"History must depend for the credence on creditable evidence. In order to justify belief one must either himself have seen or heard the facts related, or have the testimony, direct or indirect, of witnesses or well informed contemporaries. The original sources of historic knowledge are mainly comprised in oral tradition, or in some form of well written records."
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Japan
- "The Japanese believed that the world was enclosed in an egg before creation, which floated on the surface of the waters. At this period a prickle appeared among the waves which became spirit, from which sprang six other spirits, who, with their wives, were the parents of a race of heroes, from whom proceeded the original inhabitants of Japan. They worshiped a deity who was styled the son of the unknown god, and considered as the creator of the two great lights of heaven."
"The egg was always esteemed an emblem of the earth."
"There is a pagoda at Micoa consecrated to a hieroglyphic bull, which is placed on a large square altar and composed of solid gold. His neck is adorned with a very costly collar. The most remarkable thing is the egg, which he pushes with his horns, and he grips it with his forefeet. This bull is placed on the summit of a rock, and the egg floats in water which is enclosed in a hollow space in it. The egg represents the chaos; and what follows is the illustration which the doctors of Japan have given of this hieroglyphic. The whole world at the time of the chaos was enclosed within this egg, which floated on the surface of the waters. The moon, by virtue of her light and other influences, attracted from the bottom of these waters a terrestrial substance which was insensibly converted into a rock, and by that means the egg rested upon it. The bull observing this egg, broke the shell of it by goring it with his horns, and so created the world, and by his breath formed the human species."
This fable may be in some measure be reconciled with truth, by supposing that an ancient tradition had preserved among the Japanese some idea of the world, but that led to error, in process of time, by an ambiguous meaning of the name of the bull, which in Hebrew language is attributed to the Deity, they ascribed the creation of the world to this animal and not to the Supreme Being.
To the prickle among the waves
"May be referred the Gothic idol Seater, which is thus described by Verstegan from Johannes Pomarius ("Restitution of Decayed Intelligence'). First on a pillar was placed a perch on the sharp prickled back whereof stood this idol. He was lean of visage, having long hair and a long beard, and was bare headed and bare footed. In his left hand he held up a wheel; and in his right he carried a pail of water, wherein were flowers and fruits. His long coat was girded on him with a towel of white linen. His standing on the sharp fins of this fish was to signify that the Saxons, for serving him, should pass steadfastly and without harm in dangerous and difficult places.
"The caverns of initiations were in immediate vicinity of the temples, and generally in the midst of a grove, and near a stream of water. They had mirrors, which were to signify that the imperfections of the heart were as plainly displayed to the sight of the gods, as the worshipers behold their own image in the mirror. Hence it became a significant emblem of all observing eye of the god, Tensio Dai in.
"The term of probation for the highest degrees was twenty years; and even the hierophant was not competent to perform the ceremony until he himself had been initiated the same period; and his five assistants must have had ten years' experience from the date of their admission before they were considered competent to take this subordinate part of initiation. The aspirant was taught to subdue his passions, and devote himself to the practice of austerities, ans studiously abstain from every carnal indulgence.
"In the closing ceremony of preparation, he was entombed with the pastos, or place of penance, the door of which was said to be guarded by a terrible divinity, armed with a drawn sword, as the vindictive fury or god of punishment. During the course of his probation the aspirant sometimes acquired such a high degree of enthusiasm as induced him to refuse to quit his confinement in the pastos; and to remain there until he literally perished from famine. To this voluntary martyrdom was attached a promise of never ending happiness in the paradise of Amidas. Indeed, the merit of such a sacrifice was boundless. His memory was celebrated with unusual rejoicings. The initiations, however, were dignified with an assurance of a happy immortality to all, who passed through the rites honorably and with becoming fortitude.
"Rings or circles of gold as amulets were worn as emblems of eternity, virtually consecrated, and were supposed to convey the blessing of along and prosperous life; and a chaplet of consecrated flowers or sacred plants and boughs of trees, which, being suspended about the doors of their apartments, prevented the ingress of impure spirits; and hence their dwellings were exempted from the visitations of disease or calamity."
His Story of Freed Ma Sons
"The egg was always esteemed an emblem of the earth."
"There is a pagoda at Micoa consecrated to a hieroglyphic bull, which is placed on a large square altar and composed of solid gold. His neck is adorned with a very costly collar. The most remarkable thing is the egg, which he pushes with his horns, and he grips it with his forefeet. This bull is placed on the summit of a rock, and the egg floats in water which is enclosed in a hollow space in it. The egg represents the chaos; and what follows is the illustration which the doctors of Japan have given of this hieroglyphic. The whole world at the time of the chaos was enclosed within this egg, which floated on the surface of the waters. The moon, by virtue of her light and other influences, attracted from the bottom of these waters a terrestrial substance which was insensibly converted into a rock, and by that means the egg rested upon it. The bull observing this egg, broke the shell of it by goring it with his horns, and so created the world, and by his breath formed the human species."
This fable may be in some measure be reconciled with truth, by supposing that an ancient tradition had preserved among the Japanese some idea of the world, but that led to error, in process of time, by an ambiguous meaning of the name of the bull, which in Hebrew language is attributed to the Deity, they ascribed the creation of the world to this animal and not to the Supreme Being.
To the prickle among the waves
"May be referred the Gothic idol Seater, which is thus described by Verstegan from Johannes Pomarius ("Restitution of Decayed Intelligence'). First on a pillar was placed a perch on the sharp prickled back whereof stood this idol. He was lean of visage, having long hair and a long beard, and was bare headed and bare footed. In his left hand he held up a wheel; and in his right he carried a pail of water, wherein were flowers and fruits. His long coat was girded on him with a towel of white linen. His standing on the sharp fins of this fish was to signify that the Saxons, for serving him, should pass steadfastly and without harm in dangerous and difficult places.
"The caverns of initiations were in immediate vicinity of the temples, and generally in the midst of a grove, and near a stream of water. They had mirrors, which were to signify that the imperfections of the heart were as plainly displayed to the sight of the gods, as the worshipers behold their own image in the mirror. Hence it became a significant emblem of all observing eye of the god, Tensio Dai in.
"The term of probation for the highest degrees was twenty years; and even the hierophant was not competent to perform the ceremony until he himself had been initiated the same period; and his five assistants must have had ten years' experience from the date of their admission before they were considered competent to take this subordinate part of initiation. The aspirant was taught to subdue his passions, and devote himself to the practice of austerities, ans studiously abstain from every carnal indulgence.
"In the closing ceremony of preparation, he was entombed with the pastos, or place of penance, the door of which was said to be guarded by a terrible divinity, armed with a drawn sword, as the vindictive fury or god of punishment. During the course of his probation the aspirant sometimes acquired such a high degree of enthusiasm as induced him to refuse to quit his confinement in the pastos; and to remain there until he literally perished from famine. To this voluntary martyrdom was attached a promise of never ending happiness in the paradise of Amidas. Indeed, the merit of such a sacrifice was boundless. His memory was celebrated with unusual rejoicings. The initiations, however, were dignified with an assurance of a happy immortality to all, who passed through the rites honorably and with becoming fortitude.
"Rings or circles of gold as amulets were worn as emblems of eternity, virtually consecrated, and were supposed to convey the blessing of along and prosperous life; and a chaplet of consecrated flowers or sacred plants and boughs of trees, which, being suspended about the doors of their apartments, prevented the ingress of impure spirits; and hence their dwellings were exempted from the visitations of disease or calamity."
His Story of Freed Ma Sons
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
The Valkyries
Song: Richard Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries (Die Walkure)
VALKYRIES MLG
Freya's Ruminates
SESAME SEESAW
Norns (Nornir), in Norse mythology, the Fates, three wise women spinners who determined every allotted life span. One spun out the thread of each life, another measured its length, and the third decided when the thread should be snapped.
Boys from Brazil
The Norns lived in a great hall in Asgard near Weird's Well. These three Norns tended to the health of the World Tree, Yggdrasil. They kept it from withering.
Every day they drew water from Weird's Well and sprinkled it over the tree, and they patched clay from the well onto the tree trunk in places where the bark had rotted away or been eaten by animals.
Since Yggdrasil's roots and branches connected all the worlds and held the universe together, the Norns were thus responsible for preserving the fabric of all creation. The Norns have parallels in the three Fates (Parcae) of Greek and Roman mythology; thus they are believed to have originated of Indo-European origin.
Freya's Ruminates
The names of the Valkyries vary in the surviving literature.
Among them were Shaker and Ec Ono Mist, who brought Odin his horn, Ox
Time, Raging Bull, Quarrier, Might, Seaking, Host Fetter, Screaming,
Spear Bearer, Shield Bearer, Radgrid, Reginleif, Battle, and Rota.
Skuld, the youngest of the Norns, also rode with the Valkyries.
The goddess Freya also surveyed the battlefields seeking valiant souls,
in a chariot driven by two cats; in agreement with Odin, she was
entitled to half of the dead heroes herself, bringing them not to
Valhalla, but to her own banquet hall, Sessrumnir at Oxford on Rideau.
Frey had power over rain and sun, bountiful harvests, good fortune,
happiness, and peace. He was the brother of the fertility goddess Freya.
His father was Njord, a god of the sea, who also ruled over prosperity
and good harvests.
Frey and Freya were Vanir deities associated with agriculture and
subordinate to the warlike Aesir gods, who were associated with battle
and victory. According to the myths, war had once broken out between the
Aesir gods and the Vanir gods. As a part of the peace treaty there was
an exchange of hostages, and Njord, Frey, and Freya left Vanaheim, the
home of the Vanir, and went to live with the Aesir gods in Asgard.
Frey ruled the domain of elves (wee men).
Most famous of the Valkyries was Odin's favorite, Brynhild (also known
as Brunnehild, Brunhild, or Brunhilda), who appears in a number of myths
and legends. According to the Icelandic 'Volsunga Saga' she was leader
of the Valkyries.
Among them were Shaker and Ec Ono Mist, who brought Odin his horn, Ox
Time, Raging Bull, Quarrier, Might, Seaking, Host Fetter, Screaming,
Spear Bearer, Shield Bearer, Radgrid, Reginleif, Battle, and Rota.
Skuld, the youngest of the Norns, also rode with the Valkyries.
