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Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. ← Page 4 of 10 →
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On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
was in the east the earliest signification of the following well-knowi . emblem @ i , though the attributes and essences it was there intended to symbolize were distinguished by different names , and known under different personifications . In Egypt , this mystical union with its effect was more frequently symbolized in a somewhat different manner . Thus , the SCUARE was
the emblem of matter ( Isis ); and the TIUANGLE , of the creative power or generating fire ( O SIRIS ) . From their conjunction all things were said to proceed . THE QUADRANGULAR PYRAMID , formed from the union of these symbols , thus became an emblem of those profound mysteries involved in the conjoint operations of the creative and productive powers of nature . It has been imagined by some that the great pyramids were constructed by the Hebrews during their sojourn in Egypt .
This is however mere conjecture , unsupported by evidence . These wondrous efforts of masonic skill , in all probability the oldest remaining on the face of the earth , were hoary with age when the children of Israel settled in the land of Goshen ; and were emblems of sublime truths known to a civilized nation when Abraham and his family were wanderers in the wilderness ; and the early patriarchs tended their herds and fed their flocks amid the mountains and plains of Sria .
y In the abuse of these sacred emblems we trace the prevalence of gross superstitions , which at one time spread over the greater portion ofthe ancient world ; we see the origin of the phallic worship , and , undervalued symbols and rites , trace the perversion of the knowledge of these profound and mysterious energies in almost every country—a perversion which , in all its grossness , still lingers in the east .
Osmis and Isis were further symbolized by the SUN and the MOON . These luminaries , as material objects , were the first to receive a degree of adoration . The existence of the supreme presiding principle was at first fully recognized and taught to the initiated ; yet , regarded as the most glorious object in the visible universe , as the fountain of light and source of heat to the material world , the sun beaming with resplendence in oriental climes , and under whose genial influence the buds
burst forth into blossoms , and the teeming earth produced her fruit , was supposed to offer an imperfect resemblance to the attributes of Osiris , and , as a faint copy of the brightness of the Divine original , worthy to be honoured with external worship . The throne of Osiris was considered to be seated in the sun , and that resplendent region was imagined to contain the paradise of the blessed . The moon , sailing with silvery beams across the clear expanse of eastern skies , diffusing a mild irradiance over the starry vault of heaven in those delicious regions , where the mildness of the clime permits the inhabitants to repose in the open air , could not fail to arrest the
watchim eye ol tne contemplative , ana sue % vas accordingly deemed to be a fit representation of the consort of Osiris . The sun and moon thus became equally objects of adoration—at first simply as material emblems of the attributes they represented , but afterwards in a more idolatrous sense . The universality of these emblems is likewise remarkable ; they pervaded Egypt and India , Greece and Rome , and were equally regarded among the Scandinavian and Celtic races . They appear as symbols , with other mythological emblems , on ancient British coins . They are impressed in like manner on the Great Seal of England , in the reign of Richard Cceur de Lion ; and also appear within a triangle on the reverse
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
was in the east the earliest signification of the following well-knowi . emblem @ i , though the attributes and essences it was there intended to symbolize were distinguished by different names , and known under different personifications . In Egypt , this mystical union with its effect was more frequently symbolized in a somewhat different manner . Thus , the SCUARE was
the emblem of matter ( Isis ); and the TIUANGLE , of the creative power or generating fire ( O SIRIS ) . From their conjunction all things were said to proceed . THE QUADRANGULAR PYRAMID , formed from the union of these symbols , thus became an emblem of those profound mysteries involved in the conjoint operations of the creative and productive powers of nature . It has been imagined by some that the great pyramids were constructed by the Hebrews during their sojourn in Egypt .
This is however mere conjecture , unsupported by evidence . These wondrous efforts of masonic skill , in all probability the oldest remaining on the face of the earth , were hoary with age when the children of Israel settled in the land of Goshen ; and were emblems of sublime truths known to a civilized nation when Abraham and his family were wanderers in the wilderness ; and the early patriarchs tended their herds and fed their flocks amid the mountains and plains of Sria .
y In the abuse of these sacred emblems we trace the prevalence of gross superstitions , which at one time spread over the greater portion ofthe ancient world ; we see the origin of the phallic worship , and , undervalued symbols and rites , trace the perversion of the knowledge of these profound and mysterious energies in almost every country—a perversion which , in all its grossness , still lingers in the east .
Osmis and Isis were further symbolized by the SUN and the MOON . These luminaries , as material objects , were the first to receive a degree of adoration . The existence of the supreme presiding principle was at first fully recognized and taught to the initiated ; yet , regarded as the most glorious object in the visible universe , as the fountain of light and source of heat to the material world , the sun beaming with resplendence in oriental climes , and under whose genial influence the buds
burst forth into blossoms , and the teeming earth produced her fruit , was supposed to offer an imperfect resemblance to the attributes of Osiris , and , as a faint copy of the brightness of the Divine original , worthy to be honoured with external worship . The throne of Osiris was considered to be seated in the sun , and that resplendent region was imagined to contain the paradise of the blessed . The moon , sailing with silvery beams across the clear expanse of eastern skies , diffusing a mild irradiance over the starry vault of heaven in those delicious regions , where the mildness of the clime permits the inhabitants to repose in the open air , could not fail to arrest the
watchim eye ol tne contemplative , ana sue % vas accordingly deemed to be a fit representation of the consort of Osiris . The sun and moon thus became equally objects of adoration—at first simply as material emblems of the attributes they represented , but afterwards in a more idolatrous sense . The universality of these emblems is likewise remarkable ; they pervaded Egypt and India , Greece and Rome , and were equally regarded among the Scandinavian and Celtic races . They appear as symbols , with other mythological emblems , on ancient British coins . They are impressed in like manner on the Great Seal of England , in the reign of Richard Cceur de Lion ; and also appear within a triangle on the reverse