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Inhoud:
Armiger
Arnhem O.°.
Arthur, koning
Arundale Z.°.V.°.Br.°.
In de zomer aan 1902
In januari 1934
as
Asarias
Aschard
Asgartha
ASHE JONATHAN
ASHLAR /harde steen
Ashmole
asphodelus
Aspirant
ASSASSINS AND ANSEYREEH
Ismaelites, Order of.
The Assassins.
Distinctiae Ranks.
The Templars.
Druses.
Anseyreeh.
Authorlties
ASSOCIATION AND THE MYSTERIES
Secret Religions.
Theosophical Mysteries.
Masonry and Secret Religion.
Armiger
( Wapendrager)
Mackey.
LENNHOFF
3e Klasse van de 6° van de Strikte Observantie, en de 1° van de Afrikaanse Bouwheren
Arnhem O.°., stad in Gelderland, mogelijk reeds het Arenacum uit de tijd van Civilis (?); 135000 inw.
Hier bestond in 1880 de L.°. "de Gelderse Broederschap". 17 Februari 1786. De plechtige installatievan deLoge had plaats de 29e Juli 1786.
Door de L.°. werd in 1846 een schoolfonds in het leven geroepen, waaruit jaarlijks de kosten van lager en meer uitgebreid lager onderwijs aan de openbare scholen voor p.m. 60 kinderen van minvermogenden bestreden worden. Ter gelegenheid van de viering van haar 75jarig bestaan, in 1861, stichtte de werkplaats een opleidingsfonde,"ten doelhebbende aan jongelieden van goed gedrag en goeden aanleg de gelegenheid te verschaffen zich voor een nuttige maatschappelijke betrekking te bekwamen". Jaarlijks werdt voor dit doel een som van 6700 gulden besteed. Kleuren: Turks blauw met gele randen. Bij deze L.°. is een Kap.°.van de H.°. Grr.°. gevestigd.
Arthur, koning . Legendarische Engelse koning. Vermoed wordt dat de legenden teruggaan op een aanvoerder van de *Kelten in de strijd tegen de Angelsaksische indringers rond 500. In die tijd bevonden de meeste Angelsaksische nederzettingen in Engeland zich nog ten oosten van de lijn Gloucester - Isle of Wight. De eerste vermelding van Arthur staat in de Historia Britonum (ca. 830) van Nennius. Nennius' bron is mogelijk een onbekend gedicht. Geschiedschrijvers uit de 6de eeuw vermeldden de veldslagen waarin Arthur een grote rol zou hebben gespeeld wel, maar niet de naam Arthur. De Arthurlegenden zijn op te vatten als een versmelting van historische gebeurtenissen en Keltische mythen.
Vele verhalen en namen verwijzen naar de Keltische godenwereld. Uit een analyse van persoons- en plaatsnamen blijkt ook dat de legenden hoogstwaarschijnlijk ontstaan zijn in de omgeving van het meer van Geneve. (Zwitserland was in de eeuwen voor het begin der jaartelling het centrum van de Keltische cultuur.) De literaire bewerking van de Arthurlegenden was echter een Britse aangelegenheid. In de 11e en 12.de eeuw bloeide het genre van de Arthurlegenden op, dat zijn bekroning vond in Sir Malory's Le morte Durthur (ca. 1470), met daarin de tovenaar Merlijn, de ridders van de Ronde Tafel, de queeste naar de Graal, de affaire tussen Sir Lancelot en Guinevere, de euvele Mordred, de magische koningin Morgana en de pure Galahad.. Het graf van Arthur zou in 1191 in *Glastonbury ontdekt zijn.
Arundale Z.°.V.°.Br.°.
.
In de zomer aan 1902
In januari 1934
Arundale Z.°.V.°.Br.°.
Op 1 Dec 1978 zal het honderd jaar geleden zijn dat de Z.°.V.°.Br.°.Dr.Georges Sydney Arundale werd geboren. Hij was een belangrijk lid van onze O.°. uit het eerste uur en een vooraanstaand Theosoof. Geboren in Wonersh, in het graafschap Surrey in Engeland, was hij de zoon van John en Mary Ann Elisabeth Kay. zijn moeder stierf bij de geboorte. Hij werd opgevoed door zijn Grootmoeder Mary Ann Arundale en een jongere zuster van zijn moeder, Francesca. Hij werd geadopteerd, Francesca werd voogdes en hij kreeg haar naam. In 1880 studeerde Francesca en een andere zuster Marie aan de Sorbonne te Parijs. Zij kwamen in contact met Dr. Georges Martin en zijn vrouw, die zojuist een maçonnieke orde gevormd hadden, welke mannen en vrouwen op gelijke voet toeliet. De twee zusters werden ingewijd. Marie trouwde met de heer Martin (geen familie van Dr.Martin) Ze bleef in Frankrijk wonen en werd in 1902 Grootsecr.°. van de O.°.. Francesca keerde naar Engeland terug, na het behalen van haar academische graad. Dr. Arundale verliet toen de Universiteit van Cambridge, waar hij de graad van M.A. had behaald. Hij was lid van de Theosofische Vereniging geworden en een volgeling van Dr. Besant.
