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Article THE INEFFABLE NAME. ← Page 3 of 6 →
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The Ineffable Name.
their sources , the almost innumerable names , that have in different ages and by different nations , been applied either to the true God , or to the gods of the heathen , further than may be necessary to assist the student of our masonic mysteries ; and with such end in view , I shall limit myself to an examination of such of them as afford in themselves the most intrinsic evidence of their wide-spread antiquity , and at the same time throw most light on some of our deeper masonic speculations .
One of tbe most ancient and widely extended of these names was Baal . In the Chaldee language this word signified Lord of Heaven , or On High ; and by idolaters was applied to the sun . This has also been spelt Bel or Beli , with various other changes required by the dialects of the different people employing the word . In Hebrew or Chaldee , Baal is written 7 JO Bol . This was the God worshipped by the ancient Celtffi , and with them was also called Hu . This name appears to be
nothing but the Hebrew article JOH "hua , ille ipse , " often used to express God . With us , even at the present day , " He , " without any particular relative , means God . Plato uses the same expression , TO AUTO , when he speaks of the first , the self-existent being . In one of the Welsh triads , a collection' of aphorisms , supposed to be very ancient , Britain is called the Island of Bel ; and in an old Welsh prayer it is said— " Sincerely I worship theeBeligiver of good . " In both Ireland and the highlands
, , of Scotland , it is still the custom to light large fires on the first of May , and to keep it as a festival ; without doubt , originally in honour of this deity , as this festival in Ireland is still called the Bealteal . Fire being the peculiar attribute of this god , he was represented by a pillar or obelisk of this form A , which , from its tapering shape , is an emblem of
fire and of light , and which , in the name itself first given by the Greeks , oj 3 eki < rxr ) s , o-bel-isk , betrays its origin as being in honour of this deity . Cicero informs us that the Indian Hercules was denominated Belus , and that the name was equally applied to the sun . As before mentioned , there is in Ireland and Scotland , and also In the Isle of Man , a festival still called Bealtine or Beltial ; and in Armorica there is an order of priests called Belee , or the servants of Bel , and the priesthood Belegieth . ( See "Maurice ' s Ind . Antiq . " vol . vi . p . 197 where several other curious
, , coincidences of this name may be met with . ) Baal , as a general name of God , is also used as a prefix to the deities of different nations , particularly of the different tribes of the Canaanites ; as Baal-peor , Baal Berith , Belzebub , or the god of Flies ; besides Bal-der of the Teutonic nations , the Egyptian Baalzephon , and many other such . The temple of Babel , of tbe Babylonians , was , it is supposed , dedicated to the sun . Baal itself is a compound name , and would seem to have beeu formed
from a combination , signifying Father Lord , Aba , Father , and Aleim , or Alohim , Lord . This is the first name by which God was called . " In the beginning God ( Alohim ) created the heaven and the earth . " It is a plural noun joined to a singular verb , bara , created , which is frequently cited as illustrating , or referring to , a trinity in unity . In the Syriac and Babylonian , and some other languages , this word is rendered Eland in Arabic Allah . Both have the same signification
, , and may either of them be compounded to form Ba-al or B-el . In the Hebrew , I have before mentioned , this word was Bol , or Bal , with the characters ^ H 2 , namely , Beth , Aleph , and Lamed , which letters , among the Hebrews and cabalists , had a peculiar mystical signification . In whatever way these letters were combined or read , they formed a name of God ; imply ing or referring to some of the attributes
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Ineffable Name.
their sources , the almost innumerable names , that have in different ages and by different nations , been applied either to the true God , or to the gods of the heathen , further than may be necessary to assist the student of our masonic mysteries ; and with such end in view , I shall limit myself to an examination of such of them as afford in themselves the most intrinsic evidence of their wide-spread antiquity , and at the same time throw most light on some of our deeper masonic speculations .
One of tbe most ancient and widely extended of these names was Baal . In the Chaldee language this word signified Lord of Heaven , or On High ; and by idolaters was applied to the sun . This has also been spelt Bel or Beli , with various other changes required by the dialects of the different people employing the word . In Hebrew or Chaldee , Baal is written 7 JO Bol . This was the God worshipped by the ancient Celtffi , and with them was also called Hu . This name appears to be
nothing but the Hebrew article JOH "hua , ille ipse , " often used to express God . With us , even at the present day , " He , " without any particular relative , means God . Plato uses the same expression , TO AUTO , when he speaks of the first , the self-existent being . In one of the Welsh triads , a collection' of aphorisms , supposed to be very ancient , Britain is called the Island of Bel ; and in an old Welsh prayer it is said— " Sincerely I worship theeBeligiver of good . " In both Ireland and the highlands
, , of Scotland , it is still the custom to light large fires on the first of May , and to keep it as a festival ; without doubt , originally in honour of this deity , as this festival in Ireland is still called the Bealteal . Fire being the peculiar attribute of this god , he was represented by a pillar or obelisk of this form A , which , from its tapering shape , is an emblem of
fire and of light , and which , in the name itself first given by the Greeks , oj 3 eki < rxr ) s , o-bel-isk , betrays its origin as being in honour of this deity . Cicero informs us that the Indian Hercules was denominated Belus , and that the name was equally applied to the sun . As before mentioned , there is in Ireland and Scotland , and also In the Isle of Man , a festival still called Bealtine or Beltial ; and in Armorica there is an order of priests called Belee , or the servants of Bel , and the priesthood Belegieth . ( See "Maurice ' s Ind . Antiq . " vol . vi . p . 197 where several other curious
, , coincidences of this name may be met with . ) Baal , as a general name of God , is also used as a prefix to the deities of different nations , particularly of the different tribes of the Canaanites ; as Baal-peor , Baal Berith , Belzebub , or the god of Flies ; besides Bal-der of the Teutonic nations , the Egyptian Baalzephon , and many other such . The temple of Babel , of tbe Babylonians , was , it is supposed , dedicated to the sun . Baal itself is a compound name , and would seem to have beeu formed
from a combination , signifying Father Lord , Aba , Father , and Aleim , or Alohim , Lord . This is the first name by which God was called . " In the beginning God ( Alohim ) created the heaven and the earth . " It is a plural noun joined to a singular verb , bara , created , which is frequently cited as illustrating , or referring to , a trinity in unity . In the Syriac and Babylonian , and some other languages , this word is rendered Eland in Arabic Allah . Both have the same signification
, , and may either of them be compounded to form Ba-al or B-el . In the Hebrew , I have before mentioned , this word was Bol , or Bal , with the characters ^ H 2 , namely , Beth , Aleph , and Lamed , which letters , among the Hebrews and cabalists , had a peculiar mystical signification . In whatever way these letters were combined or read , they formed a name of God ; imply ing or referring to some of the attributes