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    Article CAGLIOSTRO'S EGYPTIAN MASONRY. ← Page 3 of 4 →
Page 3

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Cagliostro's Egyptian Masonry.

take certain Avhite drops ( the composition of which is not explained ) . The dose must be six drops in the morning , and six in the evening , but increased by two drops daily until the thirty-second day . Then in the morning tAvilight the emission of blood will be repeated ; the ' day after he

must go to bed and rise no more till the end of the quarantine ; and IIOAV the first grain of the primal matter is to be sAvallowcd . This primal matter is the same that God made to render man immortal , but of Avhich , through original sin , he has lost the knoAvledge , nor can ho regain it except by the grace of heaven , and by Masonic workings .

When this grain has been taken , he who is to be rejuvenized loses his speech and senses for three hours ; and in the midst of convulsions undergoes violent perspiration and large evacuations . After the patient has come to himself , and his bed has been changed , he must be restored by a cullis made of a pound of beefAvithout fatmixed with divers herbs of a

, , stimulant nature . If by these means he is sufficiently restored , he is given the next day a second grain of primal matter in a cup of jelly , which , in addition to the effects of the first dose , Avill produce a fever , accompanied by delirium , making his skin peel , his hair'drop off , and his teeth fall out . The folloAA'ing day , which is the thirty-fifthif the patient is

, strong enough , he AA'ill take , for an hour , a bath , that is neither too hot nor too cold . On the thirty-sixth day he AA'ill take , in a glass of strong old wine , ' the third and last grain of primal matter , which , AA- 11 make him fall into a soft and tranquil slumber , when , the hair Avill begin to sprout , the teeth to come forth , and the skin to be reneAved . When he

comes to himself he must be again plunged into a bath , but this time it is to be a bath of aromatic herbs , and on the thirty-eighth day into a bath of pure water intermixed Avith nitre . This last bath having been taken , he will dress himself and walk about his room . On the thirty-ninth clay he must swalloAv ten drops of the Grand Master ' s elixir in tAvo

spoonfuls of red wine , and on the fortieth day he will leave the house altogether rejuvenized and perfectl y regenerated . To complete this history AA-e must not forget to add that both methods are equally ordained for women , and that as regards physical regeneration , every one is enjoined to retire to a mountain , or to the country , with no other companion

but one friend , who is to administer the necessary succours , and more particularly in the crises of the bodily cure . When Cagliostro was at Mittau he founded one of his Egyptian Lodges in that toAvn , and finding his audience not sufficiently enlightened by his Avorcls , he undertook to give them actual proof of tho truth of the maxims announced b y him ; that is to say , of the existence of God , and the immortality of the soul . He caused—it is himself who speaks—to be brought into the Lodge a young child , the son of a

nobleman , and placed him , kneeling , before a table on which stood a decanter of pure Avater with illuminated tapers behind it . He then performed certain exorcisms about him , laid his hand upon his head , and both he aud the child , in this attitude , addressed their prayers to God for the happy accomplishment of their enterprise . Next he desired the child to

look into the decanter , Avhen the latter suddenly exclaimed that he SHAV a garden . IvnoAving by this that God was assisting him , Cagliostro took heart and bade the child ask the favour of the Deity that he would cause him to sec tho angel Michael . At first the child said , "I see something Avhitebut cannot make out AA'hat it is . " Aftenvards he

, began to jump about , like one possessed , crying , " I see a child like myself , who seems to have something angelic . " All the assembl y , and Cagliostro himself , Avcre dumbfounded . Then the father of the child desired that his son , by the hel p of the decanter , should see what his daughter - Avas .. doing at that moment , she being at a country house fifteen miles from

Mittau . The child Avas exorcised anew , the hands of the Venerable were laid upon his head , the usual prayers Avere addressed to heaven , when , looking into the decanter , he

said his sister Avas just then coming down the stairs ] and embracing another of her brothers . This appeared impossible to those present because this same brother was some hundred miles off from the place where tho sister Avas . Cagliostro was not to be put out ; he said they might send to

the country house to verify the fact , and , all having kissed his hand , he closed the Lodge Avith the usual ceremonies . After the Lodge AVUS closed they did send accordingly ; and he maintains that AA'hat they had refused to believe was found true in all its details , the young man alluded to haA'ing just arrived from a foreign land .

