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Article THE HISTORICAL DEGREES; ← Page 11 of 12 →
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The Historical Degrees;
and because it made up the two perfect figures—the triangle and the square . The radical meaning of yns ? , is " sufficiency / ' or " fulness , " and the number seven was thus denominated , because it was on the seventh day that God completed His work of creation ; and hence , says Parkhurst , seven was , both among believers and heathens , the number of sufficiency or completion . In Freemasonry , seven is an essential and important number , and throughout the whole system
the septenary influence extends itself in a thousand different ways . There is but one light in the Lodge of this degree , but . this is very powerful , and placed behind a globe of water . The jeAvel is a gold medal , having on one side a sun surrounded by rays , and on the reverse , the figure of a celestial globe . ' We think it very probable that it was some knowledge of this degree which induced Rosetti to connect the theology of Swedenborg
with ' Freemasonry . The machinery ( if we may be excused the use of an apparently irreverent expression ) , in one respect— -the angelic influence— -is not dissimilar to SAvedenborg ' s theory .
Knight of St . Andrew is the twenty-ninth degree , which is the preparation for the Kadosh . This degree has also been called " Patriarch
of the Crusades , " in allusion to its supposed origin during those wars , and it had also the name of " Grand Master of Light . " There are a Master and two Wardens . The Ledge , as in the degree-of Secret Master , is illuminated by eighty-one lights arranged by nine times nine , but the hangings of the room are red . The jewel displays the square and compasses , Avith a poignard on the centre , Avithin a triple
triangle bordered by the sun s rays . This is the first of the degrees which Ramsay proposed to substitute in place of the ancient symbolic degrees , and as a full explanation of his theory has been already given , under the degree of the Grand
Scotch Knight , it is unnecessary to do more hero than remark the inconsistency of this system . We have here , placed within four degrees of the pinnacle of his fabric , a degree intended to supersede the very first step in Freemasonry .
A liierogrcun , in this degree , is thus explained . . Che triangle or
delta is the mysterious i ' mure of the Eternal . The ts O three letters which you see signify as follows : —G at the top of the triangle refers to the Grand Cause of the M . asons , > S on the left hand the submission to the
same order : and If at the rmhh hand to the union s O that oucdit to rouni . anionic the Brethren ; Avhich alto-O O O ' . 1 II * " 1 -1 "l / i " 1 1 i
get nor make but one body , or equal figure m all its parts . i ins the triangle called equilateral . The O placed in . the centre of tlie
triangle signifies the Croat Architect of the universe . avIio is God : O O ' s and in this ineffable name is found all the divine attributes . This letter is placed in . the centre of the triangle that Ave may understand the imperative rlvq aire m out for every true Mason to boar it profoundly impressed upon his heart . When we compare tins clumsy contrivance with , the beautiful simplicity of the ancient symbolic degrees—in which the Mason is gradually advanced stop by step in
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Historical Degrees;
and because it made up the two perfect figures—the triangle and the square . The radical meaning of yns ? , is " sufficiency / ' or " fulness , " and the number seven was thus denominated , because it was on the seventh day that God completed His work of creation ; and hence , says Parkhurst , seven was , both among believers and heathens , the number of sufficiency or completion . In Freemasonry , seven is an essential and important number , and throughout the whole system
the septenary influence extends itself in a thousand different ways . There is but one light in the Lodge of this degree , but . this is very powerful , and placed behind a globe of water . The jeAvel is a gold medal , having on one side a sun surrounded by rays , and on the reverse , the figure of a celestial globe . ' We think it very probable that it was some knowledge of this degree which induced Rosetti to connect the theology of Swedenborg
with ' Freemasonry . The machinery ( if we may be excused the use of an apparently irreverent expression ) , in one respect— -the angelic influence— -is not dissimilar to SAvedenborg ' s theory .
Knight of St . Andrew is the twenty-ninth degree , which is the preparation for the Kadosh . This degree has also been called " Patriarch
of the Crusades , " in allusion to its supposed origin during those wars , and it had also the name of " Grand Master of Light . " There are a Master and two Wardens . The Ledge , as in the degree-of Secret Master , is illuminated by eighty-one lights arranged by nine times nine , but the hangings of the room are red . The jewel displays the square and compasses , Avith a poignard on the centre , Avithin a triple
triangle bordered by the sun s rays . This is the first of the degrees which Ramsay proposed to substitute in place of the ancient symbolic degrees , and as a full explanation of his theory has been already given , under the degree of the Grand
Scotch Knight , it is unnecessary to do more hero than remark the inconsistency of this system . We have here , placed within four degrees of the pinnacle of his fabric , a degree intended to supersede the very first step in Freemasonry .
A liierogrcun , in this degree , is thus explained . . Che triangle or
delta is the mysterious i ' mure of the Eternal . The ts O three letters which you see signify as follows : —G at the top of the triangle refers to the Grand Cause of the M . asons , > S on the left hand the submission to the
same order : and If at the rmhh hand to the union s O that oucdit to rouni . anionic the Brethren ; Avhich alto-O O O ' . 1 II * " 1 -1 "l / i " 1 1 i
get nor make but one body , or equal figure m all its parts . i ins the triangle called equilateral . The O placed in . the centre of tlie
triangle signifies the Croat Architect of the universe . avIio is God : O O ' s and in this ineffable name is found all the divine attributes . This letter is placed in . the centre of the triangle that Ave may understand the imperative rlvq aire m out for every true Mason to boar it profoundly impressed upon his heart . When we compare tins clumsy contrivance with , the beautiful simplicity of the ancient symbolic degrees—in which the Mason is gradually advanced stop by step in