Light Of Ages.

LIGHT OF AGES .

ANCIENT SCIENCE AND SYSTEMIC RELIGIONS .

FROM THE VOICE OF MASONRY . ( Continued from page 103 . ) IN ancient as well as modern , eastern languages , which wore verv free in tho uso of hyperbole in expression , the terms whioh we represent by " life" nnd "death" wero not so limited as we com . monly understand them . They wore general forms of speeth for

rewards and punishments . " Yo shall surely die , " meant " yo shall decrease from this time , shall sutler , and finally pass away . " Cain and Abel are symbol * of tho opposing powers of darkness and lightof evil and good . Iu the allegory as represented b y the story of Noah the ark is winter , or , the night of the year . The veil which Moses spread out to hide the exceeding brightness of the divine presence is

typical of material nature which conceals tho true , the spirit God from the mind devoid of light . The legend of Samson , who is said to have been weak when beardless ( that is , the young year ) but strong when his beard was grown , and his hair long ( that is , the old year , mature time ) , is a form of the same allegory . ' Another instance is that of the story of Herod and Johu the Baptist , in which tho representative

of the region of darkness kills tho personified sun ; and even tries , by the slaughter of the innocents , to prevent tho rising to power of the next child of light , as the subsequent part of the narrative shows •but this one escaped by the " flight to Egypt , " till " his time had come . " As the sun at the four stations in the anoient symbolic ohart was figured by the human form , so , in the course of the ages , each one of

the several images came to represent a distinot person . The history of these various persons was handed down through widel y separate lands , and became so many independent versions of the original allegory , with the usual imperfections resulting from the errors of the human narrators . The two Saints John are two or the four suns . One is young and loving ; the other is old and rough . Ono is typical of

morning , and of spring ; the other of evening , and of autumn . As the sun of the next day appears we see him called the Son of Man as well as the Son of God . The elder John knows that he must decrease while the new sun and saviour must increase . The new sun is lowly born in the east . At an early age he rises to talk with the " wise men in the temple of tho upper world , and astonishes them with his

learning . He is aware that the noonday Ruler and himself are in the same duty . " I and my Father are one . " He is the God-Man . He is sent "by the Father" —the "Great Architect of the Universe . " From each , and from both , goes forth the Holy Spirit of Light and of Truth . As he , the rising one , has past the youthful days , and continues his mission of good , his upward course , the elder John , the

dethroned sun of sinking day and year , his supposed antagonist , strives to resist him . " Comest thou to me ? " he asks . " Suffer it to be so now , " says the voice of authority . The man of the lent hern raiment splashes tho waters of the dark river upon the son ( or snn ) of the morning—baptism in Jordan—but he cannot restrain his progress . It is the will of the All-Father . The God of Heaven , by the

typical dove , acknowledges him as sun , and the course of nature goes ou . " All the world wonder . " At last the time comes when he , the new sun , in turn is lifted up , placed on the cross ( the astronomical cross ) in sight of all the earth . With him are two personages . On the one hand is a mild and loving being ; on the other , one fierce and cursing . They are types of hopeful morning , and spring ; of despair .

ing evening , and autumn . Then the central sun himself passes th rough the night's darkness , the winter ' s coldness and nakedness , through the valley of death . Three spaces of time he tarries in the regions below , before the early dawn , the vernal equinox , and then rises again , and by " three efforts , " or periods , ascends to heaven , the resplendent sun the type of Light , of Truth , of Life .

" The third day there was a marriage in Caua . " The miracle of Cana is an allegory of the sun producing the juice of the grape from water through the usual course of nature . " To the contemplative mind humanity is the mysterious power that , over all the face of inanimate nature , turns water into wine . " The Son of Man feeds the multitudes . He touched the food , and it was multiplied in his hands . He told his

disciples , those who learned from him , some things they understood not ; some ideas they were not yet able to bear . He gave light ; sometimes partially , sometimes fully—now gradually , again suddenly . The eyes of the physically and spiritually blind were opened , according as they could bear the light . He employed means to bring the uninitiated " to the light . " He gave the twelve ( month-disciples )

bread and wine ( as the autumn does to the year ) . He partook of the bitter libation . Considering the allegoric meaning of Christ being tempted by the Prince of Darkness ; and of the history of Judas . The symbolic meaning of Jesus saying three times , that he must go up to be crucified , may be inferred . "The end of the world" means the " end of the year . " The coming of the Messiah or Saviour , is the

resurrection of the'snn , with the new day—the return of the sun with the new year . A prominent Jewish writer has said , onr " Messiah is Truth . " Jesus teaches the brotherhood of men , and that we all have one God-Father , Lord of Light and Truth . The great civilized community is the modern " City of God . " In the history of Babel , representing , we believe , merely a lodge

great stress was laid upon material work—they wonld build a tower to heaven . Moral force spoke against such a degradation of the true Light , and there arose a confusion of tongnes . When , as related in the New Testament , the Spirit came , it was as a sound of a " rnshing , mighty wind which filled the house . " The chosen ones received the gift of tongues ; that is , thev were made Masons and received the true

inspiration . " Every man heard them ( the apostles ) speak in his own language ; " that is , in the nniversal speech , Masonic terras . This infusion of tho Spirit was the advent of the higher life among men at that time . In this higher Ufa , not livi & g by bread alone , ah . mid modern civilization find solid foundation , and , by this enlightenment , the true way of progress bo discovered .

