The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

occurs in this sense , although the application would evidently be to the aspirant in the pastes—Noah in the Ark—or a dead corpse p laced within the coffin for interment . It may be further observed that the the darkness of

Aphanisni represented Hades , and the Euresis the light of heaven , or the divine lights ra Qua ( pwra , called iMmpiav oxev , a beatific vision ; and hence many of the caverns of initiation had an upper story admirably fitted up for the Autopsia , which was denominated heaven , the prototype of the Elysian fields , thus described by Virgil : —

The fields are verdant , and with heaven may vie , With ether vested , and a purple sk y , The blissful seats of happy souls below , Stars , of their own , anel their own sun they know . It was a dome , and the sun , as the representative of Osiris , was placed in the centre of the roofwhich being by some process

, brilliantly illuminated , exhibited an appearance so superb , as to induce a candidate to declare that he saw the sun shining at midnight with a most glorious lustre ; while around this principal luminary the planets were arranged iu their several

spheres ; the constellations were depicted on the walls , and the Zodiac was conspicuously displayed on a broad belt encompassing the whole . * It was in reference to these abominations that the Lord predicted of Egypt , " When

I shall put thee out , I will cover the lieaven , and make the stars thereof dark ; I will cover the sun with a cloud , and the moon shall not give her light . All the bri ght lights of heaven will I make dark over thee , and set darkness upon thy land , saith the Lord God . "t In the Tower of Babel the lower vaults

were constructed for the celebration of the huiereal part of the ceremony , and the upper story being reserved for the Euresis , was called heaven . This fact is recorded in the Pentateuch , rile builders said , " Let us build a tower whose top " ( not " reach to" which is

may , n ° t in the ori ginal , but ) "be for heaven ;" that fiol y place where the sublimest mysteries of reli gion were intended to be made comp lete . This construction of the passage becomes more evident when we

consider that Nimrod did not select a hill or mountain for his tower , which would have been the most reasonable mode of proceeding if it had been intended to reach to heaven ; but the very lowest place he could find , even a place which Abydenus

asserts was so deeply covered with water as to be called the sea , and Nimrod was obliged to drain it before he could lay the foundations . * In like manner the pyramids of Egypt may have been intended to represent

Elysium or heaven . Mr . Wathen , in his account of the great pyramid at Con j everam , in India , appears to have been forcibly struck with this fact , although ignorant , as he probably was , of its application to the mysteries of relig ion , lie says , " The

tower , or most elevated part of this building , consisted of fifteen stories or stages ; the floor of the lowest of these was ' covered , with boards somewhat decayed , and was about twenty feet square , having much the appearance of the belfry of a country church in England . A ladder of fifteen rounds conducted us to the next stage , and so on from story to stoiy , until we reached

the top , each stage or floor diminishing gradually in size to the summit , Here our labour was most amply repaid , for never had I witnessed so beautiful and sublime a prospect . It so far surpassed every idea that I had or could have formed of its grandeur and effectthat I was almost

en-, tranced in its contemplation . I forgot all the world beside , and felt as if I could have continued on this elevated spot for ever . " The vaults beneath these places were the dreary regions of Tartarus , the allegorical Internum , in which was celebrated the

mourning for the lost Osiris . The building of Babel , and the confusion of tongues , by which the architects were dispersed , were not unknown to the heathen . Cyril , against Julian , quotes these words out of Abydenus : " Some say

that the first men who sprung out of the earth , grew proud of their great strength and size , and boasted themselves to be superior to the gods . To show their superiority they attempted to build a tower where Babylon now stands , and their presumption was allowed to go on until they had got to an incredible height , when the gods with the help of boisterous winds