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Article ON" GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYMBOLS. ← Page 5 of 5 Article MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Page 1 of 3 →
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On" Geometrical And Other Symbols.
feminine , in human life ; and the man or woman results , as an outbirth , from the union of these tAvo . In the man , or masculine , the concentrative is more powerful , both in mind and in body than in the woman or feminine , who is more radiative or spiritual and angelic in her nature than the man : hence the
Radiative life , or light rather , in woman will develope itself more highly than in man ; and will , in fact , be . -as superior comparatively , to that in man , as is the "Concentrative life in man to that in woman . The Coneentrativetherefore , is essentiallymaseulinein principle , and the Radiative feminine ; although , in this life ,
or the ConcentratiA r e life , in both men and women , the ¦ concentrative , or masculine principle , is of course , predominant ; as in the other or Radiative life , the Radiative , in both , is predominant , while the concentrative , or masculine , rests in the glorious arms , as it wereof the exalted radiativewho shines as " a eroAvn
, , of glory" on the " Head" of this " man-child , " and is herself "the woman , clothed Avith the sun , " —the •" woman" who was put away , "—the " woman" who , as " a neAV thing , " shall " compass a man" ( Jer . xxxi . 22 ) : " she shall compass thee with a crown of glory . " The operation of these two principles , the
concenitrative and the radiative , can be traced in the compositions and decompositions , the concretions and solutions , of the body , and its conservation , as well as in * those of the mind -. indeed , the body may much more properly be said to subsist by and in these tAvo principles , the Soul and the Spirit—the Concentrative and the Radiative—than these in it . { To be continued . )
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
TUB VAULTS UKDEE MOUNT MOEIAII . As every scrap of information relating to the Temple . -at Jerusalem must be of interest to Freemasons , I send you an extract from a recent traveller ' s work on the ¦ Hol y Land . " If the reader will examine a map of Jerusalem and vicinity he will see a spot just without the walls , and near the Damascus Gatecalled Jeremiah ' s GrottoAAlicnce it derived its name
, . , ¦ or why it is appropriated to that prophet in particular , I know aiot , but to the most casual observer , it presents the appearance of a deserted quarry . Between it and the walls of the city inns a road leading across the Valley of Jehosaphat , and skirting the Mount of Olives , till it falls in with the path from St . Stephen ' s Gate , when it crosses the mountain to Bethany , and thence to Jericho .
" It lias long been more than suspected that a gallery of this quarry extended under the wall of the city itself , hut nothing was positively known regarding it , as it has been kept carefully closed hy the successive governors of Jerusalem . The mouth of the cavern was probably walled up , at least as early as tlle time of the Crusades , to pi-event its tailing into the hands of a besieging army ; earth was then thrown up against the wall , effectuall
so as y to conceal it from view , and it is only upon the closest scrutiny that the present entrance can be perceived . _ "Drs . Smith and Eobertson , during their tour through Palestine , made an effort to effect an entrance , but in vain , and , so far as I know , all other attempts have been equally unsuccessful , till about a year ago , when the dog of an American gentleman , a resident of Jerusalem , attracted by the smell of some
animal , scratched a hole just at the surface of the ground , and suddenly disappeared ; he soon came back , and his master attempted an exploration , but owing to the want of candles he was obliged to give up the attempt . He returned , however , ¦ with his sons and a servant , just about sunset , and allowing themselves to be locked out of ' the city , they succeeded , without attracting observation , in descending and making a survey of the whole extent . The report of this was soon bruited abroad ,
and before the authorities took any action m the matter , it was visited by several parties , and by ours among the number . "For a few rods the descent was very rapid down a slope of rich loam , but soon we began to ascend over immense heaps of rubble and the chippings of hewn stone . The turnings were frequent but not abrupt , the main direction being south-east . We took the precaution to fasten a clue at the entrance , wliich an Arab unwound as we advancedand at every turn w . e stopped
, to examine the bearings of our compasses , so that our progress was slow . AVe laboured on , however , now running against some of the huge pillars left for the support of the roof , and again stumbling over some massive block , which we could not see in the obscurity . AVe followed up the different galleries , and examined them thoroughly , in the hope of finding some other outlet , but were stopped in every direction by the solid rock .
" Suddenly there was a cry of ' take care hero's a precipice 1 ' AA ' e all pressed forward to the spot to examine it , and iound ourselves on the edge of a pit some ten or fifteen feet deep , and about a hundred feet across . The floor was of rock , smooth , but extremely uneven , the inequalities being caused by breaking off the blocks at the bottom , instead of cutting them away ; the rooftoopresented a similar appearance . Near thisat
, , , the end of a long gallery , was a fountain , supplied by water dropping from the roof . It was delightfully cool , but unpleasant to the taste , being strongly impregnated with lime . " Our advance was , in one or two places , obstructed by tbe heaps of broken stone , which reached near the roof , that we were obliged to creep on our hands and knees . I could understand well what a grievous penance it must be to walk with
one's shoes full of peas , for crawling on coble stones is akin to it . At the end of one of the chambers was a crevice in the rock , through which one or two of us squeezed , and looking up , we thought we had discovered an old shaft , but on climbing thirty feet or more we found that it was a natural fissure , and had no outlet above as we hoped . Our disappointment was lessened , however , upon discovering that the sides of the
fissure were covered with stalactitoes of a rose colour , and we immediately availed ourselves of a hammer , produced by one of the party , to break off specimens , with which we filled our pockets .
