Masonic Notes And Queries .

The Tyrians had two temples , one of which was sacred to fire , and the other to the wind , or air in motion . DANCING , as well as music , was attributed to the planets . In the quaint language of Burton : " The sun and moon dance about the earth , the three upper planets about the sun as their centre , now stationary , now direct , now retrograde , now in apogee , then in perigee , now swift , then slow , occidental , oriental , then turn round and trace and about the with

, jump , ? $ sun , those 33 macula ! , ' or bubonian planets j circa Solem saltantes Cyntharedum . " AVe quote several remarkable passages from Lncien , as pertinent to this branch of our subject . "The Indians , as soon as they rise , which is early in the morning , worship the sun , not as we , who , after having kissed the handthink we have finished our devotions ; butstanding

, , toward the east , they salute the sun with dancing , forming themselves in silence to imitate the dance of that god , i . e ., the vibration of light . And this to them is prayer , chorus , and sacrifice , with which , twice every day , at the rising and setting sun , they placate their Deity . " The following lines from Milton ' s " Paradise Lost , " are regarded as a translation of another passage :

" Mystical dance , which yonder starry sphere Of planets , and affixed in all her wheels , Resembles nearest ; mazes intricate , Eccentric , intervolved , yet regular Then most when most irregular they seem !" The proofs that dancing was a religious rite among the Gentile nations of antiquity , and formed a part of the ceremonial in their mysteriesare neither few nor problematical .

, Dances and songs were used by the Phrygians in honour of the Cabiri . A chorus of dancers constituted one of the devices on the shields of Achilles and Hercules . The sage Socrates seemed to regard the observance of this ceremony as well calculated to inspire bravery when he said , " AVho honour best the gods in chorus , are best in battle . " Homer , in his hymn to Apollo , describes him as playing and dancing to the sound of his own lyre .

Among the ancient Britons , the image of the sun is represented with a face beaming with light , and i \ flaming wheel u ^ ow his breast . We find a hieroglyph of the sun in the title-page to Bro . Anderson's "Book of Constitutions of the Ancient and Honourable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons . " * It appears in the form of Apollo driving his four white steeds , symbolising strength , beauty , f intelligence , and harmonious action . The chariot lias two wheels , denoting circmngyratory and progressive motion , so peculiar to the spheres athwart the cloudy canopy of the zenith . Thus the wheels are emblematical of the powers

of light and heat , wisdom and love , which revolve the earth . Hence the two bowls , or round bodies—called also pommels or ballsj— were introduced into Solomon's Temple , and placed on the tops of the two brazen pillars , which , as it would seem , were set up expressly to support the representations of the spheres . And not only were these columns , but also all the furniture of the temple , and of the tabernacle as well , and its characteristic structurelivelicons of the great agents of

, y Elohim in forming and sustaining the universe . Plutarch describes a dance instituted by Theseus , a heroic king of Athens , to he performed around the altar of Apollo , which he said he was persuaded contained a deep mystery . It differed in no respect from other ancient dances performed at the altars of the gods . In one part of this dance , called " Strophe , " the movements were / rom right lo left , the performers singing at the

same time one stanza of a hymn . This movement indicated tho motion of the world from east to west ; in the second part , called " Antistrophe , " they moved from left to right while pinging another stanza . This second movement represented the motion of the planets from west to east . The third part , "Epode , " they sung standing still , which denoted the fixed station of the earth ; and we would suggest , probably also , the rest and repose to be enjoyed in that new earth , " wherein

dwelleth righteousness . " The expulsion of the revealers of the sacred mysteries of Greece , was expressed by the term " exorcheisthai , " signifying to be " out of the dance . " In the German waltz , which claims a remote antiquitv , there are imitations of

Masonic Notes And Queries .

the different planetary evolutions , of moving from the right to the left , and from the left to the right , motions rotatory , and those describing circles or ellipses . And if among the Gentiles , so also with God's chosen people , the song and the dance were acknowledged religious ordinances , acceptable to the God of Israel . Dancing was so important a ceremony iu all the Jewish festivals , that the very word for festival was in , a dance .

King David signalised his victory over the Philistines , who had deified the powers of the heavens or air , by bringing back the ark in solemn procession , " playing before the Lord with well-tuned instruments mightily , and with songs and harps , and Jutes and drums , and cymbals and pipes , while the King himself , dressed in the humble attire of a Levite ( a long white robe ) , leaped and danced before the ark of the Lord . " * The word translan ted O-TO \ T ) by the seventy , the version of King

James calls an ephod—a garment of gold , blue , purple , scarlet , and fine-twined linen , emblematical of the atrial powers , the worship rendered to which David sought to reclaim to Elohim , their Creator and Master . It was not the making of any image , or "likeness of anything , " in heaven , on the earth , or in the waters , that constitutes the transgression against which one of the ten divine commands is directed ; but it is the bowing down to it , and paying it worship , that constitutes sin . Else would the making of the four-faced cherubim have been

unlawful ; while , on the contrary , they were directed to be constructed by express divine command . What the cherubim represented , although intimately connected with our present theme , must be reserved for some other esoteric hour . The Hebrew word used for " dancing , " in the second book of Samuel ( vi . 16 ) , has been translated , by learned critics , " skipped or capered . " It is said to express dancing in rays or circles , now bounding forward , now back , now turning round , and

springing from the ground like a frisky lamb or goat . " Let Israel rejoice in him that made him : let the children of Zion be joyful in their King . Let them praise his name in the dance : let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp . "—Ps . cxlix . It was not alone at festivals or seasons of rejoicing , but on funereal occasions also that music constituted a part of the ceremonial .

Rending the air with the sound of lamentation , accompanied with singing and musical instruments , in honour of the worthy dead , is a very ancient practice , which has not yet gone out of use . The kings of the nations were said to lie in glory , every one in his own house ; but the king of Babylon was not allowed to be joined with them in burial . f The burden of the dirge seemed to be " Ah-Adon-ah-glory . " The vociferations and sound of instruments agitated the air , causing irradiation of glory , of which a crown with rays is the symbol . ( To be continued . )

Correspondence.

CORRESPONDENCE .

The ZEtlitor is not responsible for the opinions expressed ty Correspondents .

MASONIC CHARITIES .

TO THE EDITOH OH THE FIIEEMIASOXS' HAGAZISE AND MASONIC ItlEEOE . DBAU SIR AND BROTHER , —In the midst of the excitement which has lately arisen on various points of Masonic jurisprudence , I refer with pleasure to the very practical letter which appeared in your MAGAZINE of the 31 st nit ., signed " W . M . "; and while I would by no means thwart the object of those who discuss the letter of the law , I

think we might , with at least equal advantage , direct our attention to the spirit of Freemasonry . The suggestion of "W . M . '' is not only very sensible , bufc very opportune , and might be applied to all cases of testimonials with substantial benefit to the distressed and helpless , while nothing could be more gratifying to a brother , who had rendered good service , than a Life Governorship of one of our truly noble charities . Nor could any greater inducement be held out to others to follow a good example ; and , to make the honour still