On many occasions Cagliostro made his experiments without the aid of water , only p lacing the pupil or dove behind a screen which represented a sort of little temple . The questions and workings were not confined solely to the descent and apparition of angels , but extended to the discovery of secrets , future events , and answers to curious

inquiries that were sometimes very much opposed to decency . Nor was Cagliostro the sole operator ; he caused the others , at his pleasure , to work likewise , but it was necessary that he should first communicate with them , and should transfer to them the power Avhich , as he pretended , he had received from heaven . Tho consecration , of an Egyptian Lodge Avas celebrated with the same ceremonies as that of a church . We have

not all the details , but amongst the prescribed ceremonies was a continuous praying for forty-eight hours , pronounced by tAA'o of his sons—so he called his disciples—each alternately relieving the other . The formula' of the patent confirming the formation of a new Lodge is conceived in the folloAving language : —

" Glory , Union , Wisdom , Benignity , Prosperity . " We , the Grand Cophta , founder and Grand Master of high Egyptian Masonry throughout east and Avest , g ive all to knoiv , AVIIO shall see these presents , that during our sojourn at Lyons many members of that east , according to the ordinary ritual , and bearing the name of Avisdom , have manifested an ardent desire to submit to our government , and to receive from us the needful in

lights and poAvcrs for understanding ancl propagating Masonry its true form and primitive purify . We haA-e , therefore acceded to their Avishes , persuaded that , in giving them these tokens of our good will , Ave shall have the sAveet satisfaction of having laboured for the glory of the Eternal , and for the benefit of humanity . " With these motivesafter haA'ing sufficiently established and

, verified to the Venerable , ancl many other members of the aforesaid Lodge , our poAver and authority to that effect , we IIOAV , by the help of these same brethren , found ancl create , for ever , at the east of Lyons , the present Egyptian Lodge ; and Ave constitute it tho mother Lodge for all the east and west , assigning to it the distinctive title of Triumphant Wisdom . "

Cagliostro then names the Officers , —the Venerable , the Orator , the Keeper of the Seals , the Archivist , the Treasurer , the Grand Inspector , and the Master of the Ceremonies ; each of these having a deputy . The emblems were the septangle , the triangle , the troAvel , the compass , the square , the gavel , the death ' s head , the cube

stone , the rough stone , the triangular stone , the wooden bridge , the Jacob's ladder , the phoenix , the globe , time , and many others , Avith such phrases as these : — "Lucent meniere labore" " Ocliprofanumvulc jus et arceo ,- " "Fctile et accipietis : " " Quairile el invenietis ; " "Pulsate et aperielur vobis" "In constants labore spes- " " Aut viucere , aut mo 7 'i . " Amongst other particulars Ave must not omit to mention the jeAvel of the Egyptian Order wliich was a cross , upon the ribbon of which were the letters L . P . D ., for Lilium pedibus cleslrue .

Such is the official account put fonvard by the hol y Horn an inquisition , and , Avith whatever suspicion Ave may look upon the source from whence it emanates , Ave cannot shut our eyes to the world renoAvncd facts—that Cagliostro founded what he called Egyptian Masonry ; that in the Lodges OAvning his supremacy , magic and prediction Avere universally said to be practised , as Avell as the most horrible blasphemy . "It is a

