Kabbalism, Of The Religious Philosophy Of The Hebrews.

of Melchizedek . We need hardly remind our readers that Christians soon began to use the Scriptures in the same manner . It was commonly believed that demons would fly at the name of Jesus , and on repeating the words of the Psalm , " Let God arise , and let His enemies be scattered . " S . Chrysostum reproves the people in his time for using the first verse

of S . John ' s Gospel as a charm . This Kabbalistic use of Scripture may yet be found in existence in many parts of our own country , among the ignorant and superstitious . We cannot omit mention of apparent allusions "to , and agreements withthis system in the New

Testa-, ment . Nor shall we be surprised at the fact , for undoubtedly Kabbalism , as based on the Old Testament , had in it a large amount of truth . Thus far the Apostles would be willing to allow it , though , of course , when it exceeded these bounds it would not be

tolerated . They were ready , so far , to become all things to all men , that by all means they might gain some . They did not wish to repel , but to draw . "When , however , Kabbalism assumed a new development—which we shall presently speak of—then they condemned it in no measured terms . Thus , in the opening verses of St . John ' s Gospeland in the Epistles to the Hebrewswe

, , have our Lord spoken of in terms which a Kabbalist would not hesitate to use with regard to the Sephirah wisdom . The " Word , " be it remembered , was a term invented by them ; this , spoken of as being " with God in the beginning : as creating all things ; as being the source of "life , " and that "life" being the "light of

men ; " as shining in darkness , and the darkness comprehending it not ; also our Lord ' s words , " I came forth from the Pather , " " the Father hath sent His Son , " & c , would accord with their ideas of emanation . Again , S . Paul ' s phrase , " the brightness of His glory , and the express image of His person , " "by whom also He made the worlds , " where "worlds" is plural : — all this , while it is in direct agreement with what is said of Wisdom in the Book of Proverbs and in the

Wisdom of Solomon , is also in equal accordance with Kabbalistic teaching . Again , S . Paul ' s frequent mention of the hierarchies of angels , and of the principalities and powers of devils , is at least worthy of note . More so still is that of " the beasts , " " the great whore , " and "the mother of fornications" in the Apocalypse ; for in Zohar we read that Sainael

, the chief of the fallen angels , has a wife , who being the personification of evil and sensuality , is called "the whore , " "the mother of fornication , " or simply "the beast . " This creature is probably—there is some obscurity in the matter—identical with Lilith , so often mentioned in the Talmud .

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

SIE THOMAS SACKVILLE . It is generally asserted that Sir Thomas Sackville was Grand Master of the York Masons , temp . Queen Elizabeth . 1 . Is there any proof of this , or is it a surmise of Preston ' s . 2 . What is known respecting mm . Was ho connected with the Order of St . John ? These enquiries important to the lar Order

are Temp . The Order of St . John was suppressed in 1540 , revived under Mary , who reigned 1553-1558 , and finally suppressed under Elizabeth , who reigned 1558-1603 . . Hatton says that Isabella Sackville , the last Prioress of Werkenwell , aied 21 st October , 1570 , and was buried iii the old church , destroyed by fire about thirty years ago ,

Masonic Notes And Queries.

with her effigies in brass on a gravestone ; also , beneath a curious tomb , Sir William Weston , the last lord prior of St . John of Jerusalem , who upon its dissolution , was allowed £ 1000 per annnmn for life , but died , it was supposed of grief , on May the 7 th , 154-0 , the very day the house was dissolved . " — -Bone ' s Ancient Mysteries . —A .

TURKISH JANIZARIES . Secret societies have from time immemorial existed among the Mohammedans , and an early successor of the Prophet was named possessor of the secret . Had the Janizaries a secret organisation like the Templars ? In a book of costumes I have seen , those of Arabia are represented with the interlaced triangles tatooed on the forehead . Lady Montagu says of them ( 1717 ) "This

may give you some idea of the unlimited power of these followers , who are all sworn brothers , and bound to revenge the injuries done to one another , whether at Cairo , Aleppo , or any other part of the world . This inviolable league makes them so powerful that the greatest men at court never speak to them but in a faltering tone ; and in Asia , any man that is rich , is forced to enrol himself a janizary to secure his estate . " —Ibid . —A .

TEE VEILS . A Jewish play , of which fragments are still preserved in Greek Iambics , is the first drama known to have been written on a scripture subject ( translated into Latin by Er . Morellus , Paris , 1580 ) . It is taken from the Exodus , or the departure of the Israelites from Egypt under their leader and prophet Moses . The principal characters are Moses , Sapphora , and God from the bush , or God

speaking from the burning bush . Moses delivers the prologue in a speech of sixty lines , and his rod is turned into a serpent on the stage . The author of the play is Ezekiel , a Jew , who is called the tragic poet of the Jews . War ton supposes that he wrote it after the -destruction of Jerusalem , as a pob ' tical spectacle to animate his dispersed brethren , with the hopes of a future deliverance from their captivity under the conduct of a new Moses ; that it was composed in imitation of the Greek drama at the close of the second century . —Ibid . —A .

THE BODECAIIEDKOS . What do the six small triangles which terminate in the circle of the Royal Arch jewel represent . —ASST . SOJ . —[ The Dodecahedron ; a geometrical figure , formed by the intersection of the two larger triangles , together with the central triangle , if reduced , will be found equal to seven triple-tau ' s , or 7 x 8 = 56 right angles . To them add the external lesof the six trianglesformed bthe

ang , , y intersection of the two large triangles , which will be equal to sixteen right angles , for , since the exterior angle of every triangle , formed by producing one of its sides , is equal to the two interior and opposite angles and , every angle of an equilateral triangle is equal to ^ of two right angles ; therefore , each of the external angles will be equal to - | of two riht angles ; andas these are

g , twelve in number , their amount , in right angles , will be sixteen , because | of 2 = or 1- | , and !¦§¦ x 12 = 16 . These sixteen angles added to the before mentioned fifty-six right angles , will make seventy-two . But , by a corollary of the thirty-second proposition of book I . of Euclid , the interior angles of every rectilineal figure are equal to twice as many right angles — 4 , as the figure

has sides , hence the interior angles of the five-sided figure , called the Pentagon , are 10 — 4 = 6 right angles , whilst the solid figure called a Dodecahedron , being contained by twelve equal and equilateral pentagons , its amount , in right angles , will be 12 x 6 = 72 , which is the amount , or number , of the right angles contained in the central triangle and the twelve exterior les of

interang section , Thus , the Dodhecahedron , each of the angles of which is formed by the union of three plane obtuse angles , approaching nearer to the form of a sphere , than any of the other solids terminated by plane superfices , was used by the Platonists to express the sphere of the Universe . ]