In de zomer van 1902 hoorde Dr. Besant van Francisca over de maçonnieke orde, die zowel mannen als vrouwen toeliet en de zusters lid waren geworden. Zij voelde zich sterk daartoe aangetrokken en schreef Dr. Martin en zijn vrouw in Parijs met het verzoek te mogen worden ingewijd. In juli 1902 vertrok Dr. Besant naar Parijs met een gezelschap van nog zes aanvragers, waaronder Dr.Arundale. Zij werden allen ingewijd en keerden terug naar Londen met de toestemming om daar een Loge te stichten. In September van dat jaar werd deze loge geïnstalleerd door de Z.°.V.°.Br.°. en Zr.°. Martin, bijgestaan door de twee tantes van Br.°. Arundale. Zo behoorden Zr.°.. Besant en Br.°. Arundale tot de oprichters van de Orde in Groot-Brittannië. Door de grote stimulans welke zij beiden aan de maçonnieke arbeid gaven, groeide de O.°. uit tot een echte internationale organisatie met afdelingen over de gehele wereld verspreid. Op 20 september 1911 ontving hij de 33ø en werd de Gr.°.Secr.°. voor India.
In januari 1934 werd de Z.°.V.°.Br.°. Arundale waarn. Vert.°. v.d. Opp.°. voor de gehele federatie, welke Groot Brittannie, Zuid Afrika, India, Ceylon, Australie, en Nw Zeeland omvatte. Deze functie bekleede hij tot de dood van de Z.°.V.°.Zr.°.Besant in october 1934 . In september 1935, toen de Britse Federatie door het convent in tweeën werd gedeeld werd hij de Vertegenwoordiger van de Opp.°. van de Oosterse Federatie. Hij stierf op 12 augustus 1945 Zijn volledige inzet voor de zaak van Broederschap, Vrijheid, Gelijkgerechtigheid, medemenselijkheid en zijn strijd tegen onderdrukking en wreedheid, hebben een diepe indruk gemaakt op hen die hem hebben meegemaakt.
Br.°.L.C.E. v. Hoogenhuyze
as. Wat er overblijft als het vuur al het overige verteerd heeft, bezit in de voorstelling van veel oude culturen in geconcentreerde vorm de krachten van het verbrande, maar is anderzijds ook het symbool van vergankelijkheid van al het aardse. Als gereinigd en afgekoeld restant van een brand is as ook het zinnebeeld van de dood, van stofachtig uiteenvallende materie. Bij rituelen die met dood en wedergeboorte te maken hebben, zoals bij rijpheidsfeesten van schriftloze volken, worden de kandidaten dikwijls met as bedekt om ze een 'geestachtig' aanzien te geven. De as markeert hier een `overgangsrite (rite de passage). In het cultuurgebied van de Middellandse Zee is as als symbool van de dood, de loutering en de bij de vergankelijkheid van het aardse leven verwijlende gedachten bekend. Als uiting van rouw bestrooiden de Egyptenaren en de Grieken het hoofd met as, gingen in de as zitten of wentelden zich erin (hetzelfde gebeurde bij de Arabieren en de joden). Van dit gebruik stamt' de uitdrukking in zak (vanwege de vormeloze rouwkledij) en as zitten', die oorspronkelijk `in de rouw zijn' betekende. Anderzijds werd aan de as van ritueel geofferde dieren reinigende kracht toegeschreven (wellicht omdat loog zuiverend werkt). De as van de staatsman Solon werd boven het eiland Salamis verstrooid, om dit blijvend aan Athene te binden. De as van heksen' werd daarentegen vaak in stromend water gestrooid, om ieder aardsspoor consequent te vernietigen en een wederverschijning in spookgedaante te verhinderen. As is niet alleen een symbool van deemoed, van droefheid en rouw (`askruisje' op het voorhoofd van gelovige katholieken op aswoensdag), maar ook van hoop en nieuw leven: de feniks wordt door vuur gelouterd en herrijst verjongd uit de as. Volgens opvattingen van de Rozenkruisers laat zich uit deze stofachtige materie het beeld van tot as verbrande bloemen reconstrueren.
