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Article MASONIC PHILOSOPHY. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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Masonic Philosophy.
portions shaping themselves into an exterior envelope , the impure seat of nutrition and of the sensual enjoyments . That this organized form again assimilates itself to combined elements destined to alimentation , retaining the most delicate particles and rejecting the most gross . The earth becomes flesh , the water blood , and the inflammable substances marrow . These organized bodies are
distributed into four classes : —1 : The vivipares , quadrupeds , man ; 2 . The ovipares , birds ; 3 . The germinipares , trees , plants ; the fourth comprises beings endowed with organization , whose origin is n , ot clearly determined , as worms and certain vegetables . There are also five elements : ether , w ind or air in motion , fire or light , water , whose attribute is fluidity , and earth , whose attribute is solidity . The faculties or vital functions are also five in number :
perspiration , inspiration , pulsation or palpitation , whose seat is in the arteries and veins , expiration , and digestion . That the soul in its association with the body undergoes five states : —1 . The state of waking , in which it is active under the direction of Providence ; 2 . The state of dreaming , an intermediate illusion between waking and sleeping , which is nevertheless a prognostic of future events ; 3 . The state of profound sleep , where the
soul , is as it were , enfonced in the Divine essence until such time as it returns in its pristine character to the body which it animates ; 4 . The state of fainting or insensibility , an intermediate illusion between sleep and death , when the soul is temporarily separated from the body ; 5 . The final state of death , when the soul definitively quits its corporeal envelope . That , subjected to transmigration , the soul visits other worlds , in order to receive the recompense of its good works or the
chastisement of its faults . That the wicked fall into the pit of darkness and of punishment , whilst the virtuous ascend into the regions of the moon , there to enjoy the fruits of their good actions , and afterwards redescend to earth , there to re-animate new bodies , in which they re-enact , under the guidance of Providence , the same evil deeds and the same predispositions which animated them in their preceding
life . But the wise man who succeeds in enfranchising himself from the ties of the world , which envelope the soul , as it were , in a network , ascends to the upper regions , where he arrives at the palace of Brahma , undergoes an examination , and if found perfect in true wisdom , passes to an union with the Divine essence .
In this deliverance of the soul we have all the mystic symbols of Masonic initiation—the three Degrees of the Order ; viz . the complete deliverance , where perfection is accomplished and the soul is absorbed in the Divine essence , which is j 2 jpical of our 3 rd Degree ; the imperfect deliverance , where the canditfiG ^ is lifted up to heaven , there to pass his examination in tho palace of Brahma before lie attains the last beatitude , which corresponds to the type of our 2 nd Degree ; and then the first deliverance , at which we can arrive in this life , and which invests the possessor with supernatural powers , such as evoking from the tomb the shades of Ids ancestors ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Masonic Philosophy.
portions shaping themselves into an exterior envelope , the impure seat of nutrition and of the sensual enjoyments . That this organized form again assimilates itself to combined elements destined to alimentation , retaining the most delicate particles and rejecting the most gross . The earth becomes flesh , the water blood , and the inflammable substances marrow . These organized bodies are
distributed into four classes : —1 : The vivipares , quadrupeds , man ; 2 . The ovipares , birds ; 3 . The germinipares , trees , plants ; the fourth comprises beings endowed with organization , whose origin is n , ot clearly determined , as worms and certain vegetables . There are also five elements : ether , w ind or air in motion , fire or light , water , whose attribute is fluidity , and earth , whose attribute is solidity . The faculties or vital functions are also five in number :
perspiration , inspiration , pulsation or palpitation , whose seat is in the arteries and veins , expiration , and digestion . That the soul in its association with the body undergoes five states : —1 . The state of waking , in which it is active under the direction of Providence ; 2 . The state of dreaming , an intermediate illusion between waking and sleeping , which is nevertheless a prognostic of future events ; 3 . The state of profound sleep , where the
soul , is as it were , enfonced in the Divine essence until such time as it returns in its pristine character to the body which it animates ; 4 . The state of fainting or insensibility , an intermediate illusion between sleep and death , when the soul is temporarily separated from the body ; 5 . The final state of death , when the soul definitively quits its corporeal envelope . That , subjected to transmigration , the soul visits other worlds , in order to receive the recompense of its good works or the
chastisement of its faults . That the wicked fall into the pit of darkness and of punishment , whilst the virtuous ascend into the regions of the moon , there to enjoy the fruits of their good actions , and afterwards redescend to earth , there to re-animate new bodies , in which they re-enact , under the guidance of Providence , the same evil deeds and the same predispositions which animated them in their preceding
life . But the wise man who succeeds in enfranchising himself from the ties of the world , which envelope the soul , as it were , in a network , ascends to the upper regions , where he arrives at the palace of Brahma , undergoes an examination , and if found perfect in true wisdom , passes to an union with the Divine essence .
In this deliverance of the soul we have all the mystic symbols of Masonic initiation—the three Degrees of the Order ; viz . the complete deliverance , where perfection is accomplished and the soul is absorbed in the Divine essence , which is j 2 jpical of our 3 rd Degree ; the imperfect deliverance , where the canditfiG ^ is lifted up to heaven , there to pass his examination in tho palace of Brahma before lie attains the last beatitude , which corresponds to the type of our 2 nd Degree ; and then the first deliverance , at which we can arrive in this life , and which invests the possessor with supernatural powers , such as evoking from the tomb the shades of Ids ancestors ,