Light Of Ages.

In the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel by Matthew are several verses of symbolic teaching . As the story of the agony in the garden is rejected by the critics as not being a part of tho oauonical books , its presence among them , and the manner of its coming may serve to explain the way in which arose the different versions and modifications of one original and single allegory .

Tho mystery of the Apocalypse becomes more plain when viewed as symbolized astronomy . We read : " In the beginning was the word , and the word was God . " In Him was life and light . The Greek " Logos , " whioh is translated " word , " may como from a word which m ^ ans " archives . " it thus might uieau tho place where mental life is ; and so the

alphabet would be "Logos" ( which also means speech , or discourse , or wisdom ) , from which the Perfect Light goes forth , as the rising sun , to dispel tho darkness of ignorance , prevent sin , and bring about the rule of Truth and Right . The thought contained in the sentence , " I am tho same , yesterday , to-day and for ever , " was written in refer , ence to the divinity of the Hindus long before the time of Moses .

In the mysteries of India the initiate was divested of his shoes , and clothed in a garment without a seam ( compare the seamless robe of Christ ) . On him was put a cord of three strands , so twined as to make three times three ( cable tow ) , and he wag made to go three times around the cavern . Silence , fortitude , prudence , temperance and justice were inculcated . He was sprinkled with water ( baptism ) .

There wero secrets never to be divulged " except to those who , after long trial , should be found worthy . " Certain formulas of the Brahmans were never written , but were ( and yet are ) imparted by a whisper in the ear . In the Persian mysteries the candidate was reoeived on the point of a sword , presented to his " naked loft breast , " by whioh he was

slightly wounded . The priests of Mithras promised to the initiates a deliverance from sin by means of confession and baptism . The Egyptian priests reverenced a being whom they call the Great One . Initiation into the mysteries , as practised by them , waa con . sidered a symbolio death , and descent to a place of purification ( purgatory ) , with subsequent resurrection to new life , which was to

typify a higher intelligence ; that is , more light to the mind . Ono of their legends relates that a certain personage was slain by the enemy , and his body hidden . After » long search the remains were found , and buried by friends ; then followed resurrection . The mysteries of Egypt gave rise to those of the Hebrews . The mysteries of the Essenes were derived from those of the antecedent

and cotemporaneous Hebrews ;* and from these , iu turn , came the secret rites of Christians , who adopted the Jewish modification of many peculiar terras . At its beginning Christianity was an initiation , like that of pagan religions societies , and one part of the ceremony was the " bringing to light . " The use of incense in different religious systems , the laying ou of hands , the degrees or stages of advance , and

other ceremonies , are very significant in considering the question of origin of these associations . The similarity of the ritual of the various Christian Churches and that of the " lodge , " suggests their common origin . The substance of the ceremonies and mysteries which coustituted the earl y Christian worship may be found in the forms of sun-worship . The celebration of these rites was called tho mass .

The Latin name " nw ' ssa " is full of meaning . These ancient mysteries were a kind of inner , purer religion , of which the practices of the populace became corruptions and degenerations ; and sometimes the most decided degradations . The different systems of religiou that have ariseu , both before and after Christianity , are of the same general form with it , being more

or less varied in completeness and in extent of ceremonial . The legendary poems of Ancient Greece contain illustrations of tho snn allegory . In Homer's Iliad , book first , lines 531-5 , it is said that Jove went to hold a banquet among the Ethiopians ( that is , in the region of night and of winter ) , and with him went all the train of- the Gods ( that is , all the celestial host ) . Twelve davs , or spaces of time , mnst

pass ere he return to Heaven . Recall , in this connection , the history of Priam , Hector and Achilles ( the younger binds the elder to his chariot wheels , and drags him to the dust ) ; and the Laokoon ( contest against time ) . The victories of Hercules are but exhibitions of the solar power which have to be ever repeated : the twelve labours are the twelve months ) .

In ancient Roman mythology we find a similar allegory presented by the history of Romnlusand Remns . The donble-faced Janus is a figure of the year . The young faoe typifies the happy morning and joyous spring ; the aged one means evening and antumn—or tho beginning and the end of the cyole of seasons . When intelligently conceived they are not antagonists , but harmoniously unite to complete the round of nature .

The legends of Iceland , Norway and Sweden , teach us that Odin came from Asia through eastern Europe . The religions system of the Goths , and kindred people of North Europe , are similar in their snpernatural features to those of Greece and Rome . The story of Faust and Mephistopheles is a very ancient one , and may be viewed as a form of the allegory of the sun .

Many illustrations of this may bo found in Homer , Hesiod , Virgil , Dante , and Milton , as well as in the folk-lore of various peoples and places . By the monks of Thibet , by the priests of 'Hindustan , of Egypt , Samothrace , Eleusis , Rome , and by those of peoples in every country

thence around the earth to the mountains of China , the mysteries of symbols and numbers were used ; all pointing to the variety and harmony , the beauty and gr . 'indenr of the universe of God . From India , through nations and countries encircling the world westward to India again , the worship of the snn has furnished the central idea of multiform idolatries . In modern Masonry the typical personage is the representative of