Zie ook: feniks; vuur
Asariaszie Hasariah
Aschard-Chasak (sterk) Een in hogere Graden gebruikt woord
Asgartha. Mythische stad in India, bedacht door de Franse occultist Louis Jacolliot (1837-1890) . Jacolliot woonde in Chandernagor, Zuid India, toen hij naar eigen zeggen vriendschap sloot met brahmaanse priesters die hem - zo schrijft hij in Le fils de dieu (1873) - documenten lieten zien waarin sprake was van een ,stad van de zon' Asgartha, de zetel van de grote Brahmatma. 'De stad werd circa 10 000 v.C. veroverd door de binnenvallende *Ariërs, die daarna de ridderklasse der brahmaanse beschaving zouden gaan vormen. Asgartha werd echter definitief verwoest omstreeks 5000 v.C.., door de broers Ioda en Skandah. Zij zouden uiteindelijk naar het noorden worden verjaagd, en volgens Jacolliot kunnen we hun namen nog terugvinden in die van de Germaanse oppergod Odin en in de aanduiding Scandinavië. Eenmaal aangekomen in Europa vertelden deze twee vandalen vol enthousiasme over de mythische stad, vandaar dat het verblijf der Germaanse goden Asgard zou gaan heten. ('Asgard' betekent in het Oudgermaans zoveel als 'godenverblijf'.) Resten van Asgartha zijn nooit gevonden, en van die documenten ontbreekt ook ieder spoor. Maar het myrhische rijk Asgartha of Agartha duikt nog regelmatig op in de occulte literatuur. Jacolliots onderzoekingen werden in 1887 nog eens dunnetjes overgedaan door de Russische fantast Nicolas *Notovitch.
ASHE, .D.D., REV. JONATHAN..
Mackey.
It is customary to depreciate THE MASONIC MANUAL as a mere echo and reflection of Hutchinson's SPIRIT OF MASONRY, written nearly forty years earlier. It is customary to belittle the author as a person of small consequence and intelligence. He and his book are entitled to their place in the Masonic chain which began with the BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS and ended with George Oliver. THE MASONIC MANUAL is not much better nor worse than the rest of the Canon of incompetence to which it belongs, and among those who have judged it there is one at least whose verdict upon any Masonic subject is utterly out of court.
A Middle Way.. I observe that the Rear. A. F. Woodford took a reasonable middle course when he said that " Ashe is not without his own merits"-meaning of course for his period though it does not excuse piracy to allege that " other Masonic writers in their turn have copied Ashe without recognition." It must be acknowledged that THE MASONIC MANUAL is not unlike a new and revised edition of THE SPIRIT OF MASONRY over the signature of another writer, yet the personality of Ashe emerges there and here. We know very little concerning him, except that he was a clergyman of his period, a doctor of divinity and a resident of Bristol. The MANUAL first appeared in I8I4, again in I825, and finally it was edited by George Oliver in I843, with notes that have been called valuable. In so far as may be needful I shall recur to it in the consideration of Hutchinson
ASHLAR /harde steen.
LENNHOFF
Mackey.
The stone is brought from the quarry and the stone is rude: this is the Rough Ashlar. It is made subject to the work of the Craftsman and becomes the Perfect Ashlar. The distinction between the two states belongs to Emblematic Masonry and is late therein. As regards the etymology of the word, we must reject its derivation from Assula= board, lath, slate, chip and splinter: it does not belong to the subject. Moreover, Ashlar connotes free-stone, the Latin equivalent of which is Saxum vivum, while a squared stone is Lapis quadratus, and wrought or hewn stone is Lapis ferro politus. The word in English does not seem to have been traced further back than the first half of the fifteenth century, when it occurs in the poems of John Audelay. In respect of moralisation there is nothing more obvious in opportunity and the answers are from all quarters. As the stone comes from the quarry, so comes every man and woman from the mother's womb, and that into which they shall be shaped depends on many craftsmen. But in the last resource the craftsman is always oneself, and as the work of our development-for every earnest heart-goes on from day to day, all let and hindrance notwithstanding, it does not yet appear what we shall be. The last touch which we can give with our own chisel in this particular life is when death-like a Worshipful Master-adjourns the Lodge of our earthly existence, looking for it to be reopened immediately in another and Grander Lodge. I speak in the symbolism of Masonry, for these Ashlars are Masonic emblems, and though I know that they connote many speaking types in the figurative story of stones, it is better to keep them separate, lest analogies that are rigorous enough pass into confusion when they are drawn too closely together. There is, however, one which belongs to Masonry itself; and I would say therefore that in the deeper consideration of the Rough and Perfect Ashlar, we can do nothing better than betake ourselves to the eloquent GRADE OF MARK MASTER, to the high spiritual aspiration which petitions that we may be " built up as living stones into a spiritual house," meet for God's service. That is the state in which the Mason becomes the Perfect Ashlar, and that is also the state in comparison with which all Ashlars here are rough, however we seek to hew them.
Ashmole. Elias (1617-1692')
Mackey.
