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Article PEEEMASONET ILLTJSTEATED. ← Page 3 of 10 →
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Peeemasonet Illtjsteated.
Egypt he visited Phoenicia , and was initiated by ihe priests into their mysteries . He also visited the noted cities of Greece ; and , after an absence of many years , settled at Orotona , and taught his doctrines . According to Aristotle , " the Pythagoreans were the first who determined anything in moral philosophy . Their ethics
were of the loftiest and most spiritual description . Virtue was with them a harmony , unity , and an endeavour to resemble the Deity . The whole life of man should be an attempt to represent on earth the beauty and harmony displayed in the order of the universe . The mind should have the body and passions under perfect control ; the gods should be worshipped by simple
purifications , offerings , and above all , by sincerity and purity of heart . " Prom Diogenes Laertius we learn that the society was at once philosophical , a religious brotherhood , and a political association , whose proceedings were transacted in the greatest secrecyperhaps more on account of the -religious doctrines inculcated
than of its political principles . Eeligion , indeed , seems to have been the foundation of the society . Pythagoras instituted among his disciples secret worship , or mysteries , and they were also taught the science of numbers , geometry , and music , The various discoveries in mathematics , music , and astronomy , that are ascribed to Pythagoras , are proofs of the mighty impression which he made on
his contemporaries , as well as on after ages . Prom the great respect which he paid to geometry , all Masons have ever hailed him as an ancient Brother ; and certainly his system is a close approximation to the science of Preemasonry . He is said to have been instructed in the sacred things of the Hebrews by either Daniel or Ezekiel during the Babylonish captivity . The symbols adopted by
Pythagoras , in his secret instruction , are said to have been principally derived from geometry ; among them maybe noticed what are sometimes termed the five Platonic bodies , —viz ., the right angle , an emblem of morality and justice ; the equilateral triangle , a symbol of God , the essence of light and truth ; the square , an emblem of the divine mind ; the cube , the symbol of the mind of man ; and the dodecahedron ,
a symbol of the universe . "We do not deem it necessary in this place to institute an inquiry into the Eleusinian mysteries , or , to any extent , the Dionysia . We find that a colony of Greeks from Attica settled in Asia Minor , and united the district under the name of Ionia , where they introduced the mysteries of Dionysia , as they existed before they were corrupted
by the Athenians . We are indebted to these Dionysian artificersan association which possessed the exclusive privilege of erecting temples , theatres , & c . —for many splendid bnildings , including the magnificent temple at Teos . This Ionic fraternity had words and
signs by which they could recognise each other , and , like freemasons , they were divided into Lodges , which were distinguished by different appellations . As the Dionysia were instituted four hundred years before Solomon ' s time , we have every right to maintain the tradition of our Order , that it flourished at the building of the E 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Peeemasonet Illtjsteated.
Egypt he visited Phoenicia , and was initiated by ihe priests into their mysteries . He also visited the noted cities of Greece ; and , after an absence of many years , settled at Orotona , and taught his doctrines . According to Aristotle , " the Pythagoreans were the first who determined anything in moral philosophy . Their ethics
were of the loftiest and most spiritual description . Virtue was with them a harmony , unity , and an endeavour to resemble the Deity . The whole life of man should be an attempt to represent on earth the beauty and harmony displayed in the order of the universe . The mind should have the body and passions under perfect control ; the gods should be worshipped by simple
purifications , offerings , and above all , by sincerity and purity of heart . " Prom Diogenes Laertius we learn that the society was at once philosophical , a religious brotherhood , and a political association , whose proceedings were transacted in the greatest secrecyperhaps more on account of the -religious doctrines inculcated
than of its political principles . Eeligion , indeed , seems to have been the foundation of the society . Pythagoras instituted among his disciples secret worship , or mysteries , and they were also taught the science of numbers , geometry , and music , The various discoveries in mathematics , music , and astronomy , that are ascribed to Pythagoras , are proofs of the mighty impression which he made on
his contemporaries , as well as on after ages . Prom the great respect which he paid to geometry , all Masons have ever hailed him as an ancient Brother ; and certainly his system is a close approximation to the science of Preemasonry . He is said to have been instructed in the sacred things of the Hebrews by either Daniel or Ezekiel during the Babylonish captivity . The symbols adopted by
Pythagoras , in his secret instruction , are said to have been principally derived from geometry ; among them maybe noticed what are sometimes termed the five Platonic bodies , —viz ., the right angle , an emblem of morality and justice ; the equilateral triangle , a symbol of God , the essence of light and truth ; the square , an emblem of the divine mind ; the cube , the symbol of the mind of man ; and the dodecahedron ,
a symbol of the universe . "We do not deem it necessary in this place to institute an inquiry into the Eleusinian mysteries , or , to any extent , the Dionysia . We find that a colony of Greeks from Attica settled in Asia Minor , and united the district under the name of Ionia , where they introduced the mysteries of Dionysia , as they existed before they were corrupted
by the Athenians . We are indebted to these Dionysian artificersan association which possessed the exclusive privilege of erecting temples , theatres , & c . —for many splendid bnildings , including the magnificent temple at Teos . This Ionic fraternity had words and
signs by which they could recognise each other , and , like freemasons , they were divided into Lodges , which were distinguished by different appellations . As the Dionysia were instituted four hundred years before Solomon ' s time , we have every right to maintain the tradition of our Order , that it flourished at the building of the E 2