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Article ON THE KNOWLEDGE OF FREEMASONRY BY THE DRUIDS. ← Page 4 of 10 →
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On The Knowledge Of Freemasonry By The Druids.
from place to place by a yolk of oxen . And a practice precisely similar to this was observed by the Druids ; for , in the descriptions of their solemn processions , they make frequent mention of the " car of the lofty one , Hu , " the patriarch god , to whom two oxen were consecrated ; and a ceremony held most sacred by them , and one which affords most striking proof of its Cabiric origin , was that of drawing of the " A vane , "
or shrine of the deified patriarch out of a lake , as emblematical of the mighty waters of the deluge , by the oxen of Hu . All these incidents would seem to confirm the presumption , that the practice of human sacrifices and the ceremonials used in connection with them by the Druids , were derived to them from the Phoenicians , or some other idolatrous nation , amongst whom the mysteries and practices of the Cabiri flourished ; and that it is impossible to consider them
otherwise than as diametrically opposed to the elements of our more pure science , —the existence of which it was the most jealous desire of the Cabiric priests to hide from the knowledge of the people , amongst whom they held so unlimited and unbiassed a controul ; and the more effectually to do this , they neglected no opportunity that presented itself , of copying and incorporating any of its symbols and ceremonies into their own heathen mysteries . It has been advanced , as an important argument in support of the assertion that Pythagoras visited these shores , that he taught the Druids the doctrine of Metempsichoses , or transmigration of souls . This however
seems to be by no means conclusive ; the doctrine of transmigration of souls was originally Egyptian , and was connected with the idea of the reward and punishment of human actions : and it is quite as possible that it found its way to the Druids through the Phoenicians , to whom it was well known at a period long prior to Pythagoras , as that he , who learnt it during his sojourn in Egypt and Phoenicia , first disseminated it amongst them . Plato honoured the Metempsichoses of the Egyptians badopting it
y into his system as one ofthe moral purifications of human nature ; but the Egyptians themselves did not make so accurate a distinction between the spiritual and corporeal as this philosopher , —the idea of the soul as a pure intelligence being unknown to them , as it also seems to have been among the Druids ; and the Pythagorean doctrine , as delineated by Aristotle , seems equally devoid of any moral sense . And although it may
be urged that there is nothing in this doctrine that may be advanced as opposed to the practice of Freemasonry , yet it must be admitted as being rather inconsistent with any doctrines based , as Freemasonry has ever been , on the simple moral code of laws delivered by Moses , which , taken either in the abstract or entire , presents no difficulty in its application to the capacities of the human mind . There washoweveranother practice of the Druidsthat of
Divina-, , ; tion , * which must be taken to be perfectly irreconcilable with the precepts of Masonry , and will tend to increase the impression that their doctrines were more idolatrous than Masonic . The practice of divination would appear , from the denunciations and prohibitions of Moses , to have arisen with , and to have formed part of ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Knowledge Of Freemasonry By The Druids.
from place to place by a yolk of oxen . And a practice precisely similar to this was observed by the Druids ; for , in the descriptions of their solemn processions , they make frequent mention of the " car of the lofty one , Hu , " the patriarch god , to whom two oxen were consecrated ; and a ceremony held most sacred by them , and one which affords most striking proof of its Cabiric origin , was that of drawing of the " A vane , "
or shrine of the deified patriarch out of a lake , as emblematical of the mighty waters of the deluge , by the oxen of Hu . All these incidents would seem to confirm the presumption , that the practice of human sacrifices and the ceremonials used in connection with them by the Druids , were derived to them from the Phoenicians , or some other idolatrous nation , amongst whom the mysteries and practices of the Cabiri flourished ; and that it is impossible to consider them
otherwise than as diametrically opposed to the elements of our more pure science , —the existence of which it was the most jealous desire of the Cabiric priests to hide from the knowledge of the people , amongst whom they held so unlimited and unbiassed a controul ; and the more effectually to do this , they neglected no opportunity that presented itself , of copying and incorporating any of its symbols and ceremonies into their own heathen mysteries . It has been advanced , as an important argument in support of the assertion that Pythagoras visited these shores , that he taught the Druids the doctrine of Metempsichoses , or transmigration of souls . This however
seems to be by no means conclusive ; the doctrine of transmigration of souls was originally Egyptian , and was connected with the idea of the reward and punishment of human actions : and it is quite as possible that it found its way to the Druids through the Phoenicians , to whom it was well known at a period long prior to Pythagoras , as that he , who learnt it during his sojourn in Egypt and Phoenicia , first disseminated it amongst them . Plato honoured the Metempsichoses of the Egyptians badopting it
y into his system as one ofthe moral purifications of human nature ; but the Egyptians themselves did not make so accurate a distinction between the spiritual and corporeal as this philosopher , —the idea of the soul as a pure intelligence being unknown to them , as it also seems to have been among the Druids ; and the Pythagorean doctrine , as delineated by Aristotle , seems equally devoid of any moral sense . And although it may
be urged that there is nothing in this doctrine that may be advanced as opposed to the practice of Freemasonry , yet it must be admitted as being rather inconsistent with any doctrines based , as Freemasonry has ever been , on the simple moral code of laws delivered by Moses , which , taken either in the abstract or entire , presents no difficulty in its application to the capacities of the human mind . There washoweveranother practice of the Druidsthat of
Divina-, , ; tion , * which must be taken to be perfectly irreconcilable with the precepts of Masonry , and will tend to increase the impression that their doctrines were more idolatrous than Masonic . The practice of divination would appear , from the denunciations and prohibitions of Moses , to have arisen with , and to have formed part of ,