LENNHOFF
ASHMOLEAN-MUSEUM
Brits natuurfilosoof Ashmole leerde omstreeks 1645 de vooraanstaande astrologen George Wharton, Sir John Heydon en William Lilly kennen, waardoor zijn belangstelling voor de *astrologie gewekt werd. Hij bestudeerde ook de *alchimie en publiceerde enige boeken over dit onderwerp, in de traditie van het *hermetisme. Zijn belangrijkste werk was het Theatrum chemicum Brittannicum (1652.), een verzameling Publicaties over alchimistische onderwerpen van diverse Britse alchimisten. Het werk droeg sterk bij aan de op het hermetisme geïnspireerde alchimie-revival in de tweede helft van de '7de eeuw. Een ander onderwerp dat zijn warme belangstelling had waren de *rozenkruisers. Ashmole vertaalde de rozenkruisergeschriften en schreef een (meer als geloofsbelijdenis bedoelde) oproep aan de verborgen meesters van deze beweging om hem toe te laten.
Tussen 1655 en 1672. stopte hij een enorme hoeveelheid energie in een boek over de geschiedenis van de Orde van de Kouseband, dat een standaardwerk werd op het gebied van de heraldiek. Hij was een groot verzamelaar van boeken, manuscripten en natuurwetenschappelijke curiosa. Zonder enig probleem combineerde hij zijn belangstelling voor het occulte met die voor natuurwetenschap; hij was ook een van de oprichters van de Royal Society in 1660. In 1675 gaf hij zijn hele collectie aan de Oxford University, en zo ontstond het eerste openbare museum van Engeland. Het bij het museum horende laboratorium werd al spoedig een centrum voor natuurwetenschappelijk onderzoek. Zo droeg deze gepassioneerde occultist uiteindelijk bij tot het verval van het magisch denken.
asphodelus
(affodil), een lelieachtig gewas met donkergroene bladeren en bleke bloemen, groeide volgens de sage uit de Oudheid ook in de weiden van de onderwereld en verkwikte de zielen van de doden . De plant was gewijd aan de godinnen Demeter en Persephone; de knollen ervan dienden volgens de mythe als voedsel voor de afgestorvenen in de Hades ( hiernamaals), maar werden in tijden van nood ook wel door levenden gegeten en zouden een geneeskrachtige werking tegen vergiftigingen hebben. De bleke bloemtrossen dienden onder de Latijnse benaming `hastula regia' als versiering op godenbeelden. In de landen aan de Middellandse Zee geldt de affodil van oudsher als symbool van rouw en dood, en de plant kon volgens antieke opvattingen ook boze geesten verdrijven en werd met de planeet Saturnus in verband gebracht. Zie ook: bloemen
Aspirant,
Mackey.
m (-en) een prof.°.die zich heeft aangemeld om in de 0.°. te worden opgenomen en zijn toelating afwacht.
ASSASSINS AND ANSEYREEH
Ismaelites, Order of.
The Assassins.
Distinctiae Ranks.
The Templars.
Druses.
Anseyreeh.
Authorlties
ASSASSINS AND ANSEYREEH
The Sect of ISHMAELITES, which goes far back into the history of Islam, gave birth in the last quarter of the eleventh century to that of the ASSASSINS. Its political and philosophical doctrine is supposed to have been unfolded slowly and with great circumspection in nine Degrees. The ASSASSINS were contented with seven-for what the statement is worth. On this sect, order or society it has been affirmed that Hugh de Payens modelIed the Knights Templar, notwithstanding the fact that a rule was conferred on the latter subsequently by a certain Council of Troyes, notwithstanding also the exhortation and blessing of St. Bernard.
The Templars were divided into classes, and foolish persons have credited them not only with an over-elaborate mode of initiation-which was obviously one of profession-but with Grades of Advancement towards the real secrets of the Order.
Finally, the ANSEYREEH are said to have arisen about the same time as the ASSASSINS, to have possessed a secret religion and used secret modes of recognition. In this manner a likeness to Freemasonry has been traced as regards all the foundations, and in the hands of the uncritical a casual resemblance passes rapidly into affinity, or even consanguineous relation. The alleged connection between the Order of the Temple and Masonry calls for consideration elsewhere in the present work, but the hypothetical resemblances offered by the others can be dealt with at once, as they embody nothing to detain us.
Ismaelites, Order of. Behind this sect there lies of course the historical fact of the Fatima Kaliphate incursion. The thesis is that the Ismaelites were a secret Mohammedan Order, working nine Degrees, embodying the following successive instructions:
(1) That the Koran was to be understood mystically-as a store house of hidden truths beneath the written word;
(2) that an infallible authority was vested in certain Imaums, or Spiritual Teachers;
(3) that these Teachers were seven in number;
(4) that Allah had commissioned Seven Legislators to man, who were called Speakers, and that they had seven immediate subordinates, termed Mutes;
(5) that each of these subordinates had twelve Apostles;
(6) that religion was subordinate to philosophy;
(7) that (apparently) the guides in philosophy were Plato and Aristotle;
(8) that the principles of Mohammedan jurisprudence were to be understood in a special sense;
(9) that nothing was to be believed, and that all things were lawful.
