Ancient Symbolism Illustrated.

ANCIENT SYMBOLISM ILLUSTEATEIX

BIT HI 10 . liOBEHT MARTIN , TMt . C . 3 ., I'AST D . I'ROV . GRAND MASTER Of SUl'l'OUC ; AXD l ' . ll . COM . Otf ICSitlUTS TKMl'LAlt , ETC . I HAVE explained tho origin of the first signs and symbols adopted and received by man , ancl classed them under these general heads ; first , phonetic symbols , or symbols of sound , directed to the ear , which formed the rudiments of oral or spoken language . Secondlythose signs whichlike the signs

, , of our different , degrees of Masonry acting on the principle of association , when recognized by the initiated eye , convey to the mind a picture of events which , without fche Lodge it is nofc lawful to disclose ; and thirdly , idiographic or pictorial symbols , some of which were exemplified on the zodiac . I have also shown that the circumstances of man rendered it

necessary for him to employ these symbols as means of communicating his sentiments and desires to his fellows , for which , in the early clays of man , they were found sufficient . But as the sons of men increased upon the earth , and with them the number of events to be recorded , pictorial representations for general purposes were found to be insufficient

, and moreover required for their performance so great a sacrifice of time , that it became expedient to establish certain abbreviate marks or signs , wliich , from their real or supjwsed resemblance to , particular objects , were received as symbols

of them . Thus the inventive genius of man first formed the rudiments of alphabetical language , and produced a fourth application of signs and symbols to the use of man . The Hebrew word which signifies "to write , " like the Greek yprn / iw , signifies also to draw or delineate , and applies equally to the full pictorial hieroglyphic as well as to the

abbreviated alphabetical character . In the ancient Hebrew the character or letter corresponding to our M is mem , the sound by wliich they symbolized the substantive , " water . " Now a very ordinary symbol for water is a zigzag line , whicli doubtless is intended to represent undulation or ri ppling , and consequently in the old Hebrew , iu ivhich the Pentateuch was written

¦ by Moses or his descendants , the character , mem , is represented by a zigzag , undulating line . Gesenius , in his Hebrew Lexicon , asserts that the name of the letter mem signifies water , ancl that the most ancient figures of it everywhere resemble tlie ri ppling form of water . In the Ethiopian alphabet the same undulating character is called mmthat is

, " water ; " thus then in fche first instance the character of the Hebrews was not a letter , but a word or phonetic symbol implying tlio substantive " water ; " and again referring to the signs on tlio zodiac you will find Aquarius , the water bearer , symbolized by two zigzag lines . Again , a certain

AQUA urns , character taken from the Chinese alphabet is evidentl y a coarse pictorial symbol of a two legged animal , ancl with the Chinese means " man ; " their al phabet admits no individual letters , but consists of full symbols or words . Dr . Lamb , the present master of Corpus Christi College , Cambrid has recentl book

ge , y published a on tho Hebrew alphabet , in which he traces back every letter to its original symbol or hieroglyphic . Most learned authors agree " that tho system of alphabets of every language sprang from symbols of sound and pictorial representations , as In the Hebrew mem ,- and even with Europeans who are in tlie constant habit of

reading , the written or printed words act on our minds as hieroglyphics . The si ght of a group of certain characters , for instance , to whicli we havo been lone accustomed , and which with us are merely phonetic hiero ^ glyphics , or symbols of sound , immediately conveys to our minds the idea expressed without any conscious reference to sound or alphabetical arrangement . For example , the written or printed characters h , o , m , c , when presented to

Ancient Symbolism Illustrated.

the eye , without any reference to their individual sounds , convoy to the mind ideas associated with that spot ; ancl thus alphabetical language being established , a fresh application of its symbols was next invented . De Costa states that with the ancients , letters representing numbers formed cabalistic names expressive of the essential

qualities of those things they were intended to represent ; and the Greeks in translating foreign names , whose cabalistic import they knew , rendered them by Greek letters , so as to preserve the same interpretation in numbers ; this is curiously exemplified in the name of the river Nile . " The fertilityproduced by the inundations of the Nile over the adjacent

country caused this river to be considered a mystic representation of the sun , as the parent of all the fecundity of the earth ; and therefore a name was given to it containing the number ( 365 ) of the days . in the solar year . The Greeks thus preserved the name of the river Neilos ( or Nile as we call it in English ); opposite to each Greek character or letter is

placed the number it represents , which added together give the exact number of days in the solar year . N 50 , E 5 , 110 , A 30 , 0 70 , S 200—NEIA 02—365 . A work recently reprinted by John Allen upon the

antiquities of the Jews , contains a very lucid illustration of the Cabala Gemmcttria . Although tho ancient authority for it may not be generally known , the custom itself is practised to this clay in merchandise , when it is desired to place secret marks or prices on goods ; letters instead of figures are employed , such letters forming part of a cabalistic word . For

instance , the word " Cumberland" contains ten letters ; by giving to each letter a value in figures corresponding to the place it occupies , the word is capable of being extensively used for this purpose . C would represent 1 , C and TJ 12 , C and B 14 , D ancl B 104 , U and A 28 , M E E 305 , and so on to any useful extent—such are termed cabalistic symbols .

Having thus hastily glanced at the orig in ancl history of symbols , together with some ' of the purposes to which they were applied , I will revert to the clays of their first adoption , and deduce from the character and circumstances of Adam reasons for their limited employment in his day . Although the sentence had been passed that cursed the ground for his

sake , ancl that in sorrow he should eat of it all the clays of his life , yet his wants were few , and they were amply supplied ; for the world was his and . the produce thereof . The climate he lived under ivas such as to render no house

necessary for his abode , he had none but himself to labour for , ancl the earth was yet fruitful ; he had no conception of the principles of fraud , collusion , prevarication or ill design existing in the universe , since he knew them not in himself , and thus the means of protection against violence , of preservation and defence , were not necessaiy to him . The symbol of the Deity—for purposes of worship and the symbols of

sound and gesticulation , enabling him to communicate with those around him , constituted the only way in which symbols could be useful to him . This early and happy period is thus described in Cook's translation of Hesiod : —

" Nor felt their mind a care , nor body pain ; From labour free they every sense enjoy , Nor coulcl the ills of time their peace destroy ; In banquets they delight , removed from care , Nor troublesome old age intruded there . They die , or rather seem to die ; they seem From hence transported in a pleasing dream .

The fields as yet untill'd their fruits afford , And fill a sumptuous and unenvied board . " But with the multiplication of man increased his distance from his original purity ; false conceptions of his Maker , and confusion of his accepted symbol—fire—with the Deity himself , sprang into existence . We read that the Magi of oldwith

, Zoroaster , his priests and disciples—practising on the feelinginherent in fallen man of the necessity for a mediator or priest—converted their mysteries into the means of obtaining wealth and power , and preserved a knowledge of their priestcraft to themselves by the institution of signs , symbols , ancl