Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians 3

Freemasonry of the Ancient Egyptians 3

Archeology must be divided into two schools. The first, composed of

strictly materialistically minded men, classifies but never attempts to interpret

or apply even, for that matter, to fit together the fragments of old civiliza-

tions and cultures. T he second is the intuitional school, generally regarded as

unorthodox by the fanatics of the first group. The intuitionalists attempt to

build some reasonable pattern out of the wreckage. They dare to speculate,

using the mind as an instrument of exploration and research. It is this last

group that, to some measure, sense the significance of the old metaphysical

systems. They realize almost intuitively that a broad learning, at the same

time deep and lofty, existed among ancient nations.

 

But the masters of this old learning have returned to their patron tutelar-

ies. Sophists now sit in the seats of the wise; pettifoggery and pedagoguery

obscure the issues of the mind. Although science has assumed the habili-

ments of erudition, there is a shallowness in our attitude towards learning

that is disquieting to all but the superficially minded. We realize that the

foundation of our present knowledge is inadequate for the structure that has

been erected upon it. The builders of the house of modern learning have ig-

nored the dictum of that simple law of architectonics, namely, that to pre-

serve the integrity of a mighty institution, it is necessary that its base shall be

upon bedrock. Limited to the elements contained in modern materialism it is

consequently difficult, if not impossible, to adequately interpret any ancient

civilization, for with very few exceptions, these older races were steeped in ab-

stractions. Hence their learning only provokes the ridicule of modern arche-

ologists who have no vision beyond the clod. To understand, one must be en

rapport with, and understanding waits upon appreciation. To the twentieth

century Sophist the elaborate pantheons and far-fetched fables of old reli-

 

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INTRODUCTION

 

gions represent a hodgepodge of absurdities. The old gods are rejected in-

stantly and no reason for their rejection is deemed necessary.

 

Our placid men of letters seemingly never suspect that they may be the

self-deluded victims of a colossal hoax. The alacrity with which they underes-

timate the intelligence of that which has preceded them in time or space is

amazing. The mere fact that some person has not basked in the sunlight of

contemporaneous opportunity presumes him to have been an ignoramus.

Easy believers have lived in every age, but why should we presume the Egyp-

tians en masse to have worshiped a snake with hind legs merely because they

occasionally drew pictures of one? The East Indian goddess Kali is pictured

with four arms, an indigo colored body and her tongue perpetually sticking

out. Although there are temples to this goddess in every part of India before

which offerings and libations arc made, a great part of the population realizes

and actually teaches that this rather violent looking personality is simply the

embodiment of an abstract philosophic idea. The sacred books of the Hin-

dus arc far older than those of the Egyptians and symbolism we know ante-

dates the most ancient of languages. Nevertheless modern litcralists are so

delightfully naive that they do not have even a momentary doubt that the hi-

eroglyphical figures are exact portraits of deities accepted and worshiped by

the Egyptians as real beings with precisely those appearances.

 

Egyptian metaphysics is a field as yet almost untouched. This scarcity of

material is due to the surprising fact that in spite of all our discussions, exca-

vations and so forth, we are still for the most part ignorant of the real ele-

ments of Egyptian mythology. The diffidence with which such men as

Belzoni, Maspcro, and Massey approach the subject and their resultant con-

fusion when they do attempt an interpretation, furnish adequate proofs of

the insufficiency of their knowledge. In his excellent classification of Egyp-

tian gods, A. E. Wallis-Budge, keeper of Egyptian Antiquities at the British

Museum, reveals most of what is known concerning this recondite subject.

But even his work presents a frightfully disordered picture. Divinities appear

in one place with certain attributes and in another place with almost opposite

attributes and every god and goddess of Egypt’s forty-two nomes is accredited

 

• / / 3 .

 

 

 

FREEMASONRY OF THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

with being the sole Creator of the universe. We can therefore understand why

few Egyptologists essay the role of interpreter.

 

It is not enough however to know the names of scores of departed celes-

tials. 1 hey are of no value unless we can sense the underlying purpose for

which the system was created. Some have said that there was no purpose be-

neath this pantheon and that this confusion of gods represents an increment

left by one dying order of belief to its successors. Such an explanation will

find wide favor among that class of easy believers who still maintain that the

constellations of the heavens were discovered and organized into zodiacal

signs by shepherds during their spare time. Many centuries of suffering and

benightedness have demonstrated the proclivity of mankind to embrace error

and reject even a modicum of common sense.

