The Brahmins And Royal Archmasonry.

he was supposed to be born again , as Horus in the lap of Isis , and his ascension into heaven , or entry into the Elysian fields , was fabled to take place through the ivory gate of the vernal equinox , when he again appeared at the summit of the pyramid as an Apollo in the glory of his youth and vigour . The ceremonies of initiation into the Exoteric doctrines or

mysteries at the temple of Isis in Egypt , and of Ceres at Eleusis were symbolical of the progress of the sun through the Zodiac . The Freemasons , according to Le Noir , copied the ceremonies of the two first grades of their Craft ( apprentice and companion ) , from those of the Egyptian priests ; but the third grade corresponding to that of Master , being confined to persons who entered the priesthood , the

ceremonies were never revealed , and it became necessary to invent some others , which they founded on the death of Hiram , an architect , sent by the king of Tyre to Solomon , to assist in building the Temple of Jerusalem . It is a singular fact , that the double equilateral triangle , which is engraved on Svi Jantra , and whose origin and meaning have been above explainedis stated in Kitti ' s

, Biblical Encyclopa . dia ( p . 142 , vol . 1 ) , to have formed one of the most usual amulets worn by the Jews , and known by them as the " Shield of David , " and the " Seal of Solomon " ( vide Fig . 6 ); no doubt the seal with which that monarch controlled the Jins and Afrits ! Probably on this account it is held in respect by the Mahomedans , audit is found on the walls of their houses ( videBibl . Ency . p . 876 vol . 1 ) .

, , It likewise forms the chief ornament of the celebrated socalled Gates of Somnath , taken from the tomb of Mahmud at Ghanzi . It is also remarkable , that the very symbol should have been adopted by the Freemasons , as the decoration of the degree of the Royal Arch . The myth , connected with this symbol , as related by Le

Noir , is in substance as follows : —The system of Freemasonry is assumed to have prevailed amongst the builders of the Temple of Jerusalem . Hiram was no doubt " Worshipful Master . " Three apprentices who were curious to learn the Master's sign , waylaid Hiram with a view to compel him to reveal the secret , and on his refusing to do so murdered him . Hiram , on fleeing from his murderers , threw

the triangle into a well , where after a long search it was discovered by three of the 27 Masters who were elected to pursue the murderers and recover the lost symbol . To prevent the recurrence of a similar event , and tbe risk of losing the sacred triangle , in the centre of which the incommunicable name of God , " J . A . O ., " had been inscribed by Solomon , a vault was constructed under the Temple

unknown to any but the elect ; and the golden triangle was fixed on a tripod , resting on the mystical cubic stone , which , as in India , China , and Egypt , probably represented the earth . The vault was then closed up and sealed with the seal of Solomon , and the secret entrusted to the care of the twenty-seven masters and their successors . The celebration of the death of Hiram ( which Le Noir thinks was substituted for the symbolical death of Osiris , the sun at the autumnal equinox ) , constitutes the ceremony at the

initiation of the third grade of Masons , viz ., that of Master ; and the recovery of the triangle , and the placing it in the secret vault , form the subject of the initiation of the Grand Master of Scotland . On the taking of Jerusalem by the Crusaders , the key-stone of the arch of the secret vault is said to have given way , and to have discovered to the view of the Knight Templars the sacred triangle , which had been

concealed from the world for twenty centuries . This discovery was the origin of the English degree of the Royal Arch ; and the decoration is an arch , with the sun shining through the aperture , caused by the fall of the key-stone upon a double equilateral triangle placed on an altar . From the statement of another eminent Freemason , it would appear that the triangle was held to be a sacred

symbol , representing nearly the same ideas , by all the nations of the East . Dr . James Burnes , in his address to the Lodge of St . Andrew's in the East , at Poonah , June 24 , 1847 , expressed himself as follows : — " It is not enough to say that the symbol which I hold in my hand , the triangle within a circle , was used by Zoroaster and Pythagoras six centuries before Christ , to typify what it represents in this place . _ Ages before this era it had been exhibited in the pyramids of Egypt , the cave temples of India , the pagodas

The Brahmins And Royal Archmasonry.

of China and Japan , and the grottos of Scandinavia , toshadow forth , as it does here , the increasing eternity . Thecircle whose centre is everywhere , and circumference , nowhere , combined with the infinite wisdom , the omnipotent , power , and the glorious beauty of the Great Architect of the Universe ; the light , the mercy , and the truth ; the past , the present , and to come ; the beginning , middle , and end .-, the creator

, preserver , and destroyer of all things . " It is difficult to determine to what nation this mystical symbol owes its origin ; but it seems to have been common to all primeval religions of Asia , in which the chief object Exoteric worship were the sun , planets , and elements of nature , but whose Exoteric doctrine was the existence of one great creative spirit pervading and animating the universe .

An equilateral triangle , whose sides , however extended , were always equal , and whose angles , however great the space contained , were ever the same , was probably adapted by religious geometricians as the most appropriate emblem of the Immutable and Eternal . —Vol . 13 of Journal of the Asiatic Society . In the Sth vol . of the Asiatic Researches , p . 76 , the Abbe Pluche mentions the canopus as a jar or pitcher of water intended to make the people acquainted with the exact progress and increase of the inundation , he adds , they used

tomark these jars with the figure T ° , or a small >|< , to express the increase and swelling of the river . The word canob , by the analogy of the Sanscrit language , becomes cumbh , which signifies a jar or vase ; it gives the name in the Hindu zodiac in the sign Aquarius . This Cumbh , G'hata , or jar , is the principal object of worship in the . celebration of the Hindu worshi It is considered

p . as almost the Deity itself . It cannot " be dispensed with , while the image of Durga may be omitted entirely . The Vaishnavas use the sacred jar , which they mark with several crosses , in this manner *¦ £ . The Savias mark the jar

with a double triangle , thus , _> V ; one triangle signifies Siva uniting in himself the great attributes ; the other triangle is his consort , with the same character and attributes . The worshippers of the Sacti , or female principle , mark the jar with this figure < f ^ . These marks are called jantra ; they are , in fact , hieroglyphic characters , and there is a vast variety of them . The above are only mentioned , here because of their use in this Puj ; i , and as they distinguish three principal sects of the Hindus .

Mason Marks In Egypt.

MASON MARKS IN EGYPT .

A correspondent in the Indian Freemason ' s Friend writes-( after alluding to the letter of another correspondent on " Footprints of Masonry" in a previous number ) I am induced to think that a few lines on Mason marks in Egypt may not be unacceptable ; and I therfore place at your : disposal the folio ( ring slight resume of my own observations during a residence of some few in that countryonce

years , favoured of tbe arts and sciences , but now , so far as her own people are concerned , a mere wreck of the great of the earth . A wreck , however , which , for the richness of its relics of the past , may fairly compete with Rome and the other cities of ancient Etruria . To the casual Masonic visitor to the land of which I now write , the question will naturally present itself , —Are the

Egyptians Masons ?—from tbe very frequent occurrence of the double triangle , the pentaphla , the pointed circle , and other Masonic devices , carved " on the lintels of the doors , affixed for purposes of illumination or floral decoration to the walls of their homes , and tatooed on the brawny breasts , arms , and shoulders of the Arabs . The question is not easy of solution ba casual -bybut yetresearch and

y passer , , enquiry prove , that Masonry does exist to a certain extent in Egypt , that the knowledge is confined to the Copts , the descendants of the ancient Egyptians , but is still concealed from the ordinary inhabitant of Egypt , the Arab of our day , ivho has but adopted the " outward and visible sign , "