Masonic Notes And Queries .

AA'ho wears THE LEVEL says that pride Does not within his soul abide , Nor foolish vanity ; That man has but a common doom , And from the cradle to the tomb , A common destiny : That he erects his edifice By this design , and this , and this !

Who wears THE G ; ah , type divine ! Abhors the atmosphere of sin , And trusts in God alone ; His Father , Maker , Friend , he knows—He vows , and pays to God his vows , As by th'Eternal throne : And he erects his edifice By tliis design , and this , and this !

Who wears THE PLUMB , behold how true His words , his walks 1 and could we view The chambers of his soul , Each thought enshrined , so pure , so good , By the stern line of rectitude , Points truly to the goal : And he erects his Edifice

By this design , and this , and this ! Thus life and beauty come to view In each design our fathers drew , So glorious , so sublime ; Each breathes an odour from the bloom Of gardens bright beyond the tomb , Beyond the flight of thine ; And bids us build on this and this , The walls of God ' s own Edifice !

ESOTERIC TEACHING . What is the best account of esoteric teaching that we have which bears upon the usages and customs of Freemasonry ?—B . of BUKTON . —[ Bro . Giles Fonda Yates , an American Freemason of considerable talents , wrote a series of articles entitled " Horas Esoterica 3 , " from which we have made some extracts for you . ]

" JA-BAL found out geometry , he divided flocks of sheep , and built the first house of timber and stone . Jabal found out the art of Music , and was the father of all those who handle the harp . " —OLD RECORD . " Praise God in his sanctuary : praise him in the firmament of his power . Praise him with the timbrel and DANCE . Praise him with stringed instrumentsand organs . " —Psalm of DAVID

, , CL . VEENAL EQUINOX . —Ancient philosophers and poets agreed in the persuasion , that the work of the Omnific ELOHIM , in remodelling this globe , ushered in the spring . Virgil thus speaks ¦ upon the subject : — " In this soft season holy days of spring ,

Then did the new creation first appear , Kor other was the tenor of the year . " And Milton sings thus sweetly : — " Flowers worthy of Paradise , which not nice art In beds and curious knots , hut nature boon Pour'd forth profuse , on hill and dale and plain . The birds their choir apply . Airs , vernal airs ,

Breathing the smell of field and grove , attune The trembling leaves ; while universal Pan Knit with the Graces , and the Hours in dance Led on the eternal spring . " With the Vernal Equinox , the Hebrews and other ancient nations celebrated their new year ; and up to the present day , they commence their " ecclesiastical year" with the vernal

equinox . This mode of reckoning time has been adopted , and is exclusively used by the brethren of " the Ancient and Accepted Bite" in dating their documents . By this practice they commemorate * that sublime event , when arose " OBDO AB CHAO ET Lux E TENEBKIS , " when " The morning stars sang together , And all' the sons of God' shouted for joy . " It was by divine command , delivered to the Israelites , that

NISAN was made to them " the beginning of months—the first month of the year . " * The zodiacal divisions of ancient astronomy always commenced with ABIES , TAUEUS , GEMINI , and the rest following in order . The first sign was represented hy the ram , or male sheep ; the second by a bull , the male of the bovine species ; and the third by two male figures of the human species . This subject , interesting as it is , we cannot follow up in all its amplitude of

detail , at this time , without wandering too much from our text . We shall confine ourselves to two or three points . It is clear to our mind that the ram is represented hieroglyphically by his horns , a symbol of light or knowledge—T— _ tke bull or ox by his head ivith horns—H—implying more light or additional knowledge . By the human twins—II— -beings endowed with reason and the divine afflatus , in union indicated by the two horizontal lines uniting tbe two upright parallel

lines , and forming a square ever " DEO DEVOTUM , " we have adumbrated a few of those teachings so well known to every sublime Master Mason . The offering made at the time of the vernal equinox was that of a ram and a hull , and at midsummer , of two doves . The autumnal victim was the labouring ox , and the winter sacrifice was a goat . The third month of the yearcalled Majores by the ancient

, Romans , was consecrated to old men . And , reasoning analogically , may we not conclude that the first month was consecrated to youth , and the second to men in middle life ? This would give us metaphorically the "three steps" in Masonry . The two youths ( named Castor and Pollux ) of the constellation " GEMINI , " are represented with arms interlaced , and hands joined . They were twin brothers—both initiated Into the mysteries of the Cabiri and of Ceres . During their lives

they manifested the most perfect love for each other , sharing mutually each other's- afflictions as well as joys . For their- fraternal love and their clemency and benefactions , in which they surpassed all men , as the legend respecting them declares , Jupiter gave tbem their reward by translating them to' the signs of the zodiac . The Romans erected a stately temple to their honour , and swore by their names . White lambs were

offered on their altars . The foregoing remarks we wish to be received as suggestive ,-in connection with what follows . The astronomical character of the sun- —a circle with a point iu the centre—0 , the illuminator and "ruler of the day , " depicted as entering the third sign of the zodiac , forms the Masonic hieroglyphic in which the . two parallels of modern Masonry , the two Saints John , are symbolised . I ©! .

The conjunction of the sun with every one of the planets in the same degree of the zodiac is full of mystical meaning , which was well understood by the hierophants of antiquity , and formed part of their Cabala—very little of which has come down to us , owing probably to the sifting it received at the hands of scrupulous St . John's Masons during the Reformation and before . Glimpses of light , however , shine here and there

and ever and anon , to reward the researches of the enthusiastic , persevering student . We think we have paved the way for an understanding of what was meant hy the conjunction of the sun with Gemini ; and it may only be necessary to name that glorious conjunction and union by covenant between the God of all love with up-, right men , who " do justly , love mercy , and walk humbly" with

Him . All the mysteries connected with the arts , physics , and morals , form a universal science , having for its object finite MAN ; The numerous ramifications of this science are so many rays- ^ emanations from the light of J Divine wisdom , and the heat of the tenderness of Divine love , of which man presents the circumference , and which are shed in gracious profusion from one common centre , the Infinite MONAD—the adorable principle who is the Creator of all !

We think we have in our possession many links in a chain of circumstantial evidence , to show that the minor as well as more exalted mysteries , taught in YOBK and KILWINNING Masonry , especially the hitter , were derived from the Druidical mysteries . Some of these links we hope now and then to exhibit in the course of our esoteric expositions . The Druids , in common with the patriarchs of primitive times before the Jews had an existence as a nation , began the year at the vernal equinox , when the days and nights are equal