 

Our purpose in preparing this present writing is to suggest an interpreta-

tion of Egyptian metaphysical tradition in harmony with the teachings set

forth in what were called the Mysteries. We feel that there is sufficient accu-

mulated evidence set forth in the writings of ancient nations to justify the ac-

ceptance of a metaphysical explanation to the old theologies. Alphonse

Mariette sets forth the premise from which we are to develop our present

treatise:

 

“To the initiated of the sanctuary, no doubt, was reserved the knowledge

of the god in the abstract, the god concealed in the unfathomable depths of

his own essence. But for the less refined adoration of the people were pre-

sented the endless images of deities sculptured on the walls of the temples."

 

It would seem that most Egyptologists come under the general heading of

the less refined group, for they are content to gaze upon the outer forms of

the divinities but have never sought to understand that broad mystical con-

cept of life of which these gods were but the outer semblance and concrete

symbol. How can we ignore such a statement as appears on the statue of a

high priest which was found in Memphis: "He knew the dispositions of

earth and hell; there was nothing hidden from him; he adored God and glori-

fied Him in His designs; he covered with a veil the side of all that he had

seen.” Such hints as this have meaning. They assure us that the Egyptians

 

 

 

themselves were aware of their esoteric tradition. An early Christian father,

Origcn, who was at heart a pagan philosopher, adds his testimony: "1 he

Egyptian philosophers have sublime notions with regard to the Divine nature,

which they keep secret, and never discover to the people but under a veil of

fables and allegories."

 

We may also borrow a few lines from Lewis Spence: "The purpose of ini-

tiation is a conventional attempt to realize mans place in the universe and in

the divine scheme of things, and this, I believe, the Egyptian Mystical System

achieved for the first time in an orderly and philosophical manner. * * Just as I

am well assured that no individual can lead a life of psychic security without

at least a minimum of contemplation upon things hidden and divine, so am I

equally persuaded that no nation, which in the main ignores them, can be se-

cure in justice and loftiness of ideal. How serene was Egypt in her five thou-

sand years of empire, calm, dignified, aye, and prosperous and happy in her

rapt contemplation of the Divine. No people were ever at once so pious and

so contented as were her people, and not until a European hegemony of ad-

mittedly inferior type, the Ptolemaic, interrupted her visionary quietism was

she confounded. Have we no lesson to learn from Egypt? Aye, the greatest in

the world, the knowledge of that divine introspection which alone can give

man the likeness of the Divine."

 

Inspired, then, with the desire to rescue from the wisdom of the old

Egyptians some small part of their secret doctrine, we shall attempt to piece

together a few of the sacred fragments. In the next section we shall classify the

origins of our information so that there may be no reasonable doubt as to the

foundation upon which we build this interpretation. With the tools that are at

hand we shall attempt to rebuild the House of the Mysteries, using in no part

of it materials foreign to the original structure. The condition of the ruin

renders impossible the restoration of the edifice to its original grandeur but,

if we may perceive even a small part of its beauty, we shall be inspired to fur-

ther research and greater effort.

 

 

 

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. in .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I sis was the patroness of the magical arts among the Egyptians. The use to

which magic should be put is revealed in the Osirian cycle where Isis ap-

plies the most potent of her charms and invocations to accomplish the resur-

rection of Osiris. In other words, the redemption of the human soul. I hat

the gods of Egypt were elements of a profound magical system and possessed

a significance far different from that advanced by modern Egyptologists is

certain. The various deities of the Nile valley were elements of an elaborate

magical metaphysical system, a kind of ceremonial Cabbala. This cannot be

denied. But even when impressed with the reality of this fact, the modern

Egyp toIo gist still balks. “Supposing,” he asks, “that the Egyptians did pos-

sess an elaborate metaphysical doctrine? Of what value is its rediscovery in an

age when the natural has been demonstrated to be mediocre and the supernat-

ural non-existent? Even if these extinct persons whose mummies clutter up

our museums were the custodians of some mysterious lore, we have simply

outgrown it. Let the dead past bury its dead. We prefer to live in an era of

  ill .EGYPTIAN MAGIC

  enlightenment, an enlightenment which you would blight by asking us to es-pouse the superstitions of our remote ancestors."