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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Nov. 1, 1876
  • Page 33
  • THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY.
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The Masonic Magazine, Nov. 1, 1876: Page 33

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The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

Oo the seventeenth day of the month Athyr , the very day on which Noah is said to have e nibarked . In a similar manner a ship was the peculiar symbol of Isis ; while the symbolical bull was alike dedicated both to this o-oddess and to her mythological

consort , the history of her wanderings presents to us the image of the erratic state of the ark upon the surface of the waters ; yet there is no doubt that the sun was worshipped by the Egyptians under the title of Osirisand the moon under that of Isis

, or Ceres . "* The soul of Osiris was feigned to have been transferred to the bull Apis , whence the veneration which was paid to him ; and there was a statue of Isis inscribed Isidi Myrionymcethe thousand-named Isis .

, And even in Scandinavia the same figure was used to express the multifarious properties of their chief deity , Odin or

Woden" When in the nations I am seen , Mortals who to my fanes convene , Shall hail me with a thousand names , Great as celestial virtue claims . "t But all the male divinities , however they might be namedwere the same ; and the

, female ones were sometimes represented as of two sexes , so that some have been in doubt whether they should address them as gods or goddesses . Thus it was said of Venus , " pollentemque deurn Venerem . " This construction is approved by

Bfacrohious , and therefore Virgil says , — "Discedo , et ducente deo flammam inter et hostes Expedior , " and not dea . Aristophanes speaks of the same goddess iu the masculine gender as Ac / yuSiTov . And thus all the deities may

be'aonsidered as one , although it is uncertain whether that one was deemed a male or an hermophradite , and we have already seen that the crescent or half circle was the androgene emblem . " The deity was feigned to be both male

ai | d female—that which generates aud that ¦ which produces ; and this was a figment common to the mythologies both of the Greeks and of the Egyptians . More frequentl y and more naturally , however , the active and generating power was symbolized

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

by a male , while the passive and producing power was presented by a female deity . The sun , or the material heaven , was generally adored as the type of the former , and the moon , or more commonly the earth , was venerated as the proper image of the

latter . Hence were feigned the marriages of Osiris and Isis , of Ouranos and Ge ; hence was Ether , or Heaven , considered as the all-generating god , and the earth was worshirjped as the great mother . Neither are we to ascribe to any other source the

institution of those Phallic rites which ancient superstition performed with devotion , but which modern decency hesitates to mention and refuses to describe . It is clear that the priests who celebrated these impure mysteries , confounded the spiritual

power that creates with the material power that generates . " * The fact is , it was the union of the two divine principles of wisdom and love , light and heat , which are male and female , that produced this absurd doctrine . Cneph was supposed to be Androgynous , and , as we have just seen , was painted of a deep blue colour to represent wisdom ; aud to signify

love he was depicted as in the act of ejecting an egg . The union of the above properties caused Jupiter to be described as of both sexes , being at once the cause of generation and production . The same princi ple may be applied to all other

androgynal fictions . With respect to the purple colour of Cneph , it may be observed that this colour was highly esteemed in the Spurious Freemasonry . The priests and priestesses of Kleusis wore purple robesand sacrifices to

, the Eumenides could not be performed except in robes of that particular hue . Garments of purple wool were used in all sacrifices preceding the celebration of the mysteries ; and the couches of the initiated were bound round by fillets of the same

colour . The fields of Elysium were represented as being covered over with roses of purple ; and these flowers were strewed on the tombs or' the dead . All this was symbolical of a future life , because the candidate was supposed to have gone through the

valley of the shadow of death during his initiation , and having been regenerated in the process , was passed on to the Autopsia , as an emblem of the life to come .