The goddess Freya also surveyed the battlefields seeking valiant souls,
in a chariot driven by two cats; in agreement with Odin, she was
entitled to half of the dead heroes herself, bringing them not to
Valhalla, but to her own banquet hall, Sessrumnir at Oxford on Rideau.
Frey had power over rain and sun, bountiful harvests, good fortune,
happiness, and peace. He was the brother of the fertility goddess Freya.
His father was Njord, a god of the sea, who also ruled over prosperity
and good harvests.
Frey and Freya were Vanir deities associated with agriculture and
subordinate to the warlike Aesir gods, who were associated with battle
and victory. According to the myths, war had once broken out between the
Aesir gods and the Vanir gods. As a part of the peace treaty there was
an exchange of hostages, and Njord, Frey, and Freya left Vanaheim, the
home of the Vanir, and went to live with the Aesir gods in Asgard.
Frey ruled the domain of elves (wee men).
Most famous of the Valkyries was Odin's favorite, Brynhild (also known
as Brunnehild, Brunhild, or Brunhilda), who appears in a number of myths
and legends. According to the Icelandic 'Volsunga Saga' she was leader
of the Valkyries.
SESAME SEESAW
Norns (Nornir), in Norse mythology, the Fates, three wise women spinners who determined every allotted life span. One spun out the thread of each life, another measured its length, and the third decided when the thread should be snapped.
Boys from Brazil
The Norns lived in a great hall in Asgard near Weird's Well. These three Norns tended to the health of the World Tree, Yggdrasil. They kept it from withering.
Every day they drew water from Weird's Well and sprinkled it over the tree, and they patched clay from the well onto the tree trunk in places where the bark had rotted away or been eaten by animals.
Since Yggdrasil's roots and branches connected all the worlds and held the universe together, the Norns were thus responsible for preserving the fabric of all creation. The Norns have parallels in the three Fates (Parcae) of Greek and Roman mythology; thus they are believed to have originated of Indo-European origin.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
The Paytriot Delusion
By Matthew D. Jarvie
September 18, 2009
Dissecting the New Age
You may think I am able to say that patriotism is a sham and that countries are nothing more than areas of land separated by imaginary lines drawn on a map, without being accused of supporting world government. Well, not according to some who have swallowed the "take back the Republic" BS hook, line and sinker. So let me say it again: Patriotism is a joke and what you believe is "your" country is nothing more than a piece of real estate which isn't nor has ever been yours at all. Patriotism is another artificially-created religion aimed at people's emotions and has historically served no purpose other than to get people to willingly go off and fight in some bogus war fabricated by an international banking syndicate when the time was right.
Now a new and improved form of patriotism I call paytriotism is being used to get people into a reactionary and confrontational state of mind that will be eventually exploited by the controllers to create an order out of chaos scenario. Do you not find it odd that "mainstream," particularly "conservative" (i.e. Republican) media talking heads like Glenn Beck are now saying many of the same things commonly heard in the "alternative" media and on "paytriot" (pay-to-riot) radio for the past eight years? Do you think this is by some mere coincidence? I think not.
I believe that what some people have been saying is correct, that there will be a revolution in America. Except it won't be a revolution of or by the people as there has never been such a thing, even in this country's past. It will be a revolution of and by the NGOs and think tanks (CFR, CNP, Bilderberg, RAND, etc.), the foundations (Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, etc.), and its lapdog media, on behalf of the international banking elite and their Ecclesiastic Freemason handlers hiding behind the facade of organized religion.
As people continue to go on about "revolution" and how it is a good thing, perhaps they should first understand the true meaning of the word REVOLUTION. A revolution is the great solar myth referring to the sun rising to a "NEW DAWN," ushering in a NEW AGE. Perhaps this explains why there hasn't been a revolution in modern recorded history that hasn't had Masonic fingerprints all over it. My feeling is that the next revolution will be no different.
The elite do not fear paytriots with guns, but perhaps they do fear too many people owning guns -- hence an increased push for further gun control and the deliberate depletion of ammunition around the country. However, when the time comes they will depend on just the right number of useful idiots to react in a way that creates the pretext for them to bring out their experimental crowd control toys and come down hard on us all. In an age of directed-energy weapons, guns are virtually obsolete.
It's quite clear that civil unrest is slowly being fomented in this country for a purpose unbeknownst to most. Most people's frustration is indeed genuine and justified, but that doesn't mean there are not devious people looking to exploit that frustration to further their own diabolical agenda.
Reality
All soul is immortal. For that which is always in movement is immortal; that which moves something else, in ceasing from movement ceases from living. So only that which moves itself, because it does not abandon itself, never stops moving. But is is also source and first principle of movement for the other things which move. Now a first principle is something which does not come into being. For all that comes into being from a first principle, but first principle itself cannot come into being from anything at all; for if a first principle came into being from anything, it would not do so from a first principle. Since it is something that does not come into being, it must also be something which does not perish. For if a first principle is destroyed, neither will it ever come into being from anything itself nor will anything else come into being from it, given that all things must come into being from a first principle. It is in this way, them, that that which moves itself is a first principle or movement. It is not possible for this either for this to be destroyed or to come into being, or else the whole universe and the whole of that which comes to be might collapse together and come to a halt, and never again have a source from which all things will be moved and come to be. And since that which is moved by itself has been shown to be immortal, it will incur no shame to say that this is the essence and the definition of soul. For all body which has its source of motion outside itself is soulless, whereas that which has it within itself, from itself, is ensouled, this, this being the nature of soul; and if this is the way it is - that that which moves itself is nothing other than soul - then soul will necessarily be something that neither comes into being nor dies.
- Socrates in PhAEdrus
And by reason all these affections, the soul when enclosed in a mortal body is at first without sense; but when the stream of growth and nutriment flows in with diminished speed, and the course of the soul attaining a calm go their own way and become steadier as time advances, then the revolutions of the several circles return to their natural figure, and call the same the other by their right names, and make the possessor of them a rational being. And if these combine in him with any true nurture or education, he attains the fullness and health of the perfect man, and escapes the worst disease of all; but if he neglects education he walks lame throughout existence in this life, and returns imperfect and good for nothing to the world below.
-Timaeus
- Socrates in PhAEdrus
And by reason all these affections, the soul when enclosed in a mortal body is at first without sense; but when the stream of growth and nutriment flows in with diminished speed, and the course of the soul attaining a calm go their own way and become steadier as time advances, then the revolutions of the several circles return to their natural figure, and call the same the other by their right names, and make the possessor of them a rational being. And if these combine in him with any true nurture or education, he attains the fullness and health of the perfect man, and escapes the worst disease of all; but if he neglects education he walks lame throughout existence in this life, and returns imperfect and good for nothing to the world below.
-Timaeus
Sunday, September 20, 2009
I Am that I Am
The name which the Grand Architect directed Moses to use, (Exod. iii. 14,) that he might identify himself to the Israelites as the messenger sent to them by God. It is one of the modifications of the Tetragrammaton, and as such, in its Hebrew form of eheyeh asher eheyeh (the e pronounced like a in fate,) has been adopted as a significant word in the high degrees of the York, American, and several other Rites. The original Hebrew works are actually in the future tense, and grammatically means I will be what I will be; but all the versions give a present signification. Thus, the Vulgate has it, I am who am; the Septuagint, I am he who exists; and the Arabic paraphrase, I am the Eternal who passes not away. The expression seems intended to point out the eternity and self existence of God, and such is the sense in which it is used in Masonry.
Cunning and Curious
Cunning. Used by old English writers in the sense of skillful. Thus, in 1 Kings viii. 14, it is said of the architect who was sent by the king of Tyre to assist King Solomon in the construction of his Temple, that he was "cunning to work in all works in brass."
Curious. Latin, curiosus, from cura, care. An archaic expression for careful. Thus in Masonic language, which abounds in archaisms, an evidence, indeed, of its antiquity, Hiram Abiff is described as a "curious and cunning workman," that is to say, "careful and skillful."
Masonic Encyclopedia
Curious. Latin, curiosus, from cura, care. An archaic expression for careful. Thus in Masonic language, which abounds in archaisms, an evidence, indeed, of its antiquity, Hiram Abiff is described as a "curious and cunning workman," that is to say, "careful and skillful."
Masonic Encyclopedia
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Secrecy and Silence
These virtues constitute the very essence of all Masonic character; they are the safeguard of the Institution, giving to it all its security and perpetuity, and are enforced by frequent admonitions in all the degrees from the lowest to the highest. The Entered Apprentice begins his Masonic career by learning the duty of secrecy and silence. Hence it is appropriate that in that degree which is the consummation of initiation, in which the whole cycle of Masonic science is completed, the abstruse machinery of symbolism should be employed to express the same important virtues on the mind of the neophyte.
The same principles of secrecy and silence existed in all the ancient mysteries ans systems of worship. When Aristotle was asked what thing appeared to him to be most difficult of performance, he replied, "To be secret and silent."
"If we turn our backs to antiquity," says Calcutt, "we shall find that the old Egyptians had so great a regard of silence and secrecy in the mysteries of their religion, that they set up the god Harpocrates, to whom they paid peculiar honor and veneration, who was represented with the right hand placed near the heart, and the left down by his side, covered with a skin before, full of eyes."
Apuleius, who was an initiate in the Mysteries of Isis, says: "By no peril will I ever be compelled to disclose to the uninitiated the things that I have had entrusted to me on condition of silence."
Lobeck, in his Aglaophamus, has collected several examples of the reluctance which with the ancients approached a mystical subject, and the manner in which they shrank from divulging any explantion or fable which had been related to them at the mysteries, under the seal of secrecy and silence.
And lastly, in the school of Pythagoras, these lessons were taught by the sage to his disciples. A novitiate of five years was imposed upon each pupil, which period was to passed in total silence, and in religious and philosophical contemplation. And at length, when he was admitted to full fellowship in the society, an oath of secrecy was administered to him on the sacred tetractys, which was equivalent to the Jewish Tetragrammaton.
Silence and secrecy are called the cardinal virtues of a Select Master," in the ninth or Select Master's degree of the American Rite.
