Cagliostro's Egyptian Masonry.

CAGLIOSTRO'S EGYPTIAN MASONRY .

LOJVMS , SATUIWAY , JULY i-i , 1851 ) ,

Lv our memoir of Count Cagliostro ( page 9 of our last volume of the Freemasons' Magazine ) , we promised to give some idea of the impostor ' s bubble which he chose to term Egyptian Masonry . In redeeming this jrromise AA'e must ask the indulgence of our readers , for -we are well aware that the account Ave aro about to give is very imperfect ; and this arises

from the fact of the inquisition biographer being able to lay hands only on a note book of Cagliostro ' s , he being . much too ¦ wary to jeopardise a full revelation of his system by confiding more than a portion of its outline to writing . Another cause of our imperfection is to be found in tho very scarce -work itself from -which Ave have translatedfor it deals in a

, jumble of biography , confession , invective , and denunciation of the arch-quack , so that our task has been , to cull those portions Avhich treat of tho Egyptian Masonry alone ; and although it might have been presented in a more attractive style , yet Ave have sacrificed the opportunity of making a thrilling story , to adhere as closely as possible to a literal

translation . With these fcAV remarks Ave UOAV come to the Roman inquisitor ' s version of Cagliostro ' s Egyptian Masonry . Shortly before quitting London , Cagliostro bought some manuscripts , Avhich he said seemed to have been the property of a certain George Ooston , Avho Avas utterly unknoAvn to him . He saAv that they treated of Egyptian Masonry , but

following a system which had something in it of magic and superstition . Nevertheless he resolved to build up on this plan ti new ritual of Masonry , by removing - , as he said , all that could be thought impious , that is to say all that belonged to magic and superstition . In fact he founded that to of

system Avhich has . ^ read every part the -world and so much contributed to the astonishing celebrity of its author . We extract our details of it from a-work composed by himself , ancl Avhich affords a complete insight into the subject . Ho declares , moreover , that it is in conformity Avith this book that he has always regulated himself in the practice of

Masonry , that it was the rule of the institutions whcrcAvith he had enriched various Lodges , and that he had left a number of copies in tho mother Lodges founded b y him in various cities . In his system he promised his followers to conduct them to perfection by means of moral and j > hysical regeneration ; by the first to make them find the primal matter or

philosojmcr ' s stone , and the acacia which consolidates in man the powers of tho most vigorous youth and renders him immortal ; by the second , to teach him IIOAV to procure the pentagon which restores man to his primitive state of innocence , forfeited by tho original sin . He supposes Egyptian Masonry Avas instituted b y Enoch and Elias , AVIIO propagated it in different parts of the world , but that with time it lost much of its purity and splendour . Tho Masonry of men Avas

reduced to mere Inmoonory , and that of women Avas almost entirely destroyed since , for the most part , it had no longer any place in common Masonry . Finally , the zeal of the Grand Cophta ( such is the name of the high priests of Egypt ) , had manifested itself in restoring to its ori ginal lustre the Masonry of either sex .

By the Grand Cophta is understood Cagliostro himself , who in this system is compared to the Eternal ; he is solemnly adored ; he is invested Avith the power of commanding angels ; ho is invoked on all occasions ; and everything is accomplished through the force of his power , wliich they pretend Avas imparted to him by the Deity . More than so , amongst the

different rites observed in this i ' oi-m of Masonry the recitation is ordained of the "Vcni Creator Spiritus , " the "To Dcum , " and certain psalms of David ; and they even carry their audacit y so far that , in the psalm "Memento , Domine , David , et omnis mansuetudinis ejus , " every time tho name of David occurs they substitute that of the Grand C ' optlm ! No religion is excluded from the Egyptian society . The ¦ ' * » .--A- ' ¦ ' ¦

Jew , the Calvinist , tho Lutheran , may all bo admitted as Avell as the Catholic , provided they acknowledge tho existence of God and the immortality of the soul , and that they have been enrolled in the ordinary Masonry . Men elevated to the rank of Masters , take the names of the ancient prophets , and Avomen assume those of the Sybils . Here is the oath exacted

from the former : "I promise , I engage , and I swear , never to reveal the secrets which shall bo imparted to me in this temple , and to blindly obey my superiors . " Here is the oath of the women : " I swear before the eternal God of the Grand

Mistress , and of nil who hear me , never to write or cause to be written , anything that shall pass under my eyes , condemning myself , in tho event of imprudence , to be punished according to the LIAVS of the Grand Founder and of all my superiors . I likeAvise promise tho exact observance of the other six commandments imposed upon me , that is to say ,

love of God , respect for my sovereign , veneration for religion and the laAvs , love of my fellow-creatures , an attachment without bounds for our order , and the blindest submission to the rules and code of our ritual , such as they may be communicated to me by the Grand Mistress . " On rising to the third degreethat of Master or Mistressthe oaths are

re-, , newed , but the formula is not preserved in the book . We know that it is usual in common Masonry to give the recipiendary tAvo pairs of gloves , one for himself and the other for the lady of his love . In preseiwing this custom the Grand Cophta has added one jieculiarity , viz ., that in the admission of women tho candidates are presented with a

cockade , which they are told to offer , Avith the gloves , to the men they most regard . The forms of admission to the different degrees are equally sacrilegious . We AA ^ II cite tAvo only—that used on tho admission of a woman to the degree of Apprentice , and that AA'ith Avhich a man is raised to tho rank of a Companion .

According to the first , the Grand Mistress breathes upon tho face of the recipiendary , from the forehead to the chin , saying , " I thus breathe upon you to cause the truths possessed by us to germinate and penetrate -within your heart ; I breathe upon you to fortify your spiritual part ; I breathe upon you to confirm you in . the faith of your brothers and sisters ,

according to the engagements that you have contracted . We create you a legitimate daughter of the true Egyptian adoption and of the Lodge N . ; AVC will that you be recognized as such by all the brothers and sisters of the Egyptian ritual , and that you enjoy tho same prerogatives Avith them . Lastly , we impart to you the supreme pleasure of being henceforth and for ever a "Freemason . "

It is thus that the Grand Master addresses tho men AVIIO are being raised to the , degree of Companion : " By the pOAver that I hold from the Grand Cophta , the founder of our Order , and by the grace of God , I confer upon you . the degree of Companion , and constitute you a guardian , of the neAv science in which we are preparing to make you a participator

by the sacred names of Helios , Meiic , Tetragrammaton . " In tho " Essay upon the l'lluminati , " printed at Paris in . 1789 , we are told that these last words wore suggested to Cagliostro as being Arabian and sacred terms , by a juggler AVIIO pretended to bo assisted by a spirit , and AVIIO added that this spirit Avas the soul of a Jewish Cabah'sfc AVIIO , by his

magic art had killed his father before tho advent of Christ . '"' The ordinary Masons arc accustomed to lake St . John the Baptist for their patron , and to celebrate his festival . Cagliostro , in his ritual , has chosen the feast of St . John the Evangelist , and this is precisely the day on which he was imprisoned at Home . His reason for adopting this festival Avas , according to his OAVII account , the great affinity that exists between the Apocalypse and tho workings of his ritual . It is now time to speak of these workings . This is the

* The author of the " essay , " quoted , must bo mistaken . The three Avovds are Greek , they signify tbe sun , the moon , and tbe name compounded of four letters , tvhieli is that o £ God , or more properly of Jehovah , such . bei » K written in Hebrew by four characters .--Translator ,