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On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
each of the inferior Sephiroth , and upon this I form my conjecture that the whole might originally be an astronomical symbol ; the oldest , doubtless , in the post-diluvian world , and possibly tinctured with the wisdom of the antediluvians . Hence , probably , the seven gates erected in the caverns of Brahmin Char Asherum four degrees
Mithra ; hence the , or of Hindoo probation , if not the whole body of science and theology inculcated in the four Vedas , or books of knowledge ¦ hence the excruciating trials , still more severe than those in India , through which the aspirant in the Persian mysteries was compelled to toil while he passed the twentyfour degrees of probation , and suffered the dreadful fast of
fifty days ; hence were derived the Zoroastnan Wisdom ana the Chaldaic Theurgy , as well as their magic and other dark arts of divination , which spread thence to Egypt , to Greece , and from those countries throughout the whole worhL « That the Jews were no strangers to the symbol is evident so early as the age of the patriarch Jacob , who not only the earththe top of
beheld that mighty ladder set upon , which reached up to Heaven , and on which the angelic beings ascended and descended , but at the sight exclaimed , ' Surely this is none other than the house of God , and this is the gate of Heaven ! ' Here , then , is a most ancient patriarchal notion , plainly taken up and propagated afterwards in the Gentile world , but flourishing amongst the Jews before their
sojourning in Egypt . " * . I have quoted thus largely from Maurice , to show that the opinion which I have elsewhere advocated , that the Spurious Freemasonry was derived from some purer system , is founded on the sure basis of authentic evidence . The
entire institution exhibits strong traces of the obligations which heathen nations were under to facts and doctrines that constituted the essence of revealed truth in the infancy of the world ; although debased by fable in their transmission through successive generations by the uncertain guidance of oral tradition ; but still retaining sufficient to mark the whence
resemblance to original facts , source the information was obtained . In the middle chamber of the Temple was exhibited to the gaze of the favoured individuals who were admitted into that adytum , a striking emblem of the union of Speculative
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
each of the inferior Sephiroth , and upon this I form my conjecture that the whole might originally be an astronomical symbol ; the oldest , doubtless , in the post-diluvian world , and possibly tinctured with the wisdom of the antediluvians . Hence , probably , the seven gates erected in the caverns of Brahmin Char Asherum four degrees
Mithra ; hence the , or of Hindoo probation , if not the whole body of science and theology inculcated in the four Vedas , or books of knowledge ¦ hence the excruciating trials , still more severe than those in India , through which the aspirant in the Persian mysteries was compelled to toil while he passed the twentyfour degrees of probation , and suffered the dreadful fast of
fifty days ; hence were derived the Zoroastnan Wisdom ana the Chaldaic Theurgy , as well as their magic and other dark arts of divination , which spread thence to Egypt , to Greece , and from those countries throughout the whole worhL « That the Jews were no strangers to the symbol is evident so early as the age of the patriarch Jacob , who not only the earththe top of
beheld that mighty ladder set upon , which reached up to Heaven , and on which the angelic beings ascended and descended , but at the sight exclaimed , ' Surely this is none other than the house of God , and this is the gate of Heaven ! ' Here , then , is a most ancient patriarchal notion , plainly taken up and propagated afterwards in the Gentile world , but flourishing amongst the Jews before their
sojourning in Egypt . " * . I have quoted thus largely from Maurice , to show that the opinion which I have elsewhere advocated , that the Spurious Freemasonry was derived from some purer system , is founded on the sure basis of authentic evidence . The
entire institution exhibits strong traces of the obligations which heathen nations were under to facts and doctrines that constituted the essence of revealed truth in the infancy of the world ; although debased by fable in their transmission through successive generations by the uncertain guidance of oral tradition ; but still retaining sufficient to mark the whence
resemblance to original facts , source the information was obtained . In the middle chamber of the Temple was exhibited to the gaze of the favoured individuals who were admitted into that adytum , a striking emblem of the union of Speculative