The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY .

HY REV . GEO . OLIVER , D . D . CHAPTER IV . THE CONCENTRIC CIRCLES . "As I beheld the living creatures , behold , one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures , with

his four faces . The appearance of the wheels aud their work was like unto the colour of a beryl ; and tliey four had one likeness ; and their appearance and their work was , as it were , a wheel in the middle of a wheel . As for their rings , they were so high they were dreadful ; and their rings were full of eyes round about their faces . And when the living creatures went , the wheels went by them ; and Avhen the living creatures were lift up from the earth , the wheels were lift up ; for the spirit of the living creature was iu the wheels . "—E ZEEIEL .

LY the figure before us Aye have two tables of concentric circles or Avheels ; one on the breast of the animal and the other beneath its feet . The latter is a symbol of the world begirt with , celestial systems ; whence the circular processions or religious dances

of the ancient Egyptians in honour of Osiris Avere derived ; ancl also the circular shields of all primitive uations Avhich bad an emblematical reference . They Avere identified in our own country not only with the armed target of the warriorbut also

, with " Arthur ' s Round Table , " and with the mysterious oircle of Stonehenge . This shield Avas the Ark , as Ave may easily gather from a remarkable poem of Taliesin ; the round table was the same : the eight fated mariners of the navicular shield became

the knights of the round table ; and Stonehenge , like the fabled stone ship of Bacchus , had still the same allusion ; for , at the behest of Merlin , it Avas reported to haA'e sailed over the ocean , a floating island , from Africa to Irelandancl thence to Britain

, , Avhere the island at length became stationary ° n the plain of Sarius . * The numerous circular temples of this country Avere alike dedicated to the sun , and constructed in the form of his symbol ; and the names of of our cities ancl

many towns convey the same idea . Solihull in Warwickshire , Solport in Cumberland , Salisbury ( Solis-bury ) plain , on Avhich otonehenge was erected , and many others , which mi ght be adduced if necessary .

They will tend to prove beyond a doubt that these extraordinary monuments were built by the descendants of the first Celtic idolaters , AVIIO adored that luminary . It is a remarkable fact that most of the

Egyptian hieroglyphics illustrative of the divine nature Avere adorned Avith circular emblems ; ancl nearly all the temples in that country were sculptured Avith the same symbol . This , probably , is one reason Avhy Osiris is so frequently depicted sitting on the lotus floAverof which both the

, fruit and the leaves are of a circular form , at once emblematical of the perfections of the deity , and allusive to the rapid circular motion by which everything in nature revokes . It is therefore impossible for any symbol to be more express upon the unity

of God than the hieroglyphic circle . * In the figure before us , a cross is delineated Avithin the centre circle at right angles . This is an emblem equally of the World and of Time , t and refers to those certain concomitants of time , the four

elements , seasons , and quarters of the compass . Hence several temples in various parts of the Avorld , dedicated to the sendees of religion , Avere constructed in the form of a cross . In India , the great pagoda of Benares Avas cruciform , and at the

extremity of each limb Avas a tower . : j : Theie is another of the same description at Mattra . And iu the far Avest , at New Grange , County Meath , in Ireland , underneath an immense pyramid of earth , AA-as constructed for religions purposes , a subterranean

temple , Avith galleries in the same form . § This extraordinary correspondence of custom in tAvo such 'distant countries could have no uniform reference but to those natural p henomena which cvere common to every quarter of the globe , viz ., the four seasons , elements , or cardinal points of the

compass . The space beyond the outermost circle Avas intended to represent Eternity , and Avas Avhat the ancients called the SUMJIOUR CAELUM , a region of supramundane Light , denominated by the Hindoos alias , or purified ether , iu AAdiich celestial beings Avere reputed to chvell ; and hence the supreme deity is here represented by the compressed figure of a , Scarab , a Ilaiok , and a Man ;