freemasonry of the ancient Egypt 20

freemasonry of the ancient Egypt 20

CRATA REPOA

 

 

 

The neophyte must learn to understand the true relationship which exists be-

tween the divine universe and the small sphere. Therefore, the material world

is depicted as a subterranean crypt filled with dead bodies and as the dwelling

place of only such of the living as minister to the last rites of the dead.

 

According to our description, the Pharaoh himself participated in the cer-

emony of the third grade. He appears in his robes of state, throned as the

prince of the material world. As the neophyte enters, the king meets him gra-

ciously and offers the aspirant the royal crown of Egypt. This pantomime

suggests that part of the New Testament where Jesus, as the neophyte, is of-

fered the kingdoms of the earth if he will give up his spiritual mission. In the

Trinosophia manuscript of St. Germain, the king appears in a boat and at-

tempts to discourage the disciple, who is swimming valiantly across the

stream that divides the physical and spiritual worlds.

 

I lie neophyte takes the crown and, throwing it upon the ground, tramples

it under foot. This symbolizes the final conquest of pride, egotism, and the

love of power. The initiate refuses the crown of the physical world because his

kingdom is not of that world but of the hidden world of spirit. The aspirant

has learned not to accept the symbol for the real; he desires a higher crown

than any king of earth can give, the Seven-Rayed Crown of Truth.

 

In the next step of the ceremony the Pharaoh assumes the attitude of

great rage. He seizes the sacrificial ax, symbol of temporal power, and strikes

the neophyte upon the head, a circumstance which in slightly different form

is still preserved in the symbolism of the Third Degree of Freemasonry. The

editor of the Grata Repoa infers that the neophyte was struck gently and coop-

erated with the ritual by apparently fainting and shamming death. It is doubt-

ful if in ancient times the blow was so gently given; more likely, the neophyte

was knocked unconscious and passed through the actual experience of seem-

ing to die.

 

The interers of the dead, those concerned with the processes of mummi-

fication, then pick up the candidate and carry him into the invisible world

amidst natural phenomena, to represent all the strangeness and solemnity of

dying. The neophyte is wrapped in bandages until he resembles the mummy

 

 

 

. / 96 .

 

 

 

COMMENTARY

 

 

 

. .1 i Kiris, thus signifying the hampering agencies of ignorance, superstition

ind lear.

 

I he boatman of the river Styx appears and rows the soul across the river

..I , ill. i which divides the physical and astral planes. The neophyte descends

 

ih. shades until he comes at last into the presence of Pluto, Lord of

 

I i. uli With Pluto is a jury of infernal spirits, who search in the neophyte for

...m. thing which binds him to the world of death. If, however, all personality

ind imperfection have been mastered and the soul is filled with light, the

I towns of darkness cannot hold the spirit.

 

I lowevcr, Pluto does not immediately release the neophyte, but condemns

l.iiii to wandering in the subterranean galleries, meaning the periodic return

 

physical life through reincarnation. His bandages and wrappings arc rc-

i Moved to represent evolution.

 

I le begins the search for truth in the physical universe by wandering

ihtoiigh the curious passageways of the labyrinth. The Cretan labyrinth with

ii . bull headed guardian represents the complexities of mortal existence. He

i*. given the three instructions, which tend towards the development of peace,

h ih i nity, responsibility, patience, and hope. He learns to draw and paint,

 

1 1 i.h is, to reveal through appropriate symbols inner convictions. He must

di corate coffins and mummies, signifying that he must perfect bodies and or-

nament them with virtues. He is taught the hieratic alphabet, the secret lan-

guage of the priests, and continues his progress in geometry and astronomy.

 

I he neophyte masters rhetoric by applying himself to the composition and

interpretation of the funeral rituals, which are in reality the laws and doc-

n ines of regeneration composed for the benefit of the physically living, who

an regarded as the spiritually dead.

 

II the disciple could advance no further, he was confined to the subter-

ranean chambers for the rest of his natural life, signifying that there was no

• m ape f rom physical life except through improvement. If he diligently admin-

istered his responsibilities to the dead, he might expect to be advanced to the

next grade of the Society.

