The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

both mention JABE under the same denomination . This name is called by Josephus , the sacred letters ; and Lucau asserted that the earth would tremble if any one pronounced this awful name . The divine unity was a leading idea intended to be conveyed by the

hieroglyphic ; for , as lamblichus asserts , the Hermesians believed that their principal deity existed in solitary unity before all other beings . He is the fountain and original of every thing that either has understanding , or is to be understood . He

is the first principle of all things ; being omnipotent , incomprehensible , eternal , and the father of all essences . This divine being was called by the Romans , Jove or JAH ; by the Chaldeans , the Pheniciansand the CeltseBel or BEEL ;

, , and by the Indians , Egyptians , and Greeks , Aum ( Om ) or ON . The first was plainly Jehovah , the second was a common name of the deity in almost all countries of the earth ; and the last was never extinguished , being adopted by the early Christians to

express the Great Being whom they worshipped 0 I 2 N , KCU d iju , KO , I d ep ^ o / xevos , —GOD , which is , and was , and is to come . * But it must always be kept in mind that the heathen , in acknowledging their chief god to be maker or GAOTU , did not understand it in exact sense in which it is

received by Jews and Christians . They believed that God built the world out of existing materials ; whilst we are convinced that he created it out of nothing . The deity , in the llermesian writings , was said to dwell in unfathomable darkness ; an idea which is perfectly consonant

with the belief expressed in our inspired writings , where we find it expressed that the Supreme Being " made darkness his secret place ; his pavilion round about him being dark water ; and thick clouds to cover him . "f This figure was used to

show the absolute and inviolable secrecy under which the mysteries of reli gion were expected to be buried ; whence originated another symbol which is very common on the monuments of Egypt , viz ., the figure of a young man with his hand pressed firmly on his closed lips , as a tacit admonition of the necessity of silence and secrecv , in

reference to the hig h and ineffable mysteries on which their existence as an indcpendant nation was reputed to depend . This was a representation of the person called by the Romans Harpocrates , and by the Greeks Sigaliou , who was hence

esteemed the god of Silence . The attributes of the deity , are therefore represented in the anaglyph by the usual emblems . He is there indicated as being All powerful , All merciful , All clement , the Nourisher , the Avenger , the Destroyer

& c , properties which have been assigned to him by the common consent of all ancient religions , whether patriarchal , Jewish , or heathen ; although the latter were very much at a loss to ascertain or understand the precise nature of these

attributes ; and it was this ambiguity which multip lied the number of deities , by the elevation of the virtues , vices , celestial appearances , and powers of nature , into separate intelligences or gods . A knowledge of the divine unity ran as a vein through all the mysterious institutions of antiquity ; but it was not applied to any valuable purpose . The

lig ht shone in darkness ; for Cicero could say , "there are many nominal deities , but in substance there is only One ; " yet the darkness comprehended it not ; and hence while admitting the existence of one presiding divinity , they denied the

doctrine of providence . Thus Pliny said , " Irridendum vero agere curam rerum humanarum illud quicquid est summum . " But , as Lord Bacon affirms " it would be better to have no opinion of God , than such an one as is unworthy of him ; the one is

mere unbelief , the other is contumely . " The Hig h Priest of Ceres , in Auacharsis , thus enumerates the various opinions which were entertained by the heathen philosophers of different nations respecting the Deity . "Ask them what is God ?

They will answer , that which has neither beginning nor end ; a pure spirit ; an extremely subtle matter , air ; a fire endowed with intelligence ; the world , or the soul of the world to which it is united as the soul is to the body ; the single

principle of all things—the principle of good . Every thing is executed by His command , and under His eye . 0 my son ; adore God , and seek not to know Him . " *