The Order is said to have lasted for about a century. It is perhaps by an oversight that Masonic analogies do not happen to be more especially affirmed, or the existence of Signs, Tokens and Passwords. The authority for the enumeration is Von Hammer, who drew from various sources, oriental included, and was a man of great learning but not of a critical mind, as his MYSTERIUM BAPHOMETIS REVELATUM proves abundantly. However, I am concerned only with pointing out that a graduated course of instruction bears no relation to Degrees, in the Masonic understanding of the word: otherwise our colleges and universities could be said to wear our likeness. There is, moreover, the fullest evidences in Von Hammer's own materials that the so called ORDER OF ISHMAELITES had a curriculum and nothingelse. It was originally that of a college at Cairo, called the House of Wisdom, and in the days of the Fatimite rule there was nothing secret about it, though it had begun otherwise. The Kaliph Hakem-bi-emr-illah threw open its doors to all comers, men and women indifferently. There were professors of medicine, professors of mathematics and logic, and it would appear in the part of philosophy that Arabian metaphysics were not only tinctured deeply by derivations from Aristototelian and Platonic sources but also by those of India. This is sufficient to indicate that the ISMAELITE sect is important for the history of Mohammedanism, but Masonry has no concern therein. It is open to grave doubt whether its votaries were landed-as alleged in complete atheism; the general course of instruction is definitely against this view, but there is neither need nor opportunity to discuss the question here.
The Assassins.
Mackey.
According to Godfrey Higgins, this sect was neither more nor less than an oriental Freemasonry, and Von Hammer is so unwise as to suggest that there were Apprentices, Fellows and Masters in the Grades of reception and advancement. The old thesis concerning them finds a strong expression by Edward Gibbon as follows:
" The conquest . . of Iran, or Persia, was achieved by Holagon Khan . . I shall not enumerate the crowd of sultans, emirs and atabeks, whom he trampled into dust; but the extirpation of the Assassins, or Ismaelians of Persia, may be considered as a service to mankind. Among the hills to the South of the Caspian, these odious sectaries had reigned with impunity above a hundred and sixty years: and their prince, or imam, established his lieutenant to lead and govern the colony of Mount Libanus, so famous and formidable in the history of the Crusades. With the fanaticism of the Koran the Ismaelians had blended the Indian transmigration and the visions of their own prophets: and it was their first duty to devote their souls and bodies in blind obedience to the vicar of God. The daggers of his missionaries were felt both in the East and the West.-
... But these daggers, his only arms, were broken by the sword of Holagon, and not a vestige is left of the enemies of mankind, except the word assassin, which in the most odious sense, has been adopted in the language of Europe."
This is the extreme view, in opposition to which Masons have been asked to regard the ASSASSINS as
(I) an association with a secret, esoteric doctrine,
(2) a graduated series of initiations,
(3) penneated by Sufic elements, while
(4) the old belief that they represented a confederated murder system is the last word of credulity belonging to past centunes.
Founded in 1090, or thereabouts, by Hassan Saba, they produced-according to Von Hammer-treatises on jurisprudence and mathematics, while their leader had a profound knowledge of philosophy and metaphysical science. There is good reason to believe in the correctness of Sir John Malcolm's conclusion that the ASSASSINS, like their progenitors, were the intellectual and religious kinsmen of the Sufis; and the innumerable sects of Islam had mostly a side of learning. But the proposition that the ASSASSINS were not assassins in the literal understanding of the word belies history. If it were true that they had Grades and Degrees then the Grade ne plus ultra superimposed upon all was most certainly a Grade of the Dagger. It was their weapon of offence and defence, not that they killed without reason, as Thugs were supposed to strangle, because it was part of religion. They destroyed those who were obnoxious, either to their safety or designs. Godfrey Higgins has been quoted in defence of the ASSASSINS, but his views on the association which had at its head " the probably much-calumniated man of the mountain " are made rudiculous-like all his theses-by the ravings of his etymological mania. For him the sound of a word brought the four quarters together and the Himalayas and Andes touched. The ASSASSINS were
(I) a link which connected ancient and modern Freemasonry;
(2) identical math the Druses, who were identical with Druids and Culdees;
(3) not to be distinguished from the Kurds;
(4) in religious consanguinity with Manich‘ans and by no means remote from Buddhists.
A defence which is rooted in such reveries as these is out of court from the beginning. Now, the best that can be said for the ASSASSIN is that in the midst of murderous nations and of a religion which lived by the sword they happened to make use of the knife. There is nothing to shew that they were a sanguinary sect per se; but the success of the knife depends upon the victim being unsuspicious and unprepared, which makes the position equivalent to a distinction between war and murder.
