freemasonry of the ancient Egypt 12

freemasonry of the ancient Egypt 12

I he French translation was as literal as possible and was made by a German-

born Mason who knew both German and French thoroughly. This translator,

who is referred to as an old gentleman, endeavored to render the meaning

word for word, but early training overshadowed purpose, and the translation

predominated in Germanisms." M. Bailleul, in editorial capacity, revised the

translation with the greatest care, applying himself particularly to freeing the

work from an overponderous Teutonic form. He assures the modern reader

that he observed with great care the spirit of the original thought and never

lost for a moment the fundamental meaning. The student can, therefore, rest

assured of the veracity of the work, comfortable in the realization that he is

securing the original meaning in every case and that neither opinion nor prej-

udice has falsified it in any part.

 

Monsieur Bailleul passes from this brief note to a philosophical disquisi-

iion upon the significance of the ritual. The careful reader cannot fail to be

 

 

 

. 159 .

 

 

 

II

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

impressed by the sincerity of the editors attitude and the great importance

which he bestows upon the book. It appears as though M. Bailleul knows

more about the work than he is inclined to reveal. In the Introduction, he

stoutly maintains by inference the integrity and genuineness of the Crata

Repea. His attitude of veneration, which he does not sustain with any tangible

evidence, suggests several possibilities. It appears that M. Bailleul could have

been himself a member of some secret society, which obligated him to silence

but still allowed him to manifest certain appreciation of the symbolism of

the ritual.

 

The Crata Repoa remained in the French from 1778 to the closing years of

the nineteenth century when it was for the first time translated into English

by the Masonic scholar, Dr. John Yarkcr, a high Mason of the Rite of Mem-

phis. Dr. Yarker appends to his translation some footnotes setting forth cer-

tain commentary opinions of his own, which in several cases considerably

amplify the text. This translation was published in a Masonic Journal, called

The Kneph, which was discontinued after a few volumes. The magazine itself

has become a rarity and is to be found only in some of the larger Masonic li-

braries. I he Crata Repoa has not been published in book form in English up to

this time.

 

In the present version Dr. Yarker s English transcript is followed. This has

been compared with the French original and the substance of M. Bailleuls

commentaries added thereto.

 

T he Crata Repoa is a work made up of fragments from many ancient au-

thors. The unknown compiler had as his purpose a restoration of the ancient

Mysteries based upon the hints and allusions contained in the classical writ-

ings. Most of the great philosophers of antiquity were initiates of State Mys-

teries. In their writings, these men frequently allude to some fragment of the

initiatory rites. I hese hints have been carefully organized, placed in sequential

order, and connected with an editorial tissue. The result is a restoration founded

upon the actual words of the initiates themselves.

 

It is inevitable that the compiler should be present as a quality of interpre-

tation. The German scholarship appears in the sustaining warp of the vvrit-

 

 

 

FORK WORD

 

my* Occasional German prejudices occur, but these, fortunately, arc obvious

•i i ul will be considered in the commentary material.

 

( lurles William Hcckcthorn in The Secret Societies of all Ages anil Countries

publishes a digest of the Crata Repoa with the following remarks:

 

" I he order itself seems not to have been known before the year 1785,

when the account the reader has just been perusing was published in a Ger-

in. in pamphlet of 32 pages (30 pages text) in I2mo, with no name of place

• »i punter. Ragon, who gives a French translation of the above in his Franc -

Mhonnerie: Rituel du Grade de Maitre, Paris, N. D., calls his translation an extract

from a pamphlet of 114 pages in 8 vo, taken from a large German Ms. by

Bi other Koppen, with an interlinear translation into French, which was pur-

chased by Brother Antoine Bailleul, and in 1821 edited by Brother Ragon.