" But the most interesting portion was at the extreme end of the last chamber . Here were blocks of stone but half quarried , and still attached by one side to the rock . The work of quarrying was apparently effected by an instrument resembling a pickaxe , with a broad chisel-shaped end , as the spaces between the blocks were not more than four inches wide , in which it would be impossible for a man to work with chisel and mallet . The spaces were many of them four feet deepand ten feet in
, height , and the distance between them was about four feet . After being cut away at each side , and at the bottom , a lever was probably inserted , and tho combined fores of three or four men could easily pry the block away from the rock behind ; the stone was extremely soft and pliable , nearly white , and easily worked ; but , like the stone of Malta and Paris , hardening on . exposure . Tlie marks of the cutting instrument were as plain
and well defined , as if the workmen had just ceased from labour . "Having thoroughly examined every nook and corner , we turned back towards the entrance , examining the ground as we went . Near a pillar in about the centre , we found a quantity of bones , brought in by the jackals , the smell of which had first attracted the dog . AVe then looked along the surface of the
wall , wliich closed the entrance , but , though the light streamed in at one or two cracks , there was no other hole large enough to admit even a dog , and satisfied that we had come in at the only possible entrance , we , one after another , climbed up and worked our way out . "Upon comparing a subsequent measurement of our guiding lineand the time spent in returning from the extreme endwe
, , judged the length of the quarry to be rather more than a quarter of a mile , and its greatest breadth less than half that distance . "There had been some doubt expressed by one or two of the party , who had made a previous visit , as to its being a quarry , but we all agreed that though it might originally have been a grottoit had been workedand then the question ' B
, , arose , y whom ? ' The answer was , ' King Solomon , and for this opinion there seemed to be many reasons . The stone is the same as that of tho portion of the temple wall still remaining , and referred to by Dr . Itobinson to the period of the first building . The mouth of the quarry is but little below the level of
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On" Geometrical And Other Symbols.
feminine , in human life ; and the man or woman results , as an outbirth , from the union of these tAvo . In the man , or masculine , the concentrative is more powerful , both in mind and in body than in the woman or feminine , who is more radiative or spiritual and angelic in her nature than the man : hence the
Radiative life , or light rather , in woman will develope itself more highly than in man ; and will , in fact , be . -as superior comparatively , to that in man , as is the "Concentrative life in man to that in woman . The Coneentrativetherefore , is essentiallymaseulinein principle , and the Radiative feminine ; although , in this life ,
or the ConcentratiA r e life , in both men and women , the ¦ concentrative , or masculine principle , is of course , predominant ; as in the other or Radiative life , the Radiative , in both , is predominant , while the concentrative , or masculine , rests in the glorious arms , as it wereof the exalted radiativewho shines as " a eroAvn
, , of glory" on the " Head" of this " man-child , " and is herself "the woman , clothed Avith the sun , " —the •" woman" who was put away , "—the " woman" who , as " a neAV thing , " shall " compass a man" ( Jer . xxxi . 22 ) : " she shall compass thee with a crown of glory . " The operation of these two principles , the
concenitrative and the radiative , can be traced in the compositions and decompositions , the concretions and solutions , of the body , and its conservation , as well as in * those of the mind -. indeed , the body may much more properly be said to subsist by and in these tAvo principles , the Soul and the Spirit—the Concentrative and the Radiative—than these in it . { To be continued . )
Masonic Notes And Queries.
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .
TUB VAULTS UKDEE MOUNT MOEIAII . As every scrap of information relating to the Temple . -at Jerusalem must be of interest to Freemasons , I send you an extract from a recent traveller ' s work on the ¦ Hol y Land . " If the reader will examine a map of Jerusalem and vicinity he will see a spot just without the walls , and near the Damascus Gatecalled Jeremiah ' s GrottoAAlicnce it derived its name
, . , ¦ or why it is appropriated to that prophet in particular , I know aiot , but to the most casual observer , it presents the appearance of a deserted quarry . Between it and the walls of the city inns a road leading across the Valley of Jehosaphat , and skirting the Mount of Olives , till it falls in with the path from St . Stephen ' s Gate , when it crosses the mountain to Bethany , and thence to Jericho .