Distinctive Ranks. As regards the alleged Degrees of the sect or sodality, they prove on examination to be ranks pure and simple:
(I) THE SHEIKH OF THE MOUNTAIN or Supreme Head, who seems to have been called also Seydna=Our Lord;
(2) The Great Missionaries =DAI-AL-KEBIR, of which there are said to have been three, appointed to the three provinces of the sect namely, Jebal, Kuhistan and Syria;
(3) THE DAIS;
(4) THE REFECK;
(5) THE FEDAREE; and
(6) THE LAZIK, being postulants awaiting reception or perhaps novices.
The Teaching Rule of the Sodlality was sevenfold, consisting in:
(I) Knowledge of duty;
(2) Winning confidence;
(3) Hermeneutical, but this is a guess-work word, for the actual intention was to exhibit the absurdity of under standing the Koran literally;
(4) Silence and obedience;
(5) The conformity between the doctrines of the association and those of the greatest men in the world of Islam beyond its gate;
(6) Confirmation in the knowledge acquired; and
(7) Instruction in Allegory, or the only true mode of interpreting the Holy Kuran.
We find in this manner that in the constitution of the ASSASSINS there is no likeness whatsoever to the Masonic Order and that the suggestion is not less ridiculous than might have been expected antecedently.
The Templars. There is no particle of evidence that the ORDER OF THE TEMPLE was framed on that of the ASSASSSNS; there is no evidence that the TEMPLARS and ASSASSINS made common cause together. It is ridiculous to suggest that the attempt to exchange Damascus for Tyre- which to the Templars would have been of vital consequence-offers proof of collucion with the infidels, much less of a secret understanding. The scheme failed. There is one glaring and shameful instance of communication between TEMPLARS and ASSASSINS which is a blot on the knightly scutcheon, and nothing can scour it off. The people of the mountain paid tribute to the TEMPLARS and a messenger was sent to the Christian King of Jerusalem, petitioning him to obtain its remission, in consideration of which the ASSASSINS were prepared bodily for conversion. The King rejoiced, and to secure the consent of the chivalry he promised himself to meet the amount of the tribute. The messenger was returning home in the belief that his mission had been successful, when he was attacked by a party of Templars and murdered basely. Such was the relation between the Orders, and the Grand Master was not only privy to this particular affair but is said to have arranged it. Were it necessary to suppose that in the course of their long sojourn in Palestine a part of the TEMPLARS had become tinctured by the spirit of eastern lore, eastern theosophy, eastern hidden practices-all of which is part of the charge against them-there were sects enough in that region from whom they could have drawn and at whose questionable fountains they might have drunk deeply, without postulating the ASSASSINS as a particular and only source. For the rest, it cannot be said that the Old Man of the Mountains and his votaries were desirable or decent neighbours; but it is to be questioned whether the Templars were a marked improvement on them.
Druses. Godfrey Higgins affirms
(I) That the ASSASSINS were also called DRUSES;
(2) That a golden calf is still worshipped by the latter sectanes, though I have found no record of idolatry among the People of the Mountain; and-in some confused way-
(3) That they connect with the old legend concerning Prester John.
In Masonic speculations we find
(I) That the DRUSES were divided into three classes or degrees;
(2) That a regular system of signs and passwords was in use among them;
(3) That the TEMPLARS drew all their Secret Mystenes from this source; while it is even suggested
(4) that the Grade called PRINCE OF LEBANON has reference to this Syrian sect.
By other sources of instruction we are assured
(I) That Druses are a mixture of Kurds, Mardi-Arabs, French colonists and Crusaders;
(2) That in religion they are a compound of Jewish, Christian and Mohammedan elements, the last prevailing;
(3) That they have an order of priesthood, sacred books and secret religious assemblies.
On the other hand, Sir M. E. Grant-Duff records the result of investigations made by a certain Ayoub Abela, according to which
(I) No books written upon the DRUSES and ANSEYREEH were of any value;
(2) That he had failed to obtain any idea as to their beliefs;
(3) That he had examined fourteen Druse treatises in Arabic without ascertaining what they were really about;
(4) That a key to their meaning is necessary and that the DRUSES have the key but have never entrusted it to any one outside their own circle;
(5) That the DRUSES and ANSEYREEH were remnants of two idolatrous tribes who had inhabited the Lebanon district before the Christian epoch; and
(6) That the real bond between them was " a kind of Freemasonry, about which the outside world had not the smallest inkling."
