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Article ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY. Page 1 of 2 →
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Esoteric And Exoteric Masonry.
ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY .
FROM THE LEXICON OF FREEMASONRY , BY ALBERT G . MACKEY , M . D ., GRAND SECRETARY AND GRAND LECTURER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF SOUTH CAROLINA , ETC . ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY —From two Greek words signifying interior and exterior . The ancient philosophers in the establishment of their respective sectsdivided their schools into two kinds
, , exoteric and esoteric . In the exoteric school , instruction was given in public places ; the elements of science , physical and moral , were unfolded , and those principles which ordinary intelligences could grasp , and against which the prejudices of ordinary minds could not revolt , were inculcated in places accessible to all whom curiosity or a love of wisdom congregated . But the more abstruse tenets of their philosophy were reserved for a chosen few , who , united in an esoteric school , received in the secret
recesses of the master ' s dwelling , lessons too strange to be acknowledged , too pure to be appreciated , by the vulgar crowd who in the morning had assembled at the public lecture . Thus , in some measure , is it with Masonry . Its system , taken as a whole , is , it is true , strictly esoteric in its . construction . Its disciples are taught a knowledge which is forbidden to the profane , and it is only in the adytum of the Lodge that these lessons are bestowed ; and yet , viewed in itself and unconnected with the world without , Masonry contains within its bosom an exoteric and esoteric school , as palpably divided as were those of the ancient sects , with this simple difference—that the admission or the exclusion was in
the latter case involuntary , and dependent solely on the will of the instructor , while in the former it is voluntary , and dependent only on the will and wishes of the disciple . In the sense in which I wish to convey the terms , every Mason on his initiation is exoteric ; he beholds before him a beautiful fabric , the exterior of which , alone , he has examined ; and with this examination he may , possibly , remain satisfied—many , alas ! too many , are—if so , he will remain an exoteric Mason . ' ' But there
are others whose curiosity is not so easily gratified ; they desire a further arid more intimate knowledge of the structure than has been presented to their view ; they enter and examine its internal form , —they traverse its intricate passages , —they explore its hidden recesses , and admire and contemplate its magnificent apartments : their knowledge of the edifice is thus enlarged , and with more extensive they have purer views , of the principles of its construction than have fallen to the lot of their
lessenquiring brethren . These men become esoteric Masons . The hidden things of the Order are to them familiar as household words . They constitute the Musters in Israel who are to guide and instruct the lessiriformed , arid to diffuse light over paths which , to all others ; are obscure arid dark . There is between these studious Masons' and their-slothful urienquiring Brethreri the same difference in the views they take ; of Masonryas there is between an artist and a peasantin their respective
, , / estimation of an old painting it may be of a Raphael or a Reubens . The " peasant gazes with stupid wonder or with cold indifference'on the canvass , redolent with life , without the excitation of a single emotion in his 'barren ' soul . Its colors mellowed to a rich softness ; by the hand'of time , are to him less pleasing than the gaudy tints which glare upon / the
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Esoteric And Exoteric Masonry.
ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY .
FROM THE LEXICON OF FREEMASONRY , BY ALBERT G . MACKEY , M . D ., GRAND SECRETARY AND GRAND LECTURER OF THE GRAND LODGE OF SOUTH CAROLINA , ETC . ESOTERIC AND EXOTERIC MASONRY —From two Greek words signifying interior and exterior . The ancient philosophers in the establishment of their respective sectsdivided their schools into two kinds
, , exoteric and esoteric . In the exoteric school , instruction was given in public places ; the elements of science , physical and moral , were unfolded , and those principles which ordinary intelligences could grasp , and against which the prejudices of ordinary minds could not revolt , were inculcated in places accessible to all whom curiosity or a love of wisdom congregated . But the more abstruse tenets of their philosophy were reserved for a chosen few , who , united in an esoteric school , received in the secret
recesses of the master ' s dwelling , lessons too strange to be acknowledged , too pure to be appreciated , by the vulgar crowd who in the morning had assembled at the public lecture . Thus , in some measure , is it with Masonry . Its system , taken as a whole , is , it is true , strictly esoteric in its . construction . Its disciples are taught a knowledge which is forbidden to the profane , and it is only in the adytum of the Lodge that these lessons are bestowed ; and yet , viewed in itself and unconnected with the world without , Masonry contains within its bosom an exoteric and esoteric school , as palpably divided as were those of the ancient sects , with this simple difference—that the admission or the exclusion was in
the latter case involuntary , and dependent solely on the will of the instructor , while in the former it is voluntary , and dependent only on the will and wishes of the disciple . In the sense in which I wish to convey the terms , every Mason on his initiation is exoteric ; he beholds before him a beautiful fabric , the exterior of which , alone , he has examined ; and with this examination he may , possibly , remain satisfied—many , alas ! too many , are—if so , he will remain an exoteric Mason . ' ' But there
are others whose curiosity is not so easily gratified ; they desire a further arid more intimate knowledge of the structure than has been presented to their view ; they enter and examine its internal form , —they traverse its intricate passages , —they explore its hidden recesses , and admire and contemplate its magnificent apartments : their knowledge of the edifice is thus enlarged , and with more extensive they have purer views , of the principles of its construction than have fallen to the lot of their
lessenquiring brethren . These men become esoteric Masons . The hidden things of the Order are to them familiar as household words . They constitute the Musters in Israel who are to guide and instruct the lessiriformed , arid to diffuse light over paths which , to all others ; are obscure arid dark . There is between these studious Masons' and their-slothful urienquiring Brethreri the same difference in the views they take ; of Masonryas there is between an artist and a peasantin their respective
, , / estimation of an old painting it may be of a Raphael or a Reubens . The " peasant gazes with stupid wonder or with cold indifference'on the canvass , redolent with life , without the excitation of a single emotion in his 'barren ' soul . Its colors mellowed to a rich softness ; by the hand'of time , are to him less pleasing than the gaudy tints which glare upon / the