Zoroastrianism And Freemasonry.

The sharp and repelling corners of religious differences are here carefully , and of a deliberate design systematically , overlooked . The consequence is , that , though Freemasonry cannot properly be called a religion , as it wants the two essential

elements to make it so , inasmuch as it does not claim to have any particular prophet or any particular volume of the sacred law that can be called its own , yet in a certain sense it can be called a cosmopolitan religion , inasmuch as it embraces

within its fold professors of all the monotheistic religions existing on the face of the earth . This is the genuine secret and beauty of our institution . Now , the same conditions which are imperatively necessary for one to become a Freemason , are equally necessary to admit one in Zoroastrianism . It must be remembered

that in remote antiquity , when the forefathers of the present Hindoos and Parsees lived together as one race—when , in fact , the division separating Hindoos from Parsees had not yet taken place—the religion of the land was the reli gion of the race . A change of thought slowly

crept in among the advance portion of the nation , and a separation was the consequence . The reformers were called Zoroastrians . They repudiated the national religion ; no one was considered of the the reformed party who did not subscribe

to the following articles of faith which are to be found in the 12 th Ha of the Yacna , and which I hear give rendered into very free English : — " I join in annihilating the worship of Devas ( "false sods ) .

I profess myself to be a believer in Mazda , ( the Omniscient ) as taught by Zoroaster . I am opposed to the belief in Devas ( false gods ) . I am a follower of the law of Ahura ( the living ) , All the universe I attribute to the wise and good Ahura

Mazda ( the living Omniscient ) , the pure , the majestic , for everything is his , the earth , the starry firmament , & e . I adhere to the development producing wisdom . I keep property ( cattle ) protected from thieves and robbers . I keep the homes of

Mazdayoenians ( the reformers , believers in the Omniscient ) protected from harm and nenury . I do not lend myself to bring harm to them , never even if thereby I were to escape losing my body and life . I repudiate the rule over me of false gods ,

evil , mischievous , adept in harm , the most disgusting , the most believing , the most pernicious in all existence . I denounce sorcery and all other evil knowledge . I denounce the domination of false gods , of those believing in them , with the

sincerity of my thoughts , words , deeds , and tokens . Thus Ahura Mazda has taught Zarathustra in the several conferences that took p lace between them , and thus Zarathustra has promised Ahura Mazda in all those conferences to

disacknowledge polytheism , so have Vistacp Furshostra Jamasp promised to repudiate the sovereignty of false gods , aud so do I likewise , I , a believer in Mazda as taught by Zarathustra , disbelieve in the supremacy of false gods . " Here is a belief in only

one true and living God , and a disbelief in many and false gods , beautifully and pointedly expressed in several ways . Thus far , then , Freemasonry and Zoroastrianism stand on the some platform , and hence there is nothing in Freemasonry

which should hinder a subsciber to the above-detailed articles of faith from fraternising with a brother Mason , who also , as is known , is required by the Masonic

constitutions to subscribe in the form of a written declaration to just similar articles before he is ballotted , or allowed to enter and put his steps within our precincts . But yet there is another common ground between the two systems which remains to be seen . When Loclge " Rising Star "

was first established for the benefit of the natives of India , considering the nature of the numerously different faiths professed by the natives of this country , for whose sole benefit this Lodge was founded , it was deemed absolutely necessary to introduce

one more test which would go a good way in clearly establishing what natives were qualified by their religion to be received in that Lodge , and what not . The additional test was proposed to discover and ascertain the relig ious belief of the aspirant as

regards the next world , and hence the question was framed as follows— " Do you believe in a state of rewards and punishment in after life , according to deeds done iu the flesh ? " This test implicitly indicated , supported by the constitutions , that Freemasonry believed in rewards and punishments in the next world , not according to one ' s belief in certain dogmas ,