Bui as Ragons translation agrees word for word with the German pamphlet,

published in 1785, the German Ms. by Brother Koppen was either the origi-

nal composition or a copy of it. Ragon supposes the Crata Repoa to be a con-

coction by learned Germans of all that is to be found in ancient writers on

it mat ions. And the authorities on which the statements in the German pam-

phlet of 1785 arc founded arc given therein, and are: Porphyry, Herodotus,

lamblichus, Apuleius, Cicero, Plutarch, Eusebius, Arnobius, Diodorus Sicu-

lus. lertullian, Hcliodorus, Lucian, Rufinus, and some others."

 

I I. P. Blavatsky in Isis Unveiled devotes considerable space to Egyptian ini-

tiatory rituals. She explains that the same ceremony of judgment which the

ftvt of the Dead describes as taking place in the world of spirit was performed

by the priests of the temple as a theatrical pageant at the time of the burial of

ih« mummy. Forty-two judges or assessors assembled on the shore of the s.i

.led lake and judged the departed soul according to its actions when in the

body. It was only upon unanimous approval by this post-mortem jury that

the boatman, who represented the spirit of death, could convey the body of

the justified dead to its last resting place. After the priests had completed the

funeral ritual, they returned to the sacred precincts and instructed the neo-

phytes upon the probable solemn drama which was then taking place in the

invisible realm whither the departed soul had fled. The immortality of the

 

 

 

. 160 .

 

 

 

• 161 •

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

 

spirit was strongly inculcated upon the disciples by the Al-om-jah. the Hiero-

pliant of the Mysteries.

 

Madame Blavatsky then describes briefly the seven initiations of the Crala

Repoa, which she compares with the Book of Job, the Jewish poem of initia-

tion par excellence. The account given in bis Unveiled indicates that the

authoress accepted the antiquity and integrity of the ritual, a point of con-

siderable significance to all students of metaphysical philosophy. From a

footnote in Isis Unveiled, Volume II, page 365, it would seem that, at least a

part of the Grata Repoa ritual was derived from a book entitled The Ritual 0 / Ini-

tiations by Humberto Malhandrini. published in Venice in 1657. Madam

Blavatsky notes that the preliminary trials at Thebes were called twelve tor-

tures. She observes also that the Tau Cross with which the initiate was in-

vested in the seventh degree was laid upon his breast at death. The more

one considers the details of the ritual, the more important the Grata Repoa

becomes.

 

Comte dc St. Germain practiced Masonic or Rosicrucian rituals in the

palace of Prince Karl of Hesse at Eckernforde between 1780 and 1785.

Ragon and Lenoir could well have been his pupils or at least under the influ-

ence of his school. In 1814 Lenoir published La Franche-Maconnene, a most

curious work ornamented with astrological symbols, figures of the Egyptian

Gods, and scenes from the processions and rites of the Ancient Mysteries. In

the present work, three of these plates are reproduced. Lenoir's arguments re-

lating to the Egyptian Masonic rituals were certainly influenced by the Crala

Repoa and other Higher Grade speculations. It is questionable whether the

Crata Repoa was actually practiced as a Masonic ritual in the eighteenth cen-

tury. It appears to belong to the literature and philosophy of the Craft rather

than to its working degrees.

 

Modern Masonic scholars of the caliber of Pike. Mackey, and Oliver are

in general agreement as to the probable Egyptian origin of certain parts of

Blue Lodge ritualism and symbolism. The third degree work in particular is

definitely associated with the Osiris legend. The metaphysical significance of

the death and resurrection of the Egyptian demigod has for the most part

 

 

 

FOREWORD

 

 

 

• lost to tin* modern Craft. It is, therefore, most interesting and lilting

 

• h it the old secrets should be revived and Masonry rcdcdicate itself to the

I iu'l» purpose for which it was originally devised.

 

I he reader should always bear in mind that the truly esoteric parts of the

Misery ritual cannot be reduced to print. Therefore, the value of the Crala

A * /••*.! t est s in its allusion to mystical matters rather than to any actual state-

11 h i it $ concerning them. The thoughtful reader may find these assembled

li 1 , 'incuts of an Old Wisdom an introduction to a great subject. Nor should

the Mysteries be thought of as institutions long vanished into the night of

tuiK . rather their reestablishment is to be accepted as inevitable. In years to