Among the Egyptians the sign of silence was made by pressing the index finger of the right hand on the lips. It was thus that they represented Harpocrates, the god of silence, whose statue was placed at the entrance of all temples of Isis and Serapis, to indicate that silence were to be preserved as to all that occurred within.
Masonic Encyclopedia
Friday, September 18, 2009
Persia (Red Asian)
To Zerdusht, or Zoroaster(ruse of the stars), were the mysteries of Persia indebted for their celebrity. Hyde and Prideaux, in this connection, state that Zoroaster was of Jewish birth. Such a person did live in Persia some time about the latter end of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. The period is very uncertain, but all authorities(author right ties) agree as to the fact of his existence in that region of the East, and his great work in the "reformation'" or change made in the religious worship of the people in and around Persia.Sir John Malcom, "History of Persia," says:-
"A Persian author has declared that the religious among the followers of Zoroaster believed that the soul of that holy person was created by God, and hung upon that tree from which all that is celestial has been produced... I have heard the wise and holy Mobud Seeroosh declare that the father of Zoroaster had a cow, which after tasting some withered leaves that fallen from the tree, never ate of any other; these leaves being her sole food, all the milk she produced was from them. The father of Zoroaster (Poorshasp) was entirely supported by this milk; and to it, in consequence, they refer the pregnancy of his mother, whose name was Daghda."
Another account is that the cow ate the soul of Zoroaster as it hung on the tree, and that it passed through her milk to the father of the prophet. The apparent object of this statement is to prove that Zoroaster was born in innocence, and that even vegetable life was destroyed to give him existence.
When, he as born he burst into a loud laugh, like the prince of necromancers, Merlin, and such a light shone from his body as illumined the whole room. Pliny mentions this ancient tradition respecting Zoroaster.
It is said by some that, being a Jew, he was educated in the elements of the true worship among his countrymen in Babylon, and after wards became the attendant upon the prophet Daniel, and received from him initiation into all the mysteries of the Jewish doctrine and practice. He also studied magic under the Chaldean philosophers, who initiated him into their mysteries. This account is from Hyde and Orideaux, but Dr. Oliver expresses much doubt to its probability. Indeed, from the great uncertainty as to date of his appearance among men, some authors placed him as a contemporary with Abraham, and others again made him to appear long after the captivity had ceased. With this uncertainty as to Zoroaster's true date, we must receive all accounts of his marvelous acts, or matters connected with him, many grains, if not ounces, of allowance.
He is after this found at Ecbatana, and making himself appear as a prophet, set about the task of reforming the religion of Persia, which, like all other religions, had become subverted from the original object, and by a series of gradual and imperceptible changes its character had degenerated from the Magian form to the Sabian system.
As a professed Magian, he was soon surrounded by followers of every rank, who joined with him and gave support to all his designs of reformation.
Darius Hystapis accompanied him into Cashmere, to aid in completing his preparatory studies, by instruction from the Brahmins, from whom he had received the rites of initiation. Cashmere has been called the terrestrial paradise and the holy land of superstition. In the Ayeen Akbery forty five places are said to be dedicated to Mahadeo; sixty-four to Vishnu; twenty-two to Durga; and only three to Brahma (Maur. Ind. Ant.).
Before the time of Zoroaster the Persians, like the early Egyptians, worshiped in the open air, long after other nations had constructed temples, as they considered the broad expanse of heaven as the sublime covering of temples devoted to the worship of the Deity. Their places of sacrifice were much like those of the northern nations of Europe , composed of circles of upright stones, rough, and unhewn. They abominated images, and worshiped the Sun and Fire, as representatives of the omnipotent Deity. The Jews were not exempt from the superstitious worship of fire, saying God appeared in the Cherubim, over the gate of Eden, as a flaming sword; and to Abraham as a flame of fire; to Moses as a fire in the bush at Horeb; and to the whole assembly of the people at Sinai, when he descended upon the mountain in fire.
Moses himself told them that their God was a consuming fire, which was reechoed more then once; and thence the Jews were weak enough to worship the material substance, in lieu of the invisible and eternal God. Zoroaster succeeded in persuading them to enclose their sacred fire altars in covered towers; because, being on elevated and exposed hills, the fire was liable to be extinguished by storms. These were circular buildings, covered with domes, having small openings at the top to let out the smoke. God was supposed to reside in the sacred flame, and it was never permitted to be extinguished.
We may here pause in our description of the Persian worship of the flame to recite the following: -
"A Jew entered a Parsee temple and beheld the sacred fire. 'What!' said he to the priest, 'do you worship the fire?' 'Not the fire,' answered the priest, 'it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his genial heat.' 'Do you then worship the sun as your God? 'asked the Jew. 'Know ye not that this luminary also is but a work of the Almighty Creator?' 'We know it,' replied the priest, 'but the uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a conception of the Most High, and is not the sun, the incomprehensible source of light, an image of the invisible being who blesses and preserves all things? 'Do you people, then, 'rejoined the Israelite, 'distinguish the type from the original? They call the sun their God, and, descending even from this to a baser object, they kneel before an earthly flame! Ye amuse the outward but blind the inward eye; and while ye hold to them the earthly, ye draw from the heavenly light! Thou shall not make unto thyself any image or likeness.' 'How do you designate the Supreme Being?' asked the Parsee. 'We call him Jehovah Adonai; that is, the Lord, who is, who was, and who will be,' answered the Jew. 'Your appellation is grand and sublime,' said the Parsee, 'but it is awful too.' A Christian then drew nigh and said, 'We call him Father!' The Pagan and the Jew looked at each other and said, 'Here is at once an image and a reality; it is a word of the heart.' Therefore they all raised their eyes to Heaven, and said, with reverence and love, 'Our Father,' and they took each other by the hand, and all three called one another 'brother.' "
This is Freemasonry!
We now resume our sketch of the Mysteries.
The building, in which was placed the sacred fire, represented the universe, and the fire which perpetually burned in the center was the symbol of the sun.
Pococke, "Specimen and Historiae Arabicae," informs us that Zoroaster remodeled the Mysteries; and to accomplish this, he retired to a circular cave or grotto in the mountains of Bokhara. This cave he ornamented with a profusion of symbols and astronomical decorations, and dedicated to the Mediator Mithr-As, sometimes denominated the invisible Deity. That the knowledge of astronomy, in that region and early date, was very extensive is well to authors generally. Pliny says that "Belus," who was grandson of Ham, "inventor fuit sideralis scientiae."
That Mithras was considered by the Persians to be the Supreme Deity, we have, "Mithras, the first god among th Persians" - from Hesychius in Greek (according to Cudworth's Intel. Sys.). "They were so deeply impressed," says Plu. Isid. et Osir, "with this amiable characteristic of their god, that they denominated every person who acted as a mediator between contending parties, Mithras."
They say he was born or produced from a rock-hewn cave. A splendid gem of great luster. which represented the sun, was placed in the center of the roof of the cavern; the planets were also placed in order around this gem in settings of gold on a ground of azure. The zodiac was chased in gold, having the constellations of Leo and Taurus, with a sun and moon emerging from their backs, in beaten gold. We are told by Diodorus Siculus that "the tomb of Osymandyas in Egypt was surrounded with a broad circle of beaten gold, three hundred and sixty-five cubits in circumference, which represented he days in the year." (note this, and the "starry decked heaven" of the father, or Noah, riding in safety in the ark; for Noah was the sun, and the bull was the acknowledged symbol of the ark. Hyde (del Rel. vet. Pers.) says that the Mogul emperors use this device on their coins; sometimes Leo is used for the Bull.
Our limits forbid any farther description of this cave or grotto, which had every appliance for the workings necessary for initiation, with the most elaborate machinery imaginable.
To give himself the proper credit with the people, Zoroaster(Ruse of the Stars) professed to have been favored with a celestial vision, taken up into the abode of the Most High, - which was evidently assumed by him in imitation of the interview between Moses and the Almighty in the Mount Sinai, - and permitted to hold converse with the Awful Being face to face, who, he said, was encircled by a bright and perpetual fire; that a system of pure worship had been revealed to him, which was ordered to be communicated only to those who possessed the virtue to resist the allurements of the world, and would devote their lives to the study of philosophy and contemplation of the Deity and his works.
The fame of Zoroaster spread throughout the world. All those who desire to obtain a knowledge of the philosophy taught by him resorted to the Mithratic grotto to be initiated. From the most distant regions came many who wished to learn of Zoroaster. Pythagoras, who traveled into all countries to learn philosophy, is said to have gone to Persia to be initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras.
"To prepare the candidate for initiation, many required, with water, fire, and honey. He passed forty days(life begins at 40) - some say eighty days - of probation, and ended with fifty days' fast. These were all endured in the recesses of a cavern, perpetual silence, secluded from all society, and confined in cold and nakedness, in hunger, and stripes, and with cruel tortures. We my be sure that in some instances these were attended with fatal effects. When one died under these cruel inflictions and rigid penances, his body was thrown into a deeper cavern and he was never more heard of. According to a Christian writer, in the fifth century A.D., 'the Christians of Alexandria, having discovered a cavern that had been consecrated to Mithras, resolved to explore it; when, to their astonishment, the principal thing they found in it was a great quantity of human skulls and other bones of men who had been thus sacrificed.'
'Those who survived these severe tests of endurance became eligible to the highest honors and dignities, and received a degree of veneration equal to that which was paid to the supernal deities. The successful probationer was brought forth into the cavern of initiation, where he entered on the point of a sword presented to his naked left breast, by which he was slightly wounded, and then he was virtually prepared for the approaching ceremony. He was crowned with olive branches. The olive, in the Mysteries, commemorative of the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah, was the propitious omen that the patriarch and family would speedily emerge from the gloom of the ark to the light of day; so to the candidate, that he would be able to exclaim, 'I have escaped from evil; I have found deliverance.' The priests of Mithras, by a like allusion, were called Hierocoraces, or sacred Ravens, and the oracular priestesses of Hammon, Peleiades, or Doves; while, in consequence of the close connection of the dove and olive, a particular species of the olive was called Columbas.