The last statement means only that there was a common mystery shared among them and not that it had the least analogy with any mystery which is found in the West. We have also the authority of Lady Hester Stanhope concerning the existence of Druse books and the impossibility of unravelling their meaning: they were mysterics dealing with mysteries and written in a mystery-language. It is an old story now that whosoever has recourse to the DRUSES finds the professors of precisely that faith and doctrine which he is led to expect antecedently, and so also as regards practice and discipline. When therefore Colonel Churchill testified in I862
(I) That there was an Order among them which had many analogies with Masonry;
(2) That it imposed a probation of twelve months prior to admission; but
(3) That both sexes were eligible-we have no real evidence before us.
Reports are unanimous as to the fact of a mystery, while the alleged admission of women sets aside Masonic analogy. Finally, there is no warrant for accepting the opinion of Laurence Oliphant that the Druse and Anseyreeh religions conceal under their esoteric veils " a far higher theological system than is apparent to the uninitiated inquirer." The statement is antecedently improbable and anything that he may have heard on the spot to countenance his views is-under the circumstances-no evidence. The DRUSES of Mount Lebanon are to be ruled out of Masonic concern, unless and until we are in a position to reach a solid stratum of fact.
Anseyreeh. Between this sect and Freemasonry the kind of subsisting analogy has been defined rather fortunately since I852, when the Rev. S. Lyde affirmed it to consist in secret prayers " which are taught to every male child at a certain age, and are repeated at stated times, in stated places, accompanied with religious rites." It is therefore the kind of Freemasonry which is learned at one's mother's knee and under the obedience of any church or sect in Christendom. It is not very often that the Masonic atmosphere is cleared so completely, however apart from intention. For the rest -and notwith standing the common bond of mystery between them-the ANSEYREEH have been often said to be at enmity with the DRUSES: but perhaps this breach is healed. It is nihil ad rem nostram.
Giving no particular reason, the Hon. F. Walpole identifies the ASSASSINS and ANSEYREEH as regards own, and produces a vast record of travels in three volumes, having their name as the title: it is incredible how little they contain on the supposed subject. His testimony belongs to the year 1851 and we learn among other points which I have no occasion to cite:
(I) That the ANSEYREEH are a large, fine race, having more bone and muscle than is characteristic of Orientals;
(2) That they are Turks in dress;
(3) That-at the time of his travels- the nation was capable of mustering forty thousand warriors;
(4) That there were Sheiks of religion and Sheiks of government;
(5) That those of religion were regarded as almost infallible;
(6) That the lower classes are not initiated into the higher or more mystical aspect of the religious belief;
(7) That they practise the rite of circumcision;
(8) That when a candidate is ready for initiation-but into what we do not hear a white cloth is placed about his head; he is conducted into the presence of the sheiks of religion, is cautioned against ever betraying " the great and solemn secret " and is then taught the articles of faith, a sign and " three words ";
(9) That this is the first lesson, but it is all apparently of which Walpole had any particulars.
On the exoteric side they are called worshippers of Ali, as above all and a kind of "God Almighty," yet Mohammed is the beloved prophet of God. For the rest, their belief is described as a confused medley- an unity, a trinity, a deity-and is apparently defined thus in their theology: " There are five; these five are three; these three are two; these two, these three, these five-all are one." I suppose that even an Anti-Masonic Council of Trent would not institute a connection between this credo and the alleged faith of Masonry. For the rest, the ANSEYREEH are affirmed to believe in the transmigration of souls: those of good believers become stars; others return to earth and again become ANSEYREEH; yet others-the bad namely-reincarnate as Jews, Christians and Turks; while unbelievers enter into the bodies of pigs and other animals.
Authorlties
.-For the ISMAELITES and ASSASSINS:
(I) Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall: DIE GESCHICHTE DER ASSASSINEN. Stuttgart, I8I8.
(2) The same, translated by O. C. Wood, London, I835.
(3) Edward Gibbon: DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, c. lxiv, any edition.
(4) De Sacy in LE JOURNAL DES SAVANTS, for the year I8I8.
(5) Sir John Malcolm: HISTORY OF PERSIA, 2 vols., I8I5.
(6) Godfey Higgins: ANACALYPSIS: An Attempt Go draw aside a the Fal of the Saëtic Isis, etc., 2 vols., London, 1836. For the TEMPLARS: So far as we are concerned with a bibliography of works on the Knights Templar it belongs to a later consideration of the whole subject.
At the moment I need mention only: Raynouard: MONUMENS HISTORIQUES Relagifs a la Condemnation des Templiers.
For the DRUSES:
(I) Godfrey Higgins: THE CELTIC DRUIDS, London, I834. Also ANACALYPSIS, as cited, vd. i.
(2)Sir M. E. Grant-Duff: NOTES FROM A DIARY, London, I900, PP.24I, 242.
(3) MEMOIRS of Lady Hester Stanhope, London, I845, P. 355.
(4) Colonel C. H. Churchill: THE DRUSES AND MARONITES Under Turkish Rule, London, I862.
(5) Laurence Oliphant: THE LAND OF GILEAD.