" It lias long been more than suspected that a gallery of this quarry extended under the wall of the city itself , hut nothing was positively known regarding it , as it has been kept carefully closed hy the successive governors of Jerusalem . The mouth of the cavern was probably walled up , at least as early as tlle time of the Crusades , to pi-event its tailing into the hands of a besieging army ; earth was then thrown up against the wall , effectuall
so as y to conceal it from view , and it is only upon the closest scrutiny that the present entrance can be perceived . _ "Drs . Smith and Eobertson , during their tour through Palestine , made an effort to effect an entrance , but in vain , and , so far as I know , all other attempts have been equally unsuccessful , till about a year ago , when the dog of an American gentleman , a resident of Jerusalem , attracted by the smell of some
animal , scratched a hole just at the surface of the ground , and suddenly disappeared ; he soon came back , and his master attempted an exploration , but owing to the want of candles he was obliged to give up the attempt . He returned , however , ¦ with his sons and a servant , just about sunset , and allowing themselves to be locked out of ' the city , they succeeded , without attracting observation , in descending and making a survey of the whole extent . The report of this was soon bruited abroad ,
and before the authorities took any action m the matter , it was visited by several parties , and by ours among the number . "For a few rods the descent was very rapid down a slope of rich loam , but soon we began to ascend over immense heaps of rubble and the chippings of hewn stone . The turnings were frequent but not abrupt , the main direction being south-east . We took the precaution to fasten a clue at the entrance , wliich an Arab unwound as we advancedand at every turn w . e stopped
, to examine the bearings of our compasses , so that our progress was slow . AVe laboured on , however , now running against some of the huge pillars left for the support of the roof , and again stumbling over some massive block , which we could not see in the obscurity . AVe followed up the different galleries , and examined them thoroughly , in the hope of finding some other outlet , but were stopped in every direction by the solid rock .
" Suddenly there was a cry of ' take care hero's a precipice 1 ' AA ' e all pressed forward to the spot to examine it , and iound ourselves on the edge of a pit some ten or fifteen feet deep , and about a hundred feet across . The floor was of rock , smooth , but extremely uneven , the inequalities being caused by breaking off the blocks at the bottom , instead of cutting them away ; the rooftoopresented a similar appearance . Near thisat
, , , the end of a long gallery , was a fountain , supplied by water dropping from the roof . It was delightfully cool , but unpleasant to the taste , being strongly impregnated with lime . " Our advance was , in one or two places , obstructed by tbe heaps of broken stone , which reached near the roof , that we were obliged to creep on our hands and knees . I could understand well what a grievous penance it must be to walk with
one's shoes full of peas , for crawling on coble stones is akin to it . At the end of one of the chambers was a crevice in the rock , through which one or two of us squeezed , and looking up , we thought we had discovered an old shaft , but on climbing thirty feet or more we found that it was a natural fissure , and had no outlet above as we hoped . Our disappointment was lessened , however , upon discovering that the sides of the
fissure were covered with stalactitoes of a rose colour , and we immediately availed ourselves of a hammer , produced by one of the party , to break off specimens , with which we filled our pockets .
" But the most interesting portion was at the extreme end of the last chamber . Here were blocks of stone but half quarried , and still attached by one side to the rock . The work of quarrying was apparently effected by an instrument resembling a pickaxe , with a broad chisel-shaped end , as the spaces between the blocks were not more than four inches wide , in which it would be impossible for a man to work with chisel and mallet . The spaces were many of them four feet deepand ten feet in
, height , and the distance between them was about four feet . After being cut away at each side , and at the bottom , a lever was probably inserted , and tho combined fores of three or four men could easily pry the block away from the rock behind ; the stone was extremely soft and pliable , nearly white , and easily worked ; but , like the stone of Malta and Paris , hardening on . exposure . Tlie marks of the cutting instrument were as plain
and well defined , as if the workmen had just ceased from labour . "Having thoroughly examined every nook and corner , we turned back towards the entrance , examining the ground as we went . Near a pillar in about the centre , we found a quantity of bones , brought in by the jackals , the smell of which had first attracted the dog . AVe then looked along the surface of the
wall , wliich closed the entrance , but , though the light streamed in at one or two cracks , there was no other hole large enough to admit even a dog , and satisfied that we had come in at the only possible entrance , we , one after another , climbed up and worked our way out . "Upon comparing a subsequent measurement of our guiding lineand the time spent in returning from the extreme endwe
, , judged the length of the quarry to be rather more than a quarter of a mile , and its greatest breadth less than half that distance . "There had been some doubt expressed by one or two of the party , who had made a previous visit , as to its being a quarry , but we all agreed that though it might originally have been a grottoit had been workedand then the question ' B
, , arose , y whom ? ' The answer was , ' King Solomon , and for this opinion there seemed to be many reasons . The stone is the same as that of tho portion of the temple wall still remaining , and referred to by Dr . Itobinson to the period of the first building . The mouth of the quarry is but little below the level of