"He was anointed with oil of ban, which is the Balsm of Bezoin, and clothed with enchanted armor by his guide, who represented Simorgh, a monstrous griffin, whose name indicates that it is of the size of thirty birds, and appears to have been a species of eagle, in said to correspond in some respects with the idea of the phoenix. The candidate was introduced into an inner chamber, where was purified with fire and water, and then passed through the SEVEN STAGES of Initiation, which is represented as a high ladder, with seven steps or gates. From the top of this ladder he beheld a deep and dangerous vault, and a single false step might dash him to instant destruction, which was an emblem of those infernal regions through which he was about to pass. As he passed through the gloomy cavern he saw the sacred fire, which at intervals would flash into its recesses and illuminate his path, sometimes from beneath his feet, and again, descending from above upon his head in a broad sheet. Amidst all this, distant yelling of beasts of prey, the roaring of lions, howling of wolves, and barking of dogs, would greet his ears. Then being enveloped in darkness profound, he would not know wither to turn for safety, his attendant would rush him forward, maintaining an unbroken silence, towards the place whence the sounds proceeded, and suddenly a door would be open and he would find himself in this den of wild beasts lighted only by a single lamp. Being exhorted to have courage by his conductor, he would be immediately attacked by the initiated, who, in the forms of the several animals, and amidst great uproars and howlings, would endeavor to overwhelm him with alarm, and he would seldom escape unhurt, however bravely he might defend himself.
"Hurried from this scene into another cell, he was agin shrouded in darkness. Silence profound succeeded, and with cautious step he was conducted onward to encounter other dangers. A rumbling noise is heard in a distant cavern, which became louder as he advanced, when the thunder appeared to rend the solid rocks, and the continued flashes of lightning enabled him to observe the flitting shades of avenging genii, who appeared to threaten with summary destruction those who invaded the privacy of their peculiar abode. These scenes continued until the strength and endurance of the candidate being nearly exhausted, he was conveyed into another apartment, where a great illumination was suddenly introduced, and his strength permitted to recruit, and melodious music soothed his outraged feelings.
"Resting for a time in this apartment, the elements of those secrets were explained, and all of which were more fully developed when his initiation was completed. When sufficiently prepared to proceed, a signal was given by his guide, and three priest immediately appeared; one of them cast a serpent into his bosom, as a symbol of regeneration. A private door being now opened, howlings and lamentations were heard, and he beheld in every revolting form the torments of the damned in Hades. He was then conducted through other dark passages, and after having successfully passed the labyrinth of six spacious vaults, connected with tortuous galleries, each having a narrow portal, and having been triumphantly borne through all these difficulties and dangers by the exercise of fortitude and perseverance, the doors of the Sacellum, or seventh vault, were thrown open, and the darkness changed to light.
"In conformity with these seven subterranean caverns, the Persians held the doctrine of seven classes of demons. First, Ahriman, the chief; second, the spirits who inhabit the most distant regions of the air; third, those who traverse the dense and stormy regions which are nearest the earth, but still at an immeasurable distance; fourth, the malignant and unclean spirits, who hover over the surface of the earth; fifth, the spirits of the 'vasty deep,' which they agitate with storms and tempests; sixth, the subterranean demons who dwell in charnel vaults and caverns, termed Ghouls, who devours the corrupted tenants of the grave, and excite earthquakes and convulsions in the globe; and seventh, the spirits who hold a solid reign of darkness in the center of the earth (vide Maur. Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 642). From this doctrine probably emanated the Mohammedan belief in seven hells, or stages, of punishment, in the infernal regions; and seven heavens, in the highest which the Table of Fate is suspended and guarded from demons, lest they should change or corrupt anything thereon. Its length is so great, as is the space between heaven and earth; its breadth equal to the distance from the east to the west; and it is made of one pearl. The divine pen was created by the finger of God; that is also of pearls, and of such length and breadth that a swift horse could scarcely gallop round it in five hundred years. It is so endowed that self moved, it writes all things, past, present, and to come. Light is its ink; and the language which it uses only the angels can understand."
The seven hells of the Jewish Rabbies were founded on the seven names of hell contained in their Scriptures.
"The progress of the candidate through the seven stages of initiation was in a circle, referring to the course of the planets round the sun; or more probably, the apparent motion of the sun; which is accomplished by a movement from east to west by the south; in which course every candidate in Masonry should be conducted. The candidate was then admitted into the spacious cavern already described, which was the grotto of Elysium, which was brilliantly illuminated and shone with gold and precious stones. Here was seated the Archimagus on the east, on a throne of gold, having a crown decorated with myrtle-boughs and clothed in a tunic of cerulean color, and around him were arranged the Presules and dispensers of the Mysteries. He was received with congratulations, and having vowed to keep secret the rites of Mithras, the sacred WORDS were given to him, of which the ineffable TETRACTYS, or name of God, was the chief."
He was now entitled to investiture and to receive instruction. Amulets and talismans were presented to him, he was taught how to construct them, that he might be exempt from all dangers to his person and his property. Explanations were made to him of every emblem which had been displayed, every incident by which he had been surprised; and all were turned to a moral purpose by means of disquisitions, which tended to inspire him with a strong attachment to the Mysteries and to those from whom he had received them. He learned that the benign influence of the superior light which was imparted by initiation irradiates the mind with rays of the Divinity and inspires it with knowledge which can be given in no other manner. He was taught to adore the consecrated fire, which was the gift of the Deity, as his visible residence. The throne of the Deity was believed to be in the sun, which was the Persian Paradise; but was equally supposed to be in the fire. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna, says, "God is the fire of the altar." He was taught the existence of two independent and equally powerful principles, the one essentially good, the other irreclaimably evil; and this was the cosmogony: Ormisda, the supreme source of light and truth, created the worlds at six different periods. First, he made the heavens; second, the waters; third, the earth; fourth, trees and plants; fifth, animals; sixth, man, or rather a being compounded of a man and a bull.
To counteract the effect of this renunciation of virtue,, another pure being was created, compounded, as before, of a man and a bull, called Taschter, or Mithras, by whose intervention, with the assistance of three associates, a flood of waters was produced to purify the earth, by prodigious showers of rain, each drop as large as the head of an ox, which produced a general lustration. A tempestuous wind, which blew for three days in succession from the same quarter, dried the waters; and when they were completely subsided, a new germ was introduced, from which sprang the present race of mankind.
History of Freemasonry
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Purpose
We're not here because we're free. We're here because we're not free. There is no escaping reason; no denying purpose. Because as we both know, without purpose, we would not exist.
[Several Agent Smith Clones walk in]
Agent Smith Clone 1: It is purpose that created us.
Agent Smith Clone 2: Purpose that connects us.
Agent Smith Clone 3: Purpose that pulls us.
Agent Smith Clone 4: That guides us.
Agent Smith Clone 5: That drives us.
Agent Smith Clone 6: It is purpose that defines us.
Agent Smith Clone 7: Purpose that binds us.
Pre-Dinosaur, Tree-Climbing Mammals with Opposable "Thumbs" Discovered
Short News
Researchers have put together some data gathered from the study of a dozen complete skeletons and announced the discovery of a tree-climbing mammal that used elongated fingers and opposable "thumbs" to climb trees and get away from predators.
The skeletons were found nearly twenty years ago in Russia, in a large block of mudstone that dated back to the Late Paleozoic, about 30 million years before dinosaurs took over the planet. The mammal is known as Suminia getmanovi.
The skeletons are those of both boys and men, giving scientists a look at how the Suminia skeleton developed over time. The fact that they were buried together in the one block of stone implies they were social animals.
Researchers have put together some data gathered from the study of a dozen complete skeletons and announced the discovery of a tree-climbing mammal that used elongated fingers and opposable "thumbs" to climb trees and get away from predators.
The skeletons were found nearly twenty years ago in Russia, in a large block of mudstone that dated back to the Late Paleozoic, about 30 million years before dinosaurs took over the planet. The mammal is known as Suminia getmanovi.
The skeletons are those of both boys and men, giving scientists a look at how the Suminia skeleton developed over time. The fact that they were buried together in the one block of stone implies they were social animals.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Persia means red asians
To Zerdusht, or Zoroaster(ruse of the stars), were the mysteries of Persia indebted for their celebrity. Hyde and Prideaux, in this connection, state that Zoroaster was of Jewish birth. Such a person did live in Persia some time about the latter end of the captivity of the Jews in Babylon. The period is very uncertain, but all authorities(author right ties) agree as to the fact of his existence in that region of the East, and his great work in the "reformation'" or change made in the religious worship of the people in and around Persia.
Sir John Malcom, "History of Persia," says:-
"A Persian author has declared that the religious among the followers of Zoroaster believed that the soul of that holy person was created by God, and hung upon that tree from which all that is celestial has been produced... I have heard the wise and holy Mobud Seeroosh declare that the father of Zoroaster had a cow, which after tasting some withered leaves that fallen from the tree, never ate of any other; these leaves being her sole food, all the milk she produced was from them. The father of Zoroaster (Poorshasp) was entirely supported by this milk; and to it, in consequence, they refer the pregnancy of his mother, whose name was Daghda."
Another account is that the cow ate the soul of Zoroaster as it hung on the tree, and that it passed through her milk to the father of the prophet. The apparent object of this statement is to prove that Zoroaster was born in innocence, and that even vegetable life was destroyed to give him existence.
When, he as born he burst into a loud laugh, like the prince of necromancers, Merlin, and such a light shone from his body as illumined the whole room. Pliny mentions this ancient tradition respecting Zoroaster.
It is said by some that, being a Jew, he was educated in the elements of the true worship among his countrymen in Babylon, and after wards became the attendant upon the prophet Daniel, and received from him initiation into all the mysteries of the Jewish doctrine and practice. He also studied magic under the Chaldean philosophers, who initiated him into their mysteries. This account is from Hyde and Orideaux, but Dr. Oliver expresses much doubt to its probability. Indeed, from the great uncertainty as to date of his appearance among men, some authors placed him as a contemporary with Abraham, and others again made him to appear long after the captivity had ceased. With this uncertainty as to Zoroaster's true date, we must receive all accounts of his marvelous acts, or matters connected with him, many grains, if not ounces, of allowance.
He is after this found at Ecbatana, and making himself appear as a prophet, set about the task of reforming the religion of Persia, which, like all other religions, had become subverted from the original object, and by a series of gradual and imperceptible changes its character had degenerated from the Magian form to the Sabian system.
