The Symbolism Of Light In Masonry.

shall find this symbolism pervading not only the institutions but the very languages of antiquity . Thus , among the Hebrews , the word aur , in the singular , signified "light , " but in the plural , aurim , it denoted the revelation of the divine will ; aud the aurim ancl llmmmim , literally " the light and truth" constituted a part of tho

, breast plate whence the hi gh p riest obtained oracular responses to the questions which he proposed . * There is a peculiarity about the word " light , " in the old Egyptian language , which is well worth considei-ation in this connection . Among the Egyptians the havo was the hieroglyphic of eyes that are openand it was adoptedbecause

, , that timid animal was supposed never to close his organs of vision , being always on the watch for his enemies . The hare was afterwards adopted by the priests as a symbol of the mental illumination , or mystic light , ivhich ivas revealed to the neophytes , in the contemplation of divine truth , during the progress of their initiation ; and hence , according to

Champollion , the hare was also the symbol of Osiris , their chief god ; thus showing the intimate connection which they believed to exist between tlie process of initiation into their sacred rites and the contemplation of the divine nature . But the Hebrew word for hare is arnahat . Now , this is coinpounded of the two words , aur , light , and nabat , to behold ;

and therefore the word which , in the Egyptian denoted "initiation , " in the Hebrew signified "to behold the light . " in two nations so intimately connected in history as the Hebrew and the Egyptian , such a coincidence could not have been accidental . It shows the prevalence of the sentiment at that period that the communication of light was the prominent design of the mysteries—so prominent , that the one

was made the synonym of the other , t The worship of light , either in its pure essence , or in the forms of sun worshi p and fire worship—because the sun ancl the fire were causes of light , was among the earliest and most universal superstitions of the world . Light was considered as the primordial source of all that was holy and intelligent ; and darknessas its oppositewas viewed as but another

, , name for evil ancl ignorance . Dr . Beard , in an article on this subject , in Kitto ' s Cyelopcediet , of Biblical Literature , attributes this view of the divine nature of light , which ivas entertained by the nations of the East , to the fact that , in that part of the world , lig ht " has a clearness and brilliancy , is accompanied by an intensity of heat , and is followed in its

influence by a largeness of good , of which the inhabitants of less genial climates have no conception . Light easily aud naturally became , in consequence , with orientals , a representative of the highest human good . All the more joyous emotions of the mind , all the pleasing sensations of the frame , all ihe happy hours of domestic intercourseivei'e described

, under imagery derived from li ght . The transition was natural—from earthly to heavenly , from corporeal to spiritual things ; and so light came to typify true religion and the felicity which it imparts . But as light not only came from God , but also makes man ' s way clear before him , so it was employed to signify moral truth , and preeminently that divine

system of truth which is set forth in the Bible , from its earliest gleanings onward to the perfect day of the great Sun of Righteousness . " I am inclined to believe that in this passage the learned author has erred , not in the definition of the symbol , but in his deduction of its origin . Light became the object of religious veneration , not because of the brilliancy and clearness of a particular sky , nor the warmth and genial influence

of a particular climate—for the worship was universal , in Scandinavia as in India—but because it was the natural and inevitable result of the -worship of the sun , the chief deity of Sabaism , a faith which pervaded to an extraordinary extent the whole relig ious sentiment of antiquity . * Liht was venerated because it was an emanation from the

g sun , and , in the materialism of the ancient faith , light and darkness were both personified as positive existences , the one being the enemy of the other . Two princip les were thus supposed to reign over tho world , antagonistic to each other , and each , alternately presiding over the destinies of mankind . ! Tho contests between the good ancl evil principle , symboof tho

lized by lig ht ancl darkness , composed a very large part ancient mythology ^ in all countries . Among the Egyptians , Osiris was light , or the sun ; and his arch enemy / typhon , who ultimately destroyed him , was the representative of darkness . Zoroasterthe father of the ancient Persian relig ion , taught

, the same doctrine , and called the principle of light , or good , Ormuzd ; and the princip le of darkness , or evil , Aliriman . The former , born of the purest light , and the latter , sprung from utter darkness , are , iu this mythology , continually making war on each other . Manes , or Manichrens , the founder of the sect of Maniht that there two

chees , in the third century , taug are princip les from which all things proceed ; the one is a pure and subtle matter , called Lig ht , the other a gross and corrupt substance , called Darkness . Each of these is subject to the dominion of A superintending being , whose existence is from all eternity . The being who presides over the lig ht is called God ; he that rules overthe darkness is called Ilylo or Demon . The ruler of the lig ht is supremely happy , good , and benevolent ; while the ruler over darkness is unhappy , evil , and

malignant . Pythagoras also maintained this doctrine of two antagonistic principles . He called the one , unity , light , the right hand , equality , stability , and a straight line ; the other , he named binary , darkness , the left hand , inequality , instability , and a curved line . Of the colours , he attributed white to the good princileand black to the evil one .

p , The Kabbalists gave a prominent p lace to light , iu their system of cosmogony . They taught that , before the creation of the world , all space was filled with what they called the Aur en soph , or the eternal light , and that when the Divine Mind determined or willed the production of nature , the eternal light withdrew io a central point , leaving around it