For the ANSEYREEH:
(I) Rev. Samuel Lyde: THE ANSEYREEH AND ISM’LEH: London, I853.
(2) Hon. F. Walpole: THE ANSAYRII, OR ASSASSINS, with Travels in the Further East, 3 vols., and especially vol. iii., London, 1851.
ASSOCIATION AND THE MYSTERIES.
Secret Religions.
Theosophical Mysteries.
Masonry and Secret Religion.
ASSOCIATION AND THE MYSTERIES
As a natural instinct of men compels them to seek association for avowed and public advantage in the open life of communities so does a deeper instinct prompt them to secret association in the midst of the general community for the attainment of some particular purpose or the pursuit of some special interest. Both instincts are older than history and as regards secret association it is common to every kind of civilisation and almost every form of savagery. It is connected in particular with the history of religion, when it assumes invariably the form of a Mystery worked by means of conventional ceremonies to which symbolic meanings are attached. In this way a peculiar knowledge has been supposed always to be communicated to the initiate. In secret political societies the knowledge imparted regarded only thc designs particular to the cabal and the methods concerted for their attainment. In the vast majority of cases they were ndither veiled in allegory nor illustrated by symbols. In those which were devoted to science-and there are traces of such association in alchemical literaturean inherited experimental Mystery was claimed to be imparted, but under what circumstances of procedure, if indeed any of a Ritual kind, we are altogether in the dark. There remain the arts and crafts, as these were pursued and protected at various periods but more especially during the Middle Ages: in most or all cases they appear to have had a primitive form of reception, the chief feature of which s as of course a pledge of secrecy. There is little doubt that more than one valuable process must have been lost to the world because the sodality which possessed them has become inoperative But the Religious Mystery has been always the most important and most widely diffused.
Secret Religions. It is this that is assumed to have perpetuated the true doctrine which is veiled by the external dogmas and official systems of ruling religions in the world, the Religious Mysteries of ancient Greece being a palmary case in point. Societies claiming to connect with others of a high antiquity behind them are heard of even at this day in several countries of Europe, and whatsoever the worth of their pretensions they are always theosophical in character, which is to say that-by their hypothesis-they communicate to those who can receive a deeper understanding of the relations between man and God. At one or another time most people have come across something concerning them-some book which hints at their existence, some person who might have belonged to them. The knowledge possessed and the objects proposed to themselves by these secret fraternities are difficult questions to approach from an external standpoint. There is in the first place a multitude of false witnesses, not only on the point of antiquity but on the so-called treasures of the Sanctuary, which is too often empty of anything excepting vain pretence. It must be recognised also that associations for the pursuit of iniquity under the cloak of religion have taken all evil as their province and that the crude name of Satanism covers an abyss of abomination, on the edge of which it may sometimes prove only too easy for the unwary to find themselves. The business that walks in the darkness is worse than the noon-day devil.
Theosophical Mysteries. But since there are thousands of individuals here and now among us who have set before themselves as their real end in life the attainment of an assured knowledge concerning the--soul, its nature, origin and destination, concerning God, His relation to the Universe and to the soul of man, so are there secret religious Orders which by theis intention at least-and by something more than this are on the side of God and the soul. It is taught in these circles that the soul of man is not so wholly set apart in isolation from his manifest part that he cannot enter into its sanctuary and learn something at first hand on these ever-recurring problems. The claim is, moreover, that within these secret circles there are aids to advancement in these directions. This is as much as can be said in the present place.
Masonry and Secret Religion.. The place of Masonry among secret associations is notable in comparison with these exotics of hidden life and activity. On the surface it is a system of morality, and we shall see in the proper place that it has no reasonable title as such to be classed among Instituted Mysteries. Its " sublime principles" are brotherly love, relief and truth, by the last of which, as by a gate opening on the infinite, it begins to issue at once from the region of ethics. I suppose it is obvious that morality is not truth but one of its attributes. Moreover, as we proceed through the Craft Grades, and as I shall shew fully hereafter, we find that Emblematic Freemasonry becomes in the THIRD DEGREE a summary reflection of the old Instituted Mysteries and that it portrays the story of the soul in paths of spiritual experience. And beyond the Craft Grades there is the HOLY ROYAL ARCH, with its great theosophical intimations on the powers, the graces, the mysteries of Divine Names, on the Triune Nature of God, the Ark of our Salvation and the soul in the Presence of God. But in fine there are the Christian Grades, full of gospel tidings concerning Christ Mystical and the way of truth in Christ. They are not only-like those other Rites which I have mentioned without naming-on the side of God and the soul but delineate the relations between that which is Divine in the Universe and the Divine part of our nature. It will be seen therefore, as regards the place of Masonry among secret associations, that it is no outcast, pariah or orphan but a legitimate child of the Mysteries, bound up with its peers and co-heirs in the universal bond of their brotherhood.