As a professed Magian, he was soon surrounded by followers of every rank, who joined with him and gave support to all his designs of reformation.
Darius Hystapis accompanied him into Cashmere, to aid in completing his preparatory studies, by instruction from the Brahmins, from whom he had received the rites of initiation. Cashmere has been called the terrestrial paradise and the holy land of superstition. In the Ayeen Akbery forty five places are said to be dedicated to Mahadeo; sixty-four to Vishnu; twenty-two to Durga; and only three to Brahma (Maur. Ind. Ant.).
Before the time of Zoroaster the Persians, like the early Egyptians, worshiped in the open air, long after other nations had constructed temples, as they considered the broad expanse of heaven as the sublime covering of temples devoted to the worship of the Deity. Their places of sacrifice were much like those of the northern nations of Europe , composed of circles of upright stones, rough, and unhewn. They abominated images, and worshiped the Sun and Fire, as representatives of the omnipotent Deity. The Jews were not exempt from the superstitious worship of fire, saying God appeared in the Cherubim, over the gate of Eden, as a flaming sword; and to Abraham as a flame of fire; to Moses as a fire in the bush at Horeb; and to the whole assembly of the people at Sinai, when he descended upon the mountain in fire.
Moses himself told them that their God was a consuming fire, which was reechoed more then once; and thence the Jews were weak enough to worship the material substance, in lieu of the invisible and eternal God. Zoroaster succeeded in persuading them to enclose their sacred fire altars in covered towers; because, being on elevated and exposed hills, the fire was liable to be extinguished by storms. These were circular buildings, covered with domes, having small openings at the top to let out the smoke. God was supposed to reside in the sacred flame, and it was never permitted to be extinguished.
We may here pause in our description of the Persian worship of the flame to recite the following: -
"A Jew entered a Parsee temple and beheld the sacred fire. 'What!' said he to the priest, 'do you worship the fire?' 'Not the fire,' answered the priest, 'it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his genial heat.' 'Do you then worship the sun as your God? 'asked the Jew. 'Know ye not that this luminary also is but a work of the Almighty Creator?' 'We know it,' replied the priest, 'but the uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a conception of the Most High, and is not the sun, the incomprehensible source of light, an image of the invisible being who blesses and preserves all things? 'Do you people, then, 'rejoined the Israelite, 'distinguish the type from the original? They call the sun their God, and, descending even from this to a baser object, they kneel before an earthly flame! Ye amuse the outward but blind the inward eye; and while ye hold to them the earthly, ye draw from the heavenly light! Thou shall not make unto thyself any image or likeness.' 'How do you designate the Supreme Being?' asked the Parsee. 'We call him Jehovah Adonai; that is, the Lord, who is, who was, and who will be,' answered the Jew. 'Your appellation is grand and sublime,' said the Parsee, 'but it is awful too.' A Christian then drew nigh and said, 'We call him Father!' The Pagan and the Jew looked at each other and said, 'Here is at once an image and a reality; it is a word of the heart.' Therefore they all raised their eyes to Heaven, and said, with reverence and love, 'Our Father,' and they took each other by the hand, and all three called one another 'brother.' "
This is Freemasonry!
We now resume our sketch of the Mysteries.
The building, in which was placed the sacred fire, represented the universe, and the fire which perpetually burned in the center was the symbol of the sun.
Pococke, "Specimen and Historiae Arabicae," informs us that Zoroaster remodeled the Mysteries; and to accomplish this, he retired to a circular cave or grotto in the mountains of Bokhara. This cave he ornamented with a profusion of symbols and astronomical decorations, and dedicated to the Mediator Mithr-As, sometimes denominated the invisible Deity. That the knowledge of astronomy, in that region and early date, was very extensive is well to authors generally. Pliny says that "Belus," who was grandson of Ham, "inventor fuit sideralis scientiae."
That Mithras was considered by the Persians to be the Supreme Deity, we have, "Mithras, the first god among th Persians" - from Hesychius in Greek (according to Cudworth's Intel. Sys.). "They were so deeply impressed," says Plu. Isid. et Osir, "with this amiable characteristic of their god, that they denominated every person who acted as a mediator between contending parties, Mithras."
They say he was born or produced from a rock-hewn cave. A splendid gem of great luster. which represented the sun, was placed in the center of the roof of the cavern; the planets were also placed in order around this gem in settings of gold on a ground of azure. The zodiac was chased in gold, having the constellations of Leo and Taurus, with a sun and moon emerging from their backs, in beaten gold. We are told by Diodorus Siculus that "the tomb of Osymandyas in Egypt was surrounded with a broad circle of beaten gold, three hundred and sixty-five cubits in circumference, which represented he days in the year." (note this, and the "starry decked heaven" of the father, or Noah, riding in safety in the ark; for Noah was the sun, and the bull was the acknowledged symbol of the ark. Hyde (del Rel. vet. Pers.) says that the Mogul emperors use this device on their coins; sometimes Leo is used for the Bull.
Our limits forbid any farther description of this cave or grotto, which had every appliance for the workings necessary for initiation, with the most elaborate machinery imaginable.
To give himself the proper credit with the people, Zoroaster(Ruse of the Stars) professed to have been favored with a celestial vision, taken up into the abode of the Most High, - which was evidently assumed by him in imitation of the interview between Moses and the Almighty in the Mount Sinai, - and permitted to hold converse with the Awful Being face to face, who, he said, was encircled by a bright and perpetual fire; that a system of pure worship had been revealed to him, which was ordered to be communicated only to those who possessed the virtue to resist the allurements of the world, and would devote their lives to the study of philosophy and contemplation of the Deity and his works.
The fame of Zoroaster spread throughout the world. All those who desire to obtain a knowledge of the philosophy taught by him resorted to the Mithratic grotto to be initiated. From the most distant regions came many who wished to learn of Zoroaster. Pythagoras, who traveled into all countries to learn philosophy, is said to have gone to Persia to be initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras.
"To prepare the candidate for initiation, many required, with water, fire, and honey. He passed forty days(life begins at 40) - some say eighty days - of probation, and ended with fifty days' fast. These were all endured in the recesses of a cavern, perpetual silence, secluded from all society, and confined in cold and nakedness, in hunger, and stripes, and with cruel tortures. We my be sure that in some instances these were attended with fatal effects. When one died under these cruel inflictions and rigid penances, his body was thrown into a deeper cavern and he was never more heard of. According to a Christian writer, in the fifth century A.D., 'the Christians of Alexandria, having discovered a cavern that had been consecrated to Mithras, resolved to explore it; when, to their astonishment, the principal thing they found in it was a great quantity of human skulls and other bones of men who had been thus sacrificed.'
'Those who survived these severe tests of endurance became eligible to the highest honors and dignities, and received a degree of veneration equal to that which was paid to the supernal deities. The successful probationer was brought forth into the cavern of initiation, where he entered on the point of a sword presented to his naked left breast, by which he was slightly wounded, and then he was virtually prepared for the approaching ceremony. He was crowned with olive branches. The olive, in the Mysteries, commemorative of the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah, was the propitious omen that the patriarch and family would speedily emerge from the gloom of the ark to the light of day; so to the candidate, that he would be able to exclaim, 'I have escaped from evil; I have found deliverance.' The priests of Mithras, by a like allusion, were called Hierocoraces, or sacred Ravens, and the oracular priestesses of Hammon, Peleiades, or Doves; while, in consequence of the close connection of the dove and olive, a particular species of the olive was called Columbas.
"He was anointed with oil of ban, which is the Balsm of Bezoin, and clothed with enchanted armor by his guide, who represented Simorgh, a monstrous griffin, whose name indicates that it is of the size of thirty birds, and appears to have been a species of eagle, in said to correspond in some respects with the idea of the phoenix. The candidate was introduced into an inner chamber, where was purified with fire and water, and then passed through the SEVEN STAGES of Initiation, which is represented as a high ladder, with seven steps or gates. From the top of this ladder he beheld a deep and dangerous vault, and a single false step might dash him to instant destruction, which was an emblem of those infernal regions through which he was about to pass. As he passed through the gloomy cavern he saw the sacred fire, which at intervals would flash into its recesses and illuminate his path, sometimes from beneath his feet, and again, descending from above upon his head in a broad sheet. Amidst all this, distant yelling of beasts of prey, the roaring of lions, howling of wolves, and barking of dogs, would greet his ears. Then being enveloped in darkness profound, he would not know wither to turn for safety, his attendant would rush him forward, maintaining an unbroken silence, towards the place whence the sounds proceeded, and suddenly a door would be open and he would find himself in this den of wild beasts lighted only by a single lamp. Being exhorted to have courage by his conductor, he would be immediately attacked by the initiated, who, in the forms of the several animals, and amidst great uproars and howlings, would endeavor to overwhelm him with alarm, and he would seldom escape unhurt, however bravely he might defend himself.
"Hurried from this scene into another cell, he was agin shrouded in darkness. Silence profound succeeded, and with cautious step he was conducted onward to encounter other dangers. A rumbling noise is heard in a distant cavern, which became louder as he advanced, when the thunder appeared to rend the solid rocks, and the continued flashes of lightning enabled him to observe the flitting shades of avenging genii, who appeared to threaten with summary destruction those who invaded the privacy of their peculiar abode. These scenes continued until the strength and endurance of the candidate being nearly exhausted, he was conveyed into another apartment, where a great illumination was suddenly introduced, and his strength permitted to recruit, and melodious music soothed his outraged feelings.
"Resting for a time in this apartment, the elements of those secrets were explained, and all of which were more fully developed when his initiation was completed. When sufficiently prepared to proceed, a signal was given by his guide, and three priest immediately appeared; one of them cast a serpent into his bosom, as a symbol of regeneration. A private door being now opened, howlings and lamentations were heard, and he beheld in every revolting form the torments of the damned in Hades. He was then conducted through other dark passages, and after having successfully passed the labyrinth of six spacious vaults, connected with tortuous galleries, each having a narrow portal, and having been triumphantly borne through all these difficulties and dangers by the exercise of fortitude and perseverance, the doors of the Sacellum, or seventh vault, were thrown open, and the darkness changed to light.
