-
Articles/Ads
Article TO THE EDITOR. ← Page 2 of 2
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
group called the Little Bear by Thales the Milesian , and the few obscure stars named after the hair of Queen Berenice , by the gross adulation of Conon ; I think the constellations , most of them , received their names in Egypt , and I shall be glad ere long ( as your pages are not exclusively Masonic ) to unfold a short theory of their origin , as signs of the Egyptian year connected with the overflowing of the Nile . I wouldhoweverivithout at all disputing Dr . Oliver ' s general theory
, , of the southern constellations , representing the Egyptian Mysteries , state , that as it regards two at least of them , it is untenable , inasmuch as the Unicom and the Dove are not ancient constellations ; they are not to be met with on any planisphere , or in any catalogue of the asterisms of antiquity , but they are , in fact , of modern invention , having been made of the " unformed stars , " by an astronomer named Royer , about two centuries ago .
If we refer to the cover of your journal , whereon the signs of the zodiac are inscribed , we shall find that , taking the Ram , as it is usually represented , as the sign of the spring quarter , the other three quarters commence with the Crab , the Scales , and the Goat ; but it is known that , in fact , by what is called the precession of the equinoxes , the stars of those constellations no longer correspond with the sun ' s place at the beginning of each quarter , and that the Fishes , the Twins , the Virgin ,
and the Archer , are now the equinoctial and solstitial signs ; as such have been the effects since the adjustment of the ecliptic to the stars of the sphere , by looking back to the centuries previous to that time , it follows that the other four signs , viz ., the Bull , the Lion , the Scorpion ,
and the Waterman , would formerly have been similarly situated . Now I would call the attention of Br . George Aarons , in connexion with his very interesting communication regarding the Banners of the Israelites , to the identity of three of these last named signs with the standards of Reuben ( the Man ) , of Judah ( the Lion ) , and of Ephraim ( the Ox ) , while the standard of Dan was the Eagle , which was adopted instead of the Scorpion , as one of the signs of the zodiac , and is to be found delineated in its placein consequence of that reptile being not
, only unclean , but also connected with the impure and obscene rites of idolatrous nations , and therefore unfit to be used , even as an emblem , by the chosen people . The Ox , the Lion , the Eagle , and the Man , were the signs of the four seasons of the year , at the time of the Exodus , when also the same figures were the standards of the four great divisions of the tribes , nor had they ceased to be the same marks of the seasons at the time of the captivity at Babylon , the same four heads
being those of the living creatures in Ezekiei's vision by the river Chebar , and also of the cherubim in the second vision of the Lord ' s house at Jerusalem . The four cherubic faces have generally been interpreted as types of moral qualities , —as the man of wisdom , the lion of strength , the ox of patience , and the eagle of swiftness ; but , does it not appear evident also , that they had a reference to the various seasons of the year , and the four quarters of the heavensof which they were thenbut are not
, , now . the astronomical types ? If I mistake not , the Masonic banner has the four cherubic heads in one portion of its field , emblazoned with other devices ; it may therefore be explained as well from one of the liberal sciences as from the reference to moral qualities . Nottingham , Jan . 3 , 1839 , CORITAN ,
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
To The Editor.
group called the Little Bear by Thales the Milesian , and the few obscure stars named after the hair of Queen Berenice , by the gross adulation of Conon ; I think the constellations , most of them , received their names in Egypt , and I shall be glad ere long ( as your pages are not exclusively Masonic ) to unfold a short theory of their origin , as signs of the Egyptian year connected with the overflowing of the Nile . I wouldhoweverivithout at all disputing Dr . Oliver ' s general theory
, , of the southern constellations , representing the Egyptian Mysteries , state , that as it regards two at least of them , it is untenable , inasmuch as the Unicom and the Dove are not ancient constellations ; they are not to be met with on any planisphere , or in any catalogue of the asterisms of antiquity , but they are , in fact , of modern invention , having been made of the " unformed stars , " by an astronomer named Royer , about two centuries ago .
If we refer to the cover of your journal , whereon the signs of the zodiac are inscribed , we shall find that , taking the Ram , as it is usually represented , as the sign of the spring quarter , the other three quarters commence with the Crab , the Scales , and the Goat ; but it is known that , in fact , by what is called the precession of the equinoxes , the stars of those constellations no longer correspond with the sun ' s place at the beginning of each quarter , and that the Fishes , the Twins , the Virgin ,
and the Archer , are now the equinoctial and solstitial signs ; as such have been the effects since the adjustment of the ecliptic to the stars of the sphere , by looking back to the centuries previous to that time , it follows that the other four signs , viz ., the Bull , the Lion , the Scorpion ,
and the Waterman , would formerly have been similarly situated . Now I would call the attention of Br . George Aarons , in connexion with his very interesting communication regarding the Banners of the Israelites , to the identity of three of these last named signs with the standards of Reuben ( the Man ) , of Judah ( the Lion ) , and of Ephraim ( the Ox ) , while the standard of Dan was the Eagle , which was adopted instead of the Scorpion , as one of the signs of the zodiac , and is to be found delineated in its placein consequence of that reptile being not
, only unclean , but also connected with the impure and obscene rites of idolatrous nations , and therefore unfit to be used , even as an emblem , by the chosen people . The Ox , the Lion , the Eagle , and the Man , were the signs of the four seasons of the year , at the time of the Exodus , when also the same figures were the standards of the four great divisions of the tribes , nor had they ceased to be the same marks of the seasons at the time of the captivity at Babylon , the same four heads
being those of the living creatures in Ezekiei's vision by the river Chebar , and also of the cherubim in the second vision of the Lord ' s house at Jerusalem . The four cherubic faces have generally been interpreted as types of moral qualities , —as the man of wisdom , the lion of strength , the ox of patience , and the eagle of swiftness ; but , does it not appear evident also , that they had a reference to the various seasons of the year , and the four quarters of the heavensof which they were thenbut are not
, , now . the astronomical types ? If I mistake not , the Masonic banner has the four cherubic heads in one portion of its field , emblazoned with other devices ; it may therefore be explained as well from one of the liberal sciences as from the reference to moral qualities . Nottingham , Jan . 3 , 1839 , CORITAN ,