from this book ; the word Raziel , if divided into two ( its component parts ) , produce Razi-el , that is to say , the divine mysteries . This book also informs us , that Adam was the first to receive tliese mysteries ; afterwards , when driven out of Paradise , he communicated them to his sou Loth ; Loth communicated them to Enoch ; Enoch to Methusalem ; Methusalem to Lamech ; Lamech to N ^ ih Noih to Sem : Sem to Abra-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Explanation Of An Engraving On The Origin Of The Jewish Religion, As Connected With The Mysteries Of Freemasonry.
darkness , which affords but scanty means for this banquet . * The Christians observe the end of this season by the fast of Lent , symbolical of the same period of scarcity and want consequent upon winter . On the opposite side is the celebration of the feast of Autumn , which is bountifully supplied , as an indication of the season of plenty ; the table , symbolical of this banquet , is surrounded by seven persons , representing the seven planetsor the seven officers of a Lodge ; and seven glasses
, represent the seven obligatory toasts which ought to be drunk during a banquet celebrated by Masons ; besides these seven persons there are two others at table holding nosegays , according to the customs as well of the Israelites as of Masons , the meaning of which will be found in the explanation of the origin of the Jewish worship after the description of that of Easter .
It is also worth y of remark , that in tlie book of Leviticus , chap . xxv . verses 25 , 35 , and 39 , it will be clearly observed ,- that Moses in enjoining assistance to the poor , uses the expression , " We must assist our brethren , " and not , according to his usual phraseology , " Children of Israel , " from which it may be concluded that Moses was also initiated in Masonic rites , and that , consequently , Masonry goes much farther back into antiquity than is generally supposed . But what is most remarkable in this engraving is a suite of thirty-two
ovals , held up by two angels on each side of the curtain , taken from the text of the book Tetzira ( a work much estimated by learned Cabalists ) , which divides the celestial kingdom into thirty-two degrees , or regions , in Hebrew named Nesiboth Hachochma . In the middle of the lower part there is a large circle , surmounted by a crown , the number 6 being inscribed in the centre , which , according to the Cabalistic systemis the first cause of the Supreme Being . The
, great name of God is written in the middle , agreeably to the Scottish rite of Masonry , designating the thirty-third degree . It is also singular , that in counting the degrees , commencing at the bottom of the column towards the left of the spectator , and continuing to the column on the ri ght hand side , it will be perceived that the thirtieth degree is named kadosch ( holy ) , which agrees perfectly with the hierarchy of Masonic degrees of the above Masonic rite . f
On each side of the great circle are the two columns so well known to Masons , the origin of which is explained towards the end of the pamphlet , which is , in fact , a compendium of the work entitled , " Origin of the Jewish Religion as connected with Masonry . " Those interesting and ancient mysteries are , in short , infinite , but concealed in the obscurity of antiquity ; for the initiated were not at liberty either to write or even engrave any thing connected with their secrets or ceremonies , such
having been transmitted orally from Adam down to Solomon . J To make this more clear to the Brethren , it appears desirable to copy a passage from this book ; the word Raziel , if divided into two ( its component parts ) , produce Razi-el , that is to say , the divine mysteries . This book also informs us , that Adam was the first to receive tliese mysteries ; afterwards , when driven out of Paradise , he communicated them to his sou Loth ; Loth communicated them to Enoch ; Enoch to Methusalem ; Methusalem to Lamech ; Lamech to N ^ ih Noih to Sem : Sem to Abra-