 

Further progress depended entirely upon the disciples capacity to discover

 

 

 

. / 97 •

 

 

 

CRATA RfcPOA

 

 

 

the hidden meanings of the lessons revealed in the circumstances of

initiation.

 

FOURTH GRADE

 

By the term of anger is meant the time required to master irascibilities of

the animal soul. The eighteen months is a Qabbalistic allusion — the 18 is

composed of 8 plus I, or 9, the number of human nature or sublunary imag-

ination. After 18 months or mortal states have been successfully passed

through, by the neophyte, the Thesmophores visits the initiate in his subter-

ranean abode.

 

The neophyte, now termed the initiate because he has advanced so far in

the Mysteries, receives the Thesmophores and accepts from him a sword and

buckler. The sword is will; and the buckler, or shield, is wisdom. Will is the

active instrument of spirit, wisdom is the passive instrument. Thus armed,

the initiate sallies forth into the labyrinthine galleries, which represents the

acts of enlightened living.

 

Suddenly, armed masked men, bearing torches and regaled in fantastic

trappings, spring from the shadows and attack the initiate from all sides.

 

I hesc figures, with their weird and hideous appearances, are the numerous

temptations and discordant circumstances of living which attack the courage

of integrity. The initiate, striving to live well, finds all the evils of his own na-

ture assailing him simultaneously from their dark recesses in his subjective na-

ture. The cry panis is the cry of the nymphs and sprites at the death of

Osiris and is the origin of the word panic, meaning confusion.

 

Not yet able to withstand all the evils of life, the new initiate is finally

overcome, surrendering only after valiant struggle. The masked figures then

bind his eyes and place a cord about his neck, and so prepared he is led into a

large room before an assembly of initiates. His arms and legs are then ex-

tended in the form of the spread eagle or phoenix, the posture used in the old

rites as a symbol of death and resurrection.

 

 

 

. 198 .

 

 

 

A

 

 

 

COM MK NTARY

 

 

 

I In blindfold is removed, and the initiate beholds a great room filled with

I I'M. lid symbols and a tableau of extraordinary grandeur. The priests are

in mp .1 iii a pattern to represent the universe. The Pharaoh himself is pres-

. m 1 1 « i. representing the spirit or will — and the five accompanying officers

in. ili. senses or sensory parts of the soul, the instruments of cognition or

I mmmiih* I lie I lierophant and his assistants all wear the symbols of Truth,

mi. I • n 1 1 is robed in the garments and colors of his office.

 

M.»\i ancient initiation rites included drinking from a cup or crater, a rit-

h i! .*1 possibly astronomical origin based upon the Constellation of the Cup,

win* 1 1 is placed between Cancer and Leo. In the Gothic Rites, neophytes

.li uil the heavenly mead from a goblet made of a human skull; in the Greek

M\ aeiies there was the Cup of Ganymede and also the Springs of Lethe and

Mm mosyne; in the Christian ritual, the Master drinks with his disciples from

ili. < up of the Sangreal. In each case the drink of immortality — sacred homa

m Mima of Asia, the Everlasting Waters of Christian mysticism — signifies

| on i u ip.it ion in universal life, the drinking in of Truth or of Spirit, or the

I ai I, iking of God through the symbolic sacrament.

 

I In buckler of Isis is, of course, wisdom, as has already been noted; the

bn kins of Anubis represent thought or intelligence, the active intellectual

pioi i sses; and the mantle of Orus, with its hood, is the protecting garment of

virtue.

 

I lie next part of the rite represents the slaying of the Gorgon or of the

Mi * Ins. i, who is here called the spouse of Typhon. She represents a consort of

ml Ivphon is the principle of destruction, and Gorgon with her serpent

In id*, is i he manifestation of this one principle through an infinitude of evil

tlioiights, emotions, and actions. The decapitating of Medusa is the cutting

nff of die head or the source of evil within himself; in a sense, his own body

is pan of the serpent-headed Gorgon. When he cuts off the evil in himself,

1 1 * slays a certain part of the evil in the world and also avenges the death of

t Km*.; but the metaphysician must realize that this symbolical ritual repre-

.. in s the overcoming of evil by the lunar scimitar of right realization.