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1859-07-23, Page 3” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 22 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_23071859/page/3/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
CAGLIOSTRO'S EGYPTIAN MASONRY. Article 1
AUTOBIOGRAPHY AND HALIEUTICS. -I. Article 4
THOUGHTS UPON IRON PLATES. Article 7
ANCIENT VIEWS OF FREEMASONRY.—I. Article 9
LEGALITY OF MASONIC MEETINGS. Article 9
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 10
DISSENSIONS IN THE CRAFT. Article 10
FREEMASONRY; ITS HISTORY AND PUBLICATIONS. Article 10
AMERICAN BRETHREN. Article 11
MASONIC MISSIONS. Article 11
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 12
PROVINCIAL. Article 13
KNIGHTS TEMPLAR. Article 17
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 17
SCOTLAND. Article 18
MASONIC FESTIVITIES. Article 19
THE WEEK. Article 19
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 20
TO CORRESPONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Cagliostro's Egyptian Masonry.

take certain Avhite drops ( the composition of which is not explained ) . The dose must be six drops in the morning , and six in the evening , but increased by two drops daily until the thirty-second day . Then in the morning tAvilight the emission of blood will be repeated ; the ' day after he

must go to bed and rise no more till the end of the quarantine ; and IIOAV the first grain of the primal matter is to be sAvallowcd . This primal matter is the same that God made to render man immortal , but of Avhich , through original sin , he has lost the knoAvledge , nor can ho regain it except by the grace of heaven , and by Masonic workings .

When this grain has been taken , he who is to be rejuvenized loses his speech and senses for three hours ; and in the midst of convulsions undergoes violent perspiration and large evacuations . After the patient has come to himself , and his bed has been changed , he must be restored by a cullis made of a pound of beefAvithout fatmixed with divers herbs of a

, , stimulant nature . If by these means he is sufficiently restored , he is given the next day a second grain of primal matter in a cup of jelly , which , in addition to the effects of the first dose , Avill produce a fever , accompanied by delirium , making his skin peel , his hair'drop off , and his teeth fall out . The folloAA'ing day , which is the thirty-fifthif the patient is

, strong enough , he AA'ill take , for an hour , a bath , that is neither too hot nor too cold . On the thirty-sixth day he AA'ill take , in a glass of strong old wine , ' the third and last grain of primal matter , which , AA- 11 make him fall into a soft and tranquil slumber , when , the hair Avill begin to sprout , the teeth to come forth , and the skin to be reneAved . When he

comes to himself he must be again plunged into a bath , but this time it is to be a bath of aromatic herbs , and on the thirty-eighth day into a bath of pure water intermixed Avith nitre . This last bath having been taken , he will dress himself and walk about his room . On the thirty-ninth clay he must swalloAv ten drops of the Grand Master ' s elixir in tAvo

spoonfuls of red wine , and on the fortieth day he will leave the house altogether rejuvenized and perfectl y regenerated . To complete this history AA-e must not forget to add that both methods are equally ordained for women , and that as regards physical regeneration , every one is enjoined to retire to a mountain , or to the country , with no other companion

but one friend , who is to administer the necessary succours , and more particularly in the crises of the bodily cure . When Cagliostro was at Mittau he founded one of his Egyptian Lodges in that toAvn , and finding his audience not sufficiently enlightened by his Avorcls , he undertook to give them actual proof of tho truth of the maxims announced b y him ; that is to say , of the existence of God , and the immortality of the soul . He caused—it is himself who speaks—to be brought into the Lodge a young child , the son of a

nobleman , and placed him , kneeling , before a table on which stood a decanter of pure Avater with illuminated tapers behind it . He then performed certain exorcisms about him , laid his hand upon his head , and both he aud the child , in this attitude , addressed their prayers to God for the happy accomplishment of their enterprise . Next he desired the child to

look into the decanter , Avhen the latter suddenly exclaimed that he SHAV a garden . IvnoAving by this that God was assisting him , Cagliostro took heart and bade the child ask the favour of the Deity that he would cause him to sec tho angel Michael . At first the child said , "I see something Avhitebut cannot make out AA'hat it is . " Aftenvards he

, began to jump about , like one possessed , crying , " I see a child like myself , who seems to have something angelic . " All the assembl y , and Cagliostro himself , Avcre dumbfounded . Then the father of the child desired that his son , by the hel p of the decanter , should see what his daughter - Avas .. doing at that moment , she being at a country house fifteen miles from