“The Masonic Magazine: 1876-11-01, Page 33” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 8 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01111876/page/33/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 1
PINE'S ENGRAVED LISTS OF LODGES. Article 2
A LIST OF REGULAR LODGES, Article 3
NOTES ON THE LIST OF A.D. 1734. Article 7
EXTRACTS FROM A MINUTE BOOK OF THE LAST CENTURY. Article 8
MUSING. Article 10
AN OLD, OLD STORY. Article 11
SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR PEACEFUL SOLUTION. Article 13
FREEMASONRY. Article 17
THE RAVENNA BAPTISTERY. Article 17
GERARD MONTAGU; Article 21
PARTING. Article 23
A Review. Article 24
THE WOMEN OF OUR TIME. Article 27
THE SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD. Article 29
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 31
RECIPROCAL KINDNESS. Article 34
Our Archaological Corner. Article 35
THE STORY OF A LIFE. Article 35
FREEMASONRY IN FRANCE. Article 36
POETS' CORNER* Article 41
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND ART. Article 42
TAKEN BY BRIGANDS. Article 45
ADDRESS OF P.G.M. BRO. HON, RICHARD VAUX, AT CENTENNIAL OF AMERICAN UNION LODGE. Article 46
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

Oo the seventeenth day of the month Athyr , the very day on which Noah is said to have e nibarked . In a similar manner a ship was the peculiar symbol of Isis ; while the symbolical bull was alike dedicated both to this o-oddess and to her mythological

consort , the history of her wanderings presents to us the image of the erratic state of the ark upon the surface of the waters ; yet there is no doubt that the sun was worshipped by the Egyptians under the title of Osirisand the moon under that of Isis

, or Ceres . "* The soul of Osiris was feigned to have been transferred to the bull Apis , whence the veneration which was paid to him ; and there was a statue of Isis inscribed Isidi Myrionymcethe thousand-named Isis .

, And even in Scandinavia the same figure was used to express the multifarious properties of their chief deity , Odin or

Woden" When in the nations I am seen , Mortals who to my fanes convene , Shall hail me with a thousand names , Great as celestial virtue claims . "t But all the male divinities , however they might be namedwere the same ; and the

, female ones were sometimes represented as of two sexes , so that some have been in doubt whether they should address them as gods or goddesses . Thus it was said of Venus , " pollentemque deurn Venerem . " This construction is approved by

Bfacrohious , and therefore Virgil says , — "Discedo , et ducente deo flammam inter et hostes Expedior , " and not dea . Aristophanes speaks of the same goddess iu the masculine gender as Ac / yuSiTov . And thus all the deities may

be'aonsidered as one , although it is uncertain whether that one was deemed a male or an hermophradite , and we have already seen that the crescent or half circle was the androgene emblem . " The deity was feigned to be both male

ai | d female—that which generates aud that ¦ which produces ; and this was a figment common to the mythologies both of the Greeks and of the Egyptians . More frequentl y and more naturally , however , the active and generating power was symbolized

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

by a male , while the passive and producing power was presented by a female deity . The sun , or the material heaven , was generally adored as the type of the former , and the moon , or more commonly the earth , was venerated as the proper image of the

latter . Hence were feigned the marriages of Osiris and Isis , of Ouranos and Ge ; hence was Ether , or Heaven , considered as the all-generating god , and the earth was worshirjped as the great mother . Neither are we to ascribe to any other source the

institution of those Phallic rites which ancient superstition performed with devotion , but which modern decency hesitates to mention and refuses to describe . It is clear that the priests who celebrated these impure mysteries , confounded the spiritual

power that creates with the material power that generates . " * The fact is , it was the union of the two divine principles of wisdom and love , light and heat , which are male and female , that produced this absurd doctrine . Cneph was supposed to be Androgynous , and , as we have just seen , was painted of a deep blue colour to represent wisdom ; aud to signify

love he was depicted as in the act of ejecting an egg . The union of the above properties caused Jupiter to be described as of both sexes , being at once the cause of generation and production . The same princi ple may be applied to all other

androgynal fictions . With respect to the purple colour of Cneph , it may be observed that this colour was highly esteemed in the Spurious Freemasonry . The priests and priestesses of Kleusis wore purple robesand sacrifices to

, the Eumenides could not be performed except in robes of that particular hue . Garments of purple wool were used in all sacrifices preceding the celebration of the mysteries ; and the couches of the initiated were bound round by fillets of the same

colour . The fields of Elysium were represented as being covered over with roses of purple ; and these flowers were strewed on the tombs or' the dead . All this was symbolical of a future life , because the candidate was supposed to have gone through the

valley of the shadow of death during his initiation , and having been regenerated in the process , was passed on to the Autopsia , as an emblem of the life to come .

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