"In conformity with these seven subterranean caverns, the Persians held the doctrine of seven classes of demons. First, Ahriman, the chief; second, the spirits who inhabit the most distant regions of the air; third, those who traverse the dense and stormy regions which are nearest the earth, but still at an immeasurable distance; fourth, the malignant and unclean spirits, who hover over the surface of the earth; fifth, the spirits of the 'vasty deep,' which they agitate with storms and tempests; sixth, the subterranean demons who dwell in charnel vaults and caverns, termed Ghouls, who devours the corrupted tenants of the grave, and excite earthquakes and convulsions in the globe; and seventh, the spirits who hold a solid reign of darkness in the center of the earth (vide Maur. Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 642). From this doctrine probably emanated the Mohammedan belief in seven hells, or stages, of punishment, in the infernal regions; and seven heavens, in the highest which the Table of Fate is suspended and guarded from demons, lest they should change or corrupt anything thereon. Its length is so great, as is the space between heaven and earth; its breadth equal to the distance from the east to the west; and it is made of one pearl. The divine pen was created by the finger of God; that is also of pearls, and of such length and breadth that a swift horse could scarcely gallop round it in five hundred years. It is so endowed that self moved, it writes all things, past, present, and to come. Light is its ink; and the language which it uses only the angels can understand."
The seven hells of the Jewish Rabbies were founded on the seven names of hell contained in their Scriptures.
"The progress of the candidate through the seven stages of initiation was in a circle, referring to the course of the planets round the sun; or more probably, the apparent motion of the sun; which is accomplished by a movement from east to west by the south; in which course every candidate in Masonry should be conducted. The candidate was then admitted into the spacious cavern already described, which was the grotto of Elysium, which was brilliantly illuminated and shone with gold and precious stones. Here was seated the Archimagus on the east, on a throne of gold, having a crown decorated with myrtle-boughs and clothed in a tunic of cerulean color, and around him were arranged the Presules and dispensers of the Mysteries. He was received with congratulations, and having vowed to keep secret the rites of Mithras, the sacred WORDS were given to him, of which the ineffable TETRACTYS, or name of God, was the chief."
He was now entitled to investiture and to receive instruction. Amulets and talismans were presented to him, he was taught how to construct them, that he might be exempt from all dangers to his person and his property. Explanations were made to him of every emblem which had been displayed, every incident by which he had been surprised; and all were turned to a moral purpose by means of disquisitions, which tended to inspire him with a strong attachment to the Mysteries and to those from whom he had received them. He learned that the benign influence of the superior light which was imparted by initiation irradiates the mind with rays of the Divinity and inspires it with knowledge which can be given in no other manner. He was taught to adore the consecrated fire, which was the gift of the Deity, as his visible residence. The throne of the Deity was believed to be in the sun, which was the Persian Paradise; but was equally supposed to be in the fire. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna, says, "God is the fire of the altar." He was taught the existence of two independent and equally powerful principles, the one essentially good, the other irreclaimably evil; and this was the cosmogony: Ormisda, the supreme source of light and truth, created the worlds at six different periods. First, he made the heavens; second, the waters; third, the earth; fourth, trees and plants; fifth, animals; sixth, man, or rather a being compounded of a man and a bull.
To counteract the effect of this renunciation of virtue,, another pure being was created, compounded, as before, of a man and a bull, called Taschter, or Mithras, by whose intervention, with the assistance of three associates, a flood of waters was produced to purify the earth, by prodigious showers of rain, each drop as large as the head of an ox, which produced a general lustration. A tempestuous wind, which blew for three days in succession from the same quarter, dried the waters; and when they were completely subsided, a new germ was introduced, from which sprang the present race of mankind.
History of Freemasonry
Sir John Malcom, "History of Persia," says:-
"A Persian author has declared that the religious among the followers of Zoroaster believed that the soul of that holy person was created by God, and hung upon that tree from which all that is celestial has been produced... I have heard the wise and holy Mobud Seeroosh declare that the father of Zoroaster had a cow, which after tasting some withered leaves that fallen from the tree, never ate of any other; these leaves being her sole food, all the milk she produced was from them. The father of Zoroaster (Poorshasp) was entirely supported by this milk; and to it, in consequence, they refer the pregnancy of his mother, whose name was Daghda."
Another account is that the cow ate the soul of Zoroaster as it hung on the tree, and that it passed through her milk to the father of the prophet. The apparent object of this statement is to prove that Zoroaster was born in innocence, and that even vegetable life was destroyed to give him existence.
When, he as born he burst into a loud laugh, like the prince of necromancers, Merlin, and such a light shone from his body as illumined the whole room. Pliny mentions this ancient tradition respecting Zoroaster.
It is said by some that, being a Jew, he was educated in the elements of the true worship among his countrymen in Babylon, and after wards became the attendant upon the prophet Daniel, and received from him initiation into all the mysteries of the Jewish doctrine and practice. He also studied magic under the Chaldean philosophers, who initiated him into their mysteries. This account is from Hyde and Orideaux, but Dr. Oliver expresses much doubt to its probability. Indeed, from the great uncertainty as to date of his appearance among men, some authors placed him as a contemporary with Abraham, and others again made him to appear long after the captivity had ceased. With this uncertainty as to Zoroaster's true date, we must receive all accounts of his marvelous acts, or matters connected with him, many grains, if not ounces, of allowance.
He is after this found at Ecbatana, and making himself appear as a prophet, set about the task of reforming the religion of Persia, which, like all other religions, had become subverted from the original object, and by a series of gradual and imperceptible changes its character had degenerated from the Magian form to the Sabian system.
As a professed Magian, he was soon surrounded by followers of every rank, who joined with him and gave support to all his designs of reformation.
Darius Hystapis accompanied him into Cashmere, to aid in completing his preparatory studies, by instruction from the Brahmins, from whom he had received the rites of initiation. Cashmere has been called the terrestrial paradise and the holy land of superstition. In the Ayeen Akbery forty five places are said to be dedicated to Mahadeo; sixty-four to Vishnu; twenty-two to Durga; and only three to Brahma (Maur. Ind. Ant.).
Before the time of Zoroaster the Persians, like the early Egyptians, worshiped in the open air, long after other nations had constructed temples, as they considered the broad expanse of heaven as the sublime covering of temples devoted to the worship of the Deity. Their places of sacrifice were much like those of the northern nations of Europe , composed of circles of upright stones, rough, and unhewn. They abominated images, and worshiped the Sun and Fire, as representatives of the omnipotent Deity. The Jews were not exempt from the superstitious worship of fire, saying God appeared in the Cherubim, over the gate of Eden, as a flaming sword; and to Abraham as a flame of fire; to Moses as a fire in the bush at Horeb; and to the whole assembly of the people at Sinai, when he descended upon the mountain in fire.
Moses himself told them that their God was a consuming fire, which was reechoed more then once; and thence the Jews were weak enough to worship the material substance, in lieu of the invisible and eternal God. Zoroaster succeeded in persuading them to enclose their sacred fire altars in covered towers; because, being on elevated and exposed hills, the fire was liable to be extinguished by storms. These were circular buildings, covered with domes, having small openings at the top to let out the smoke. God was supposed to reside in the sacred flame, and it was never permitted to be extinguished.
We may here pause in our description of the Persian worship of the flame to recite the following: -
"A Jew entered a Parsee temple and beheld the sacred fire. 'What!' said he to the priest, 'do you worship the fire?' 'Not the fire,' answered the priest, 'it is to us an emblem of the sun and of his genial heat.' 'Do you then worship the sun as your God? 'asked the Jew. 'Know ye not that this luminary also is but a work of the Almighty Creator?' 'We know it,' replied the priest, 'but the uncultivated man requires a sensible sign in order to form a conception of the Most High, and is not the sun, the incomprehensible source of light, an image of the invisible being who blesses and preserves all things? 'Do you people, then, 'rejoined the Israelite, 'distinguish the type from the original? They call the sun their God, and, descending even from this to a baser object, they kneel before an earthly flame! Ye amuse the outward but blind the inward eye; and while ye hold to them the earthly, ye draw from the heavenly light! Thou shall not make unto thyself any image or likeness.' 'How do you designate the Supreme Being?' asked the Parsee. 'We call him Jehovah Adonai; that is, the Lord, who is, who was, and who will be,' answered the Jew. 'Your appellation is grand and sublime,' said the Parsee, 'but it is awful too.' A Christian then drew nigh and said, 'We call him Father!' The Pagan and the Jew looked at each other and said, 'Here is at once an image and a reality; it is a word of the heart.' Therefore they all raised their eyes to Heaven, and said, with reverence and love, 'Our Father,' and they took each other by the hand, and all three called one another 'brother.' "
This is Freemasonry!
We now resume our sketch of the Mysteries.
The building, in which was placed the sacred fire, represented the universe, and the fire which perpetually burned in the center was the symbol of the sun.
Pococke, "Specimen and Historiae Arabicae," informs us that Zoroaster remodeled the Mysteries; and to accomplish this, he retired to a circular cave or grotto in the mountains of Bokhara. This cave he ornamented with a profusion of symbols and astronomical decorations, and dedicated to the Mediator Mithr-As, sometimes denominated the invisible Deity. That the knowledge of astronomy, in that region and early date, was very extensive is well to authors generally. Pliny says that "Belus," who was grandson of Ham, "inventor fuit sideralis scientiae."
That Mithras was considered by the Persians to be the Supreme Deity, we have, "Mithras, the first god among th Persians" - from Hesychius in Greek (according to Cudworth's Intel. Sys.). "They were so deeply impressed," says Plu. Isid. et Osir, "with this amiable characteristic of their god, that they denominated every person who acted as a mediator between contending parties, Mithras."
They say he was born or produced from a rock-hewn cave. A splendid gem of great luster. which represented the sun, was placed in the center of the roof of the cavern; the planets were also placed in order around this gem in settings of gold on a ground of azure. The zodiac was chased in gold, having the constellations of Leo and Taurus, with a sun and moon emerging from their backs, in beaten gold. We are told by Diodorus Siculus that "the tomb of Osymandyas in Egypt was surrounded with a broad circle of beaten gold, three hundred and sixty-five cubits in circumference, which represented he days in the year." (note this, and the "starry decked heaven" of the father, or Noah, riding in safety in the ark; for Noah was the sun, and the bull was the acknowledged symbol of the ark. Hyde (del Rel. vet. Pers.) says that the Mogul emperors use this device on their coins; sometimes Leo is used for the Bull.
