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Article FAR EASTERN ANCIENT RITES AND MYSTERIES. Page 1 of 3 →
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Far Eastern Ancient Rites And Mysteries.
FAR EASTERN ANCIENT RITES AND MYSTERIES .
BY BRO . C . PFOUNDES . No . I . rjlHE researches of recent years by industrious , Orientalists have developed a large amount of material of the highest interest to
Freemasons . In the ancient rites and mysteries of Eastern people there are constantly occurring undoubted traces of emblematical significant ceremonies . In Sun and Nature Worship , and in Far Eastern Myths more especially , have we been enabled to discover facts of the highest importance .
The builders of the Temple must have learned the arts and mysteries handed down from predecessors of time immemorial , and the plan thereof , Avithont doubt , was " full of meaning and fraught with grave import . " In the most ancient times the builder ' s art was held in high esteem ; and the work of the mason , significant of
endurance , and of the high skill necessary in moving- the enormous masses of stone of ancient buildings , would be above all the most important . Going further back , even to the Creation , we find the cosmogony of ancient civilised people enfolded in Nature myths , but throughout all of them there appears distinctly recognised the " Great Architect "
and His " builders . " In one of the most universal and detailed myths of the Creation Ave find a description of a state of chaos , from which were resolved the purer or astherial elements , the celestial regions ; whilst the grosser portions Avere sublimated and precipitated , becoming a " waste of water , " from which "a spot of land emerged , " becoming a
" pillar " betAveen these elements . " Divinities " appeared ; male and female human beings descended upon this " pillar " -like island , and , separating , circumvented the island , again meeting . Subsequently children Avere born , and to each was given a position , a duty , and a region to rule over . Step by step , the " earth and all therein , " animate
and inanimate , Avere created , and the fulness thereof , for the use of these human beings of Divine origin and their offspring . The first-born ruled the sun and day ; another the moon and night ; again , another provided food , and so on ; a complete system of government being the result , —all " built up " with an elaboration of detail and emblematical
sie'nification of the most absorbing- and interesting- nature . The life of civilised people of early , perhaps even pre-historic periods , —for undoubtedly there was a considerable amount of civilisation and culture in the far distant eras , —Avas not so selfish or
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Far Eastern Ancient Rites And Mysteries.
FAR EASTERN ANCIENT RITES AND MYSTERIES .
BY BRO . C . PFOUNDES . No . I . rjlHE researches of recent years by industrious , Orientalists have developed a large amount of material of the highest interest to
Freemasons . In the ancient rites and mysteries of Eastern people there are constantly occurring undoubted traces of emblematical significant ceremonies . In Sun and Nature Worship , and in Far Eastern Myths more especially , have we been enabled to discover facts of the highest importance .
The builders of the Temple must have learned the arts and mysteries handed down from predecessors of time immemorial , and the plan thereof , Avithont doubt , was " full of meaning and fraught with grave import . " In the most ancient times the builder ' s art was held in high esteem ; and the work of the mason , significant of
endurance , and of the high skill necessary in moving- the enormous masses of stone of ancient buildings , would be above all the most important . Going further back , even to the Creation , we find the cosmogony of ancient civilised people enfolded in Nature myths , but throughout all of them there appears distinctly recognised the " Great Architect "
and His " builders . " In one of the most universal and detailed myths of the Creation Ave find a description of a state of chaos , from which were resolved the purer or astherial elements , the celestial regions ; whilst the grosser portions Avere sublimated and precipitated , becoming a " waste of water , " from which "a spot of land emerged , " becoming a
" pillar " betAveen these elements . " Divinities " appeared ; male and female human beings descended upon this " pillar " -like island , and , separating , circumvented the island , again meeting . Subsequently children Avere born , and to each was given a position , a duty , and a region to rule over . Step by step , the " earth and all therein , " animate
and inanimate , Avere created , and the fulness thereof , for the use of these human beings of Divine origin and their offspring . The first-born ruled the sun and day ; another the moon and night ; again , another provided food , and so on ; a complete system of government being the result , —all " built up " with an elaboration of detail and emblematical
sie'nification of the most absorbing- and interesting- nature . The life of civilised people of early , perhaps even pre-historic periods , —for undoubtedly there was a considerable amount of civilisation and culture in the far distant eras , —Avas not so selfish or