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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 3 of 10 →
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On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
principle , which , with certain modifications , is traceable throughout every nation of antiquity . We see this as well in the Cneph , Osiris , and Ptha of Egypt , wliich formed the subject of illustration , as in the Brahma , Vishna , and Siva of India—in the Orosmandes , Mithras , and Arimanius of Persia—in the Apollo , Vulcan , and Mercury of Greecein the Jupiter , Juno , and Minerva of Rome—and in the Hu , Ceridwen , and Creirwy of the Celts .
In like manner it will be found that another principle of a duplet character is of equally extensive signification , and was as universally understood . This principle was in Egypt symbolized by the junction of OSIRIS and Isis . In this sense , OSIRIS figuratively represented the active masculine energy and mysterious power emanating from the Divine Architect , by wliich all created things are generated and nourished . ISIS represented the jxtsstue feminine principleor generative
, nurse and mother of the world—the grand receptacle of the benign influences of Osiris , producing by her plastic power , both fruits , and flowers , and animated things . She is thus " the goddess of a thousand names , the infinite Myrionyma , endued with the property of receiving all kind of impressions , and of being converted into all manner of forms which the supreme reason shall impress upon her . " Isis was
therefore a personification of nature , and Osiris ofthe creative energy by which nature is rendered prolific . The effects of this Divine union were perceptible iu the variegated face of creation;—in the smiling harvest—in the purple vineyards—in the luscious fruits and blooming flowers—in the verdant meads and shady woodlands—and in all which ministered to the comfort and enjoyment of man . But the mysterious process by which nature nurtured and matured the embyro seed entrusted to her bosomthe potent energy which caused the sapling to
, spring into a goodly tree , and the simple grain to throw forth stems and burst into a thousand blossoms , though referred to in the celebration of the mysteries , were secrets which the human mind , from its finite nature , could not then , nor in its present imperfect state , can ever hope to penetrate . The inscrutable secrets of nature are , by the unerring wisdom of the Almighty , veiled from mortal comprehension . Around them he has thrown ramparts as impassable as those which of old
shadowed the Holiness of his Presence at Sinai . Into the profound arcana of nature no living eye can be permitted to gaze . Thus we may apprehend what was intended by the solemn and comprehensive description of Isis engraved on the front of her majestic temple at Sais— " I am every thing that hath been , that is , or shtM be ; and no mortal hath ever yet removed the veil that shadows my divinity from human
eyes . In the Egyptian triad , before explained ( see ante , p . 146 ) , it has been observed that all the emblems are ultimatel y resolvable into one Eternal Deity , the distinctions being in the nature of essences , indicative rather of peculiar attributes than of distinct beings . The same explanation is here applicable to Isis and Osiris . Both being in fact the same , though at first regarded seperately as individual emanations , and subsequently united to personify or allegorize certain results perceptible in the
operations of nature , but incapable of complete comprehension by the human intellect . Thus each , representing in fact the same divine power , would , as a member of the sacred triad , be symbolized by the triangle , and the peculiar junction of the divine essences here alluded to , would be indicated by the intersection of a second triangle ; and this , I apprehend ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
principle , which , with certain modifications , is traceable throughout every nation of antiquity . We see this as well in the Cneph , Osiris , and Ptha of Egypt , wliich formed the subject of illustration , as in the Brahma , Vishna , and Siva of India—in the Orosmandes , Mithras , and Arimanius of Persia—in the Apollo , Vulcan , and Mercury of Greecein the Jupiter , Juno , and Minerva of Rome—and in the Hu , Ceridwen , and Creirwy of the Celts .
In like manner it will be found that another principle of a duplet character is of equally extensive signification , and was as universally understood . This principle was in Egypt symbolized by the junction of OSIRIS and Isis . In this sense , OSIRIS figuratively represented the active masculine energy and mysterious power emanating from the Divine Architect , by wliich all created things are generated and nourished . ISIS represented the jxtsstue feminine principleor generative
, nurse and mother of the world—the grand receptacle of the benign influences of Osiris , producing by her plastic power , both fruits , and flowers , and animated things . She is thus " the goddess of a thousand names , the infinite Myrionyma , endued with the property of receiving all kind of impressions , and of being converted into all manner of forms which the supreme reason shall impress upon her . " Isis was
therefore a personification of nature , and Osiris ofthe creative energy by which nature is rendered prolific . The effects of this Divine union were perceptible iu the variegated face of creation;—in the smiling harvest—in the purple vineyards—in the luscious fruits and blooming flowers—in the verdant meads and shady woodlands—and in all which ministered to the comfort and enjoyment of man . But the mysterious process by which nature nurtured and matured the embyro seed entrusted to her bosomthe potent energy which caused the sapling to
, spring into a goodly tree , and the simple grain to throw forth stems and burst into a thousand blossoms , though referred to in the celebration of the mysteries , were secrets which the human mind , from its finite nature , could not then , nor in its present imperfect state , can ever hope to penetrate . The inscrutable secrets of nature are , by the unerring wisdom of the Almighty , veiled from mortal comprehension . Around them he has thrown ramparts as impassable as those which of old
shadowed the Holiness of his Presence at Sinai . Into the profound arcana of nature no living eye can be permitted to gaze . Thus we may apprehend what was intended by the solemn and comprehensive description of Isis engraved on the front of her majestic temple at Sais— " I am every thing that hath been , that is , or shtM be ; and no mortal hath ever yet removed the veil that shadows my divinity from human
eyes . In the Egyptian triad , before explained ( see ante , p . 146 ) , it has been observed that all the emblems are ultimatel y resolvable into one Eternal Deity , the distinctions being in the nature of essences , indicative rather of peculiar attributes than of distinct beings . The same explanation is here applicable to Isis and Osiris . Both being in fact the same , though at first regarded seperately as individual emanations , and subsequently united to personify or allegorize certain results perceptible in the
operations of nature , but incapable of complete comprehension by the human intellect . Thus each , representing in fact the same divine power , would , as a member of the sacred triad , be symbolized by the triangle , and the peculiar junction of the divine essences here alluded to , would be indicated by the intersection of a second triangle ; and this , I apprehend ,