Our limits forbid any farther description of this cave or grotto, which had every appliance for the workings necessary for initiation, with the most elaborate machinery imaginable.
To give himself the proper credit with the people, Zoroaster(Ruse of the Stars) professed to have been favored with a celestial vision, taken up into the abode of the Most High, - which was evidently assumed by him in imitation of the interview between Moses and the Almighty in the Mount Sinai, - and permitted to hold converse with the Awful Being face to face, who, he said, was encircled by a bright and perpetual fire; that a system of pure worship had been revealed to him, which was ordered to be communicated only to those who possessed the virtue to resist the allurements of the world, and would devote their lives to the study of philosophy and contemplation of the Deity and his works.
The fame of Zoroaster spread throughout the world. All those who desire to obtain a knowledge of the philosophy taught by him resorted to the Mithratic grotto to be initiated. From the most distant regions came many who wished to learn of Zoroaster. Pythagoras, who traveled into all countries to learn philosophy, is said to have gone to Persia to be initiated into the Mysteries of Mithras.
"To prepare the candidate for initiation, many required, with water, fire, and honey. He passed forty days(life begins at 40) - some say eighty days - of probation, and ended with fifty days' fast. These were all endured in the recesses of a cavern, perpetual silence, secluded from all society, and confined in cold and nakedness, in hunger, and stripes, and with cruel tortures. We my be sure that in some instances these were attended with fatal effects. When one died under these cruel inflictions and rigid penances, his body was thrown into a deeper cavern and he was never more heard of. According to a Christian writer, in the fifth century A.D., 'the Christians of Alexandria, having discovered a cavern that had been consecrated to Mithras, resolved to explore it; when, to their astonishment, the principal thing they found in it was a great quantity of human skulls and other bones of men who had been thus sacrificed.'
'Those who survived these severe tests of endurance became eligible to the highest honors and dignities, and received a degree of veneration equal to that which was paid to the supernal deities. The successful probationer was brought forth into the cavern of initiation, where he entered on the point of a sword presented to his naked left breast, by which he was slightly wounded, and then he was virtually prepared for the approaching ceremony. He was crowned with olive branches. The olive, in the Mysteries, commemorative of the olive branch brought by the dove to Noah, was the propitious omen that the patriarch and family would speedily emerge from the gloom of the ark to the light of day; so to the candidate, that he would be able to exclaim, 'I have escaped from evil; I have found deliverance.' The priests of Mithras, by a like allusion, were called Hierocoraces, or sacred Ravens, and the oracular priestesses of Hammon, Peleiades, or Doves; while, in consequence of the close connection of the dove and olive, a particular species of the olive was called Columbas.
"He was anointed with oil of ban, which is the Balsm of Bezoin, and clothed with enchanted armor by his guide, who represented Simorgh, a monstrous griffin, whose name indicates that it is of the size of thirty birds, and appears to have been a species of eagle, in said to correspond in some respects with the idea of the phoenix. The candidate was introduced into an inner chamber, where was purified with fire and water, and then passed through the SEVEN STAGES of Initiation, which is represented as a high ladder, with seven steps or gates. From the top of this ladder he beheld a deep and dangerous vault, and a single false step might dash him to instant destruction, which was an emblem of those infernal regions through which he was about to pass. As he passed through the gloomy cavern he saw the sacred fire, which at intervals would flash into its recesses and illuminate his path, sometimes from beneath his feet, and again, descending from above upon his head in a broad sheet. Amidst all this, distant yelling of beasts of prey, the roaring of lions, howling of wolves, and barking of dogs, would greet his ears. Then being enveloped in darkness profound, he would not know wither to turn for safety, his attendant would rush him forward, maintaining an unbroken silence, towards the place whence the sounds proceeded, and suddenly a door would be open and he would find himself in this den of wild beasts lighted only by a single lamp. Being exhorted to have courage by his conductor, he would be immediately attacked by the initiated, who, in the forms of the several animals, and amidst great uproars and howlings, would endeavor to overwhelm him with alarm, and he would seldom escape unhurt, however bravely he might defend himself.
"Hurried from this scene into another cell, he was agin shrouded in darkness. Silence profound succeeded, and with cautious step he was conducted onward to encounter other dangers. A rumbling noise is heard in a distant cavern, which became louder as he advanced, when the thunder appeared to rend the solid rocks, and the continued flashes of lightning enabled him to observe the flitting shades of avenging genii, who appeared to threaten with summary destruction those who invaded the privacy of their peculiar abode. These scenes continued until the strength and endurance of the candidate being nearly exhausted, he was conveyed into another apartment, where a great illumination was suddenly introduced, and his strength permitted to recruit, and melodious music soothed his outraged feelings.
"Resting for a time in this apartment, the elements of those secrets were explained, and all of which were more fully developed when his initiation was completed. When sufficiently prepared to proceed, a signal was given by his guide, and three priest immediately appeared; one of them cast a serpent into his bosom, as a symbol of regeneration. A private door being now opened, howlings and lamentations were heard, and he beheld in every revolting form the torments of the damned in Hades. He was then conducted through other dark passages, and after having successfully passed the labyrinth of six spacious vaults, connected with tortuous galleries, each having a narrow portal, and having been triumphantly borne through all these difficulties and dangers by the exercise of fortitude and perseverance, the doors of the Sacellum, or seventh vault, were thrown open, and the darkness changed to light.
"In conformity with these seven subterranean caverns, the Persians held the doctrine of seven classes of demons. First, Ahriman, the chief; second, the spirits who inhabit the most distant regions of the air; third, those who traverse the dense and stormy regions which are nearest the earth, but still at an immeasurable distance; fourth, the malignant and unclean spirits, who hover over the surface of the earth; fifth, the spirits of the 'vasty deep,' which they agitate with storms and tempests; sixth, the subterranean demons who dwell in charnel vaults and caverns, termed Ghouls, who devours the corrupted tenants of the grave, and excite earthquakes and convulsions in the globe; and seventh, the spirits who hold a solid reign of darkness in the center of the earth (vide Maur. Ind. Ant., Vol. IV. p. 642). From this doctrine probably emanated the Mohammedan belief in seven hells, or stages, of punishment, in the infernal regions; and seven heavens, in the highest which the Table of Fate is suspended and guarded from demons, lest they should change or corrupt anything thereon. Its length is so great, as is the space between heaven and earth; its breadth equal to the distance from the east to the west; and it is made of one pearl. The divine pen was created by the finger of God; that is also of pearls, and of such length and breadth that a swift horse could scarcely gallop round it in five hundred years. It is so endowed that self moved, it writes all things, past, present, and to come. Light is its ink; and the language which it uses only the angels can understand."
The seven hells of the Jewish Rabbies were founded on the seven names of hell contained in their Scriptures.
"The progress of the candidate through the seven stages of initiation was in a circle, referring to the course of the planets round the sun; or more probably, the apparent motion of the sun; which is accomplished by a movement from east to west by the south; in which course every candidate in Masonry should be conducted. The candidate was then admitted into the spacious cavern already described, which was the grotto of Elysium, which was brilliantly illuminated and shone with gold and precious stones. Here was seated the Archimagus on the east, on a throne of gold, having a crown decorated with myrtle-boughs and clothed in a tunic of cerulean color, and around him were arranged the Presules and dispensers of the Mysteries. He was received with congratulations, and having vowed to keep secret the rites of Mithras, the sacred WORDS were given to him, of which the ineffable TETRACTYS, or name of God, was the chief."
He was now entitled to investiture and to receive instruction. Amulets and talismans were presented to him, he was taught how to construct them, that he might be exempt from all dangers to his person and his property. Explanations were made to him of every emblem which had been displayed, every incident by which he had been surprised; and all were turned to a moral purpose by means of disquisitions, which tended to inspire him with a strong attachment to the Mysteries and to those from whom he had received them. He learned that the benign influence of the superior light which was imparted by initiation irradiates the mind with rays of the Divinity and inspires it with knowledge which can be given in no other manner. He was taught to adore the consecrated fire, which was the gift of the Deity, as his visible residence. The throne of the Deity was believed to be in the sun, which was the Persian Paradise; but was equally supposed to be in the fire. In the Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna, says, "God is the fire of the altar." He was taught the existence of two independent and equally powerful principles, the one essentially good, the other irreclaimably evil; and this was the cosmogony: Ormisda, the supreme source of light and truth, created the worlds at six different periods. First, he made the heavens; second, the waters; third, the earth; fourth, trees and plants; fifth, animals; sixth, man, or rather a being compounded of a man and a bull.
To counteract the effect of this renunciation of virtue,, another pure being was created, compounded, as before, of a man and a bull, called Taschter, or Mithras, by whose intervention, with the assistance of three associates, a flood of waters was produced to purify the earth, by prodigious showers of rain, each drop as large as the head of an ox, which produced a general lustration. A tempestuous wind, which blew for three days in succession from the same quarter, dried the waters; and when they were completely subsided, a new germ was introduced, from which sprang the present race of mankind.
History of Freemasonry
Dag-On
Dag-on or aun - The Hebrew word dag may be translated as "preserver of any kind from the dangers of the watersFrom "Asiastic Researches,," Vol. VI. p. 480: -
"The Buddhists say that it is Budd'ha Nar'ayana, or Budd'ha dwelling in the waters; but the Hindoos, who live in that country, call him Mach'odar Nath. or the sovereign prince in the belly of the fish. The title of Mach'odar Natha properly belongs to Noah, for by the belly of the fish they understand the cavity, or inside, of the Ark.
From Jonah ii.. I, we make this extract: "And Jehovah prepared a great dag to include Jonah; and Jonah was in the internal parts of the dag, and Jonah prayed from the internal parts of this dagah"; viz.: He dagah, where he emphatic and demonstrative, THIS dagah.
In David Levi's Lingua Sacra we find besides his definition of a dag, a fish the second, which says , a fishing smack."
Amos iv. 2 says, " and you posterity in fishing vessels." "Dr. Taylor, in his 'Concordance,' renders it navicula, small ship, dagah. Targ. Jona. makes it, 'and your daughters in the fisherman's ship.' The Talmudical Hebrew makes it, 'a cock boat, a skiff.' The Chaldea makes it, a small ship."