Mittau . The child Avas exorcised anew , the hands of the Venerable were laid upon his head , the usual prayers Avere addressed to heaven , when , looking into the decanter , he

said his sister Avas just then coming down the stairs ] and embracing another of her brothers . This appeared impossible to those present because this same brother was some hundred miles off from the place where tho sister Avas . Cagliostro was not to be put out ; he said they might send to

the country house to verify the fact , and , all having kissed his hand , he closed the Lodge Avith the usual ceremonies . After the Lodge AVUS closed they did send accordingly ; and he maintains that AA'hat they had refused to believe was found true in all its details , the young man alluded to haA'ing just arrived from a foreign land .

On many occasions Cagliostro made his experiments without the aid of water , only p lacing the pupil or dove behind a screen which represented a sort of little temple . The questions and workings were not confined solely to the descent and apparition of angels , but extended to the discovery of secrets , future events , and answers to curious

inquiries that were sometimes very much opposed to decency . Nor was Cagliostro the sole operator ; he caused the others , at his pleasure , to work likewise , but it was necessary that he should first communicate with them , and should transfer to them the power Avhich , as he pretended , he had received from heaven . Tho consecration , of an Egyptian Lodge Avas celebrated with the same ceremonies as that of a church . We have

not all the details , but amongst the prescribed ceremonies was a continuous praying for forty-eight hours , pronounced by tAA'o of his sons—so he called his disciples—each alternately relieving the other . The formula' of the patent confirming the formation of a new Lodge is conceived in the folloAving language : —

" Glory , Union , Wisdom , Benignity , Prosperity . " We , the Grand Cophta , founder and Grand Master of high Egyptian Masonry throughout east and Avest , g ive all to knoiv , AVIIO shall see these presents , that during our sojourn at Lyons many members of that east , according to the ordinary ritual , and bearing the name of Avisdom , have manifested an ardent desire to submit to our government , and to receive from us the needful in

lights and poAvcrs for understanding ancl propagating Masonry its true form and primitive purify . We haA-e , therefore acceded to their Avishes , persuaded that , in giving them these tokens of our good will , Ave shall have the sAveet satisfaction of having laboured for the glory of the Eternal , and for the benefit of humanity . " With these motivesafter haA'ing sufficiently established and

, verified to the Venerable , ancl many other members of the aforesaid Lodge , our poAver and authority to that effect , we IIOAV , by the help of these same brethren , found ancl create , for ever , at the east of Lyons , the present Egyptian Lodge ; and Ave constitute it tho mother Lodge for all the east and west , assigning to it the distinctive title of Triumphant Wisdom . "

Cagliostro then names the Officers , —the Venerable , the Orator , the Keeper of the Seals , the Archivist , the Treasurer , the Grand Inspector , and the Master of the Ceremonies ; each of these having a deputy . The emblems were the septangle , the triangle , the troAvel , the compass , the square , the gavel , the death ' s head , the cube

stone , the rough stone , the triangular stone , the wooden bridge , the Jacob's ladder , the phoenix , the globe , time , and many others , Avith such phrases as these : — "Lucent meniere labore" " Ocliprofanumvulc jus et arceo ,- " "Fctile et accipietis : " " Quairile el invenietis ; " "Pulsate et aperielur vobis" "In constants labore spes- " " Aut viucere , aut mo 7 'i . " Amongst other particulars Ave must not omit to mention the jeAvel of the Egyptian Order wliich was a cross , upon the ribbon of which were the letters L . P . D ., for Lilium pedibus cleslrue .

Such is the official account put fonvard by the hol y Horn an inquisition , and , Avith whatever suspicion Ave may look upon the source from whence it emanates , Ave cannot shut our eyes to the world renoAvncd facts—that Cagliostro founded what he called Egyptian Masonry ; that in the Lodges OAvning his supremacy , magic and prediction Avere universally said to be practised , as Avell as the most horrible blasphemy . "It is a

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