Masonic Celestial Mysteries.

MASONIC CELESTIAL MYSTERIES .

By HENEY MELVILLE .

PAPER 4 . —OMNIA AIFCIT VEKITAS . Enough has been shewn of Egyptian mysteries ! Were more proofs brought forward it might probably allow the uninitiated to obtain a clue by which all the secrets of Masonry might become

unravelled . From what has been explained , intellectual brethren will probably admit that the ancient Egyptian monuments have reference to the heavenly host , and that their meaning can be interpreted when using modern celestial charto .

Flamsted the first Astronomer Royal of Greenwich was probably not a Freemason , he apparently knew not that important mysteries , were veiled under the ancient celestial figures , but he evidently considered that the celestial laud marks should

be preserved . Prov . xxii . 28 , and Deut . xxvii . 17 . In the introduction of his atlas published in 1743 , it says : —

" Finding ib necessary to depart from the figures , as given in . Bayer A . D . 1603 , it led him into a strict enquiry to find out who first constructed maps of the constellations , and especially by whom the stars were reduced into those forms into which they are disposed iu Ptolemy ' s catalogue ( of which there is no account that

can be relied upon ) for from what Ptolemy relates in his 4 th Chap , ofthe 7 th book of his Almageste , it is evident that these images or figures were older than Hipparchus ' s time ( 150 B . C . ) where he says , " that we employ not the same figures of constellations that those before us did , as neither did thoy before them , but frequently made use

of others that more truly represent the forms for which they were drawn " * * * " Prom Ptolemy ' s time to our own , fche names of the constellations he made use oE have been continued by the ingenious and learned of all nations .- the Arabians always use the forms and names of fche constellations ; the old Latin catalogues of the

fixed stars are the same . Copernicus' catalogue ( the first we have in good latin ) and Tycho Bralie ' s use the same -. so do the catalogues published by the Germans , Italians , Spanish , Portuguese , French and English languages . All th . e observations of tbe ancients and moderns make use of Ptolemys forms of the

constellations and names of the stars , so that there is a necessity of adhering to them that we may not render the old observations unintelligible by altering or departing from them- " --

Modern Astronomers have done away with the constellations altogether , they have virtually destroyed the heavenly science , and astronomy being uninteresting it is no longer studied . Professor Airy the Astronomer Royal writes from the Greenwich observatory " I do not believe that any astronomer of this age considers there is any

occult meaning in the formation of the constellations . " Masons alloAV there are long lost secrets that ought to belong to them , and one of your correspondents Bro . W . N . Crawford , p . 269 , justly

considers the persecution , the Masonic brethren suffer from the Roman dei'gy is owing- to their belief that the Masonic truths might be brought to light to the discomfirture of Romanism . But to astronomy ? Looking through a long tube

and putting down on paper the position and movements of the celestial objects , may be a very interesting- mechanical pass-time to those who like it , but of what nse are the feeble efforts to penetrate infinite space ? The owner of the longest tube is the best astronomer of this age , and what does the best astronomer know ? Can his

knowledge be compared to the understanding of the all absorbing' mental treasures recorded in the heavens by generations of men long long passed away—of men who lived before the epoch allowed to creation ? The practical astronomer with

ininstruments can tell the moment the sun passes the equinox , which equinox is ever changing . The majestic sun-man winged bull , and the sunman winged lion , in the British Museum record the same point in the heavens ; there they stand

solemn memento ' s of the past , present , and future , denoting to day what they may ( if then sculptured ) have recorded ten thousand years back , and will denote again ten thousand years hence , if the stones do not perish . There is a celebrated Masonic document purporting to be written by Henry the Sixth .

Whether it be genuine , matters little—it evidently applies to a time when Masonry was thought to be very different from Avhat Masonry now isthe question is asked . " Quest ¦ . "Whafcte arfces haveth the magonnes techedde

mankynde . " . 471811 ! .: The artes agricultura , architecture , asfcronomia , geometria , numeris , musica , poesie kymistrye , governmente , and relygyonne- " Do Masons of this day teach any of these arts and sciences—do they teach any thing , or will they

be taught themselves ? Provided a man can scrawl his name when he pays for his certificate that is all the knowledge Masonry requires of him , and the certificate is all he obtains from Masonry . All educated men in olden times Avere clerical and were brethren of one Craft or caste , " knowledge was power , " and if omnia vine-it Veritas be true .