From the root, dg, dag, dig, dug, thus variously spelled, there are two senses, each of which signifies to preserve from water: 1st, a fish, because it preserved under water; 2nd, a ship, because it preserved on the water. Query, Could our words dig and dug be original words? Our first canoes were dug out of logs.
Of the figure of Dagon there is an ancient fable. The Oannes, who was half a man and half a fish, ca,e to Babylon and taught several arts, and afterwords returned to the sea.... "There were several of these Oannes: the name of one was Odacon, i.e., O'dagon [the Dagon]. Berosus said of him, 'he had the body and head of a fish, and above the head of the fish he had a human head, and below the tail of the fish he had human feet.' This id the true figure of Dagon. Etymologically, Dagon is composed of dag and aun. Ammon is also composed of ham and aun, which may refe to Noah, or Nau, and was originally ham-nau, - a transposition which is common in antiquity." Aun means the generative power of the Deity, Divine potency or energy, the original creative of the Almighty.
"If Ham-nau was in sense equivalent to Ham of Nau or Noah, Dag-nau might be equivalent to the Dag of Nau, or Noah, i.e., the fish, as the Hebrew word dag imports, of Nau."
If aun be taken as generative power, as it means thus in Hebrew, Gen. xlix.3; Deut. xxi.17, it will equally lead personally understood, to the great second progenitor of the human race, i.e., Noah. Masons may hence find a correct meaning of the "Substitute," if they will remove the initial of the last word to the end of the second with H', instead of H alone; it will then be "of the Father." The meaning then will be the same identically with the "TRUE."
Aun is translated Aven when applied to Bet-el, where one of the "calves" of Jeroboam was set up - "House of Idols or Vanity."
As Oannes came on shore, and after teaching returned to the sea at night, to what did he return but to some vessel out of which he came in the morning? Nerosus represents Oannes as coming out of the fish. As the word dag implies a preservation from water, so Oannes coming out and returning to something which swam upon the waters, symbolized by a fish, whose constant residence is in or upon the waters, and passes in safety and is secure amid storms and tempests, so the idea of a structure containing persons who were preserved from the boisterous and perilous waves became connected with the idea of a fish, which emblematically denoted safty from the waters.
"Properly to understand the import of the figure of Dag-aun, we must separate into two parts the ideas which compose it. 1st. We must consider the human part, aun or nau, as 'issuing out of,' and in itself entirely indepenent of, ad., his protection, means of preservation, dwelling, residence; that which had safely carried him through the waters; that from which he could 'come out,' and to which he could 'retire'; that which was symbolized by the form of a fish, an d was denoted by the word dag. For it follows evidently, that this dag was no part of the real person of 'Nau'; as a man's house, which he returns in the evening, is no part of that man's person.... Accept, therefore, the idea of 'the preserver of Nau,' as implied in the compound word Dag-aun, which word in Hebrew signifies a fish, say the etymologist, from its fertility; and corn, from its increase. Dagon may also allude to preservation, as a fish is preserved in the waters; to preservation, as corn is preserved in the earth; both in reference to newness of life; for indeed, Dagon is called Siton, the god of corn. By some Dagon was said to be Saturm; others say he was Jupiter. Represented as part woman ad part fish, Venus was indicated, whom the Egyptians worshiped under the form of a fish, because in the war of Typhon against the gods, Venus concealed herself under this shape. Ovid and Diod. Sic. say, that at Askelon the goddess Derketo, or Atergatis, was worshiped under the figure of a woman, with the lower parts of a fish; Lucian, de Dea. Syr., also thus describes her under this form."
The Scriptures show that the statue of Dagon was human in the upper part, as when that image fell down befoe the Ark of the Covenat, in I Sam. v. 4, 5. Sanchoniathon, apud Eusbius, says that Dagon means Siton, the god of wheat. Dagon in Hebrew also means wheat. Probably Ceres, the goddess of plenty, was meant. Elain says that among the name of Ceres, Sito was one. She is represented in some medals, as those of Syracuse, delineated with fish around her.
Ceres is sometimes described with attributes of Isis, who was the goddess of fertility among the Egyptians.
We can arrive at no other conclusion than this. Originally the Sun was the great central object of worship. He was considered the beneficent creator of all things earthly; because from his light and heat were produced all vegetables and animals. He arose from the SEA in the morning; continued, during the day, shing and warming all things, producing the beneficial results experienced by man, amd at night retiring again to sea.
Now the ideas of men, at the earliest dawn of civilization, were childlike. The theory of Cosmos was very simple. The earth itself was an extended plain, much longer east and west then north and south; it was surrounded by sea, so that the sun came from the sea in the morning and returned to it at night. In time the Dag-aun was the result, manifested in some form or other in all the Eastern lands.
History of Freemasonry
Overstand
From Jonah ii.. I, we make this extract: "And Jehovah prepared a great dag to include Jonah; and Jonah was in the internal parts of the dag, and Jonah prayed from the internal parts of this dagah"; viz.: He dagah, where he emphatic and demonstrative, THIS dagah.
In David Levi's Lingua Sacra we find besides his definition of a dag, a fish the second, which says , a fishing smack."
Amos iv. 2 says, " and you posterity in fishing vessels." "Dr. Taylor, in his 'Concordance,' renders it navicula, small ship, dagah. Targ. Jona. makes it, 'and your daughters in the fisherman's ship.' The Talmudical Hebrew makes it, 'a cock boat, a skiff.' The Chaldea makes it, a small ship."
From the root, dg, dag, dig, dug, thus variously spelled, there are two senses, each of which signifies to preserve from water: 1st, a fish, because it preserved under water; 2nd, a ship, because it preserved on the water. Query, Could our words dig and dug be original words? Our first canoes were dug out of logs.
Of the figure of Dagon there is an ancient fable. The Oannes, who was half a man and half a fish, ca,e to Babylon and taught several arts, and afterwords returned to the sea.... "There were several of these Oannes: the name of one was Odacon, i.e., O'dagon [the Dagon]. Berosus said of him, 'he had the body and head of a fish, and above the head of the fish he had a human head, and below the tail of the fish he had human feet.' This id the true figure of Dagon. Etymologically, Dagon is composed of dag and aun. Ammon is also composed of ham and aun, which may refe to Noah, or Nau, and was originally ham-nau, - a transposition which is common in antiquity." Aun means the generative power of the Deity, Divine potency or energy, the original creative of the Almighty.
"If Ham-nau was in sense equivalent to Ham of Nau or Noah, Dag-nau might be equivalent to the Dag of Nau, or Noah, i.e., the fish, as the Hebrew word dag imports, of Nau."
If aun be taken as generative power, as it means thus in Hebrew, Gen. xlix.3; Deut. xxi.17, it will equally lead personally understood, to the great second progenitor of the human race, i.e., Noah. Masons may hence find a correct meaning of the "Substitute," if they will remove the initial of the last word to the end of the second with H', instead of H alone; it will then be "of the Father." The meaning then will be the same identically with the "TRUE."
Aun is translated Aven when applied to Bet-el, where one of the "calves" of Jeroboam was set up - "House of Idols or Vanity."
As Oannes came on shore, and after teaching returned to the sea at night, to what did he return but to some vessel out of which he came in the morning? Nerosus represents Oannes as coming out of the fish. As the word dag implies a preservation from water, so Oannes coming out and returning to something which swam upon the waters, symbolized by a fish, whose constant residence is in or upon the waters, and passes in safety and is secure amid storms and tempests, so the idea of a structure containing persons who were preserved from the boisterous and perilous waves became connected with the idea of a fish, which emblematically denoted safty from the waters.
"Properly to understand the import of the figure of Dag-aun, we must separate into two parts the ideas which compose it. 1st. We must consider the human part, aun or nau, as 'issuing out of,' and in itself entirely indepenent of, ad., his protection, means of preservation, dwelling, residence; that which had safely carried him through the waters; that from which he could 'come out,' and to which he could 'retire'; that which was symbolized by the form of a fish, an d was denoted by the word dag. For it follows evidently, that this dag was no part of the real person of 'Nau'; as a man's house, which he returns in the evening, is no part of that man's person.... Accept, therefore, the idea of 'the preserver of Nau,' as implied in the compound word Dag-aun, which word in Hebrew signifies a fish, say the etymologist, from its fertility; and corn, from its increase. Dagon may also allude to preservation, as a fish is preserved in the waters; to preservation, as corn is preserved in the earth; both in reference to newness of life; for indeed, Dagon is called Siton, the god of corn. By some Dagon was said to be Saturm; others say he was Jupiter. Represented as part woman ad part fish, Venus was indicated, whom the Egyptians worshiped under the form of a fish, because in the war of Typhon against the gods, Venus concealed herself under this shape. Ovid and Diod. Sic. say, that at Askelon the goddess Derketo, or Atergatis, was worshiped under the figure of a woman, with the lower parts of a fish; Lucian, de Dea. Syr., also thus describes her under this form."
The Scriptures show that the statue of Dagon was human in the upper part, as when that image fell down befoe the Ark of the Covenat, in I Sam. v. 4, 5. Sanchoniathon, apud Eusbius, says that Dagon means Siton, the god of wheat. Dagon in Hebrew also means wheat. Probably Ceres, the goddess of plenty, was meant. Elain says that among the name of Ceres, Sito was one. She is represented in some medals, as those of Syracuse, delineated with fish around her.
Ceres is sometimes described with attributes of Isis, who was the goddess of fertility among the Egyptians.
We can arrive at no other conclusion than this. Originally the Sun was the great central object of worship. He was considered the beneficent creator of all things earthly; because from his light and heat were produced all vegetables and animals. He arose from the SEA in the morning; continued, during the day, shing and warming all things, producing the beneficial results experienced by man, amd at night retiring again to sea.
Now the ideas of men, at the earliest dawn of civilization, were childlike. The theory of Cosmos was very simple. The earth itself was an extended plain, much longer east and west then north and south; it was surrounded by sea, so that the sun came from the sea in the morning and returned to it at night. In time the Dag-aun was the result, manifested in some form or other in all the Eastern lands.
History of Freemasonry
Overstand