The Meaning of Masonry by W.L.

Wilmshurst

THE MEANING OF MASONRY by Walter Leslie WILMSHURST (1867 1!"!#

Past Provincial Grand Registrar in West Yorkshire !GL"

# $hiloso$hical e%$osition of the character of the &raft ' ()*+ Table of Contents
,ore-ord ./TR01!&T.0/ The Position and Possibilities of the Masonic 0rder &2#PT"R . The 1ee$er 3ymbolism of ,reemasonry &2#PT"R .. Masonry as a Philoso$hy &2#PT"R ... ,urther /otes on &raft 3ymbolism. The ,orm of the Lodge The Positions of the 0fficers of the Lodge. The Greater and Lesser Lights 0$ening and &losing the Lodge ,irst or "ntered #$$rentice 1egree 3econd or ,ello-'&raft 1egree Third or Master'Mason4s 1egree The Masonic #$ron # Prayer at Lodge &losing &2#PT"R .5 The 2oly Royal #rch of 6erusalem. The &eremony of "%altation &2#PT"R 5. ,reemasonry in Relation to the #ncient Mysteries.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

FOREWOR$
,R""M#30/RY has had many great scholars -ho devoted their time and talents to the $hiloso$hical e%$osition of the character of the &raft the meaning of &raft symbols and the religious as$ects of the ,raternity7 #lbert Pike Robert ,reke Gould ,ort /e-ton #lbert Gallatin Mackey and W. L. Wilmshurst. Walter Leslie Wilmshurst 8(9:;'()<)= -as a mystic -ith a $ractical kno-ledge and $rofound understanding of the religions of the -orld. The Meaning of Masonry discloses the real $ur$ose of modern ,reemasonry and clearly states the true body of teaching and $ractice concerning the esoteric meanings of Masonic ritual. ,reemasonry is based on the three great $rinci$les7 brotherly love relief and truth. 0ver the years brotherly love and relief have been so stressed that the &raft is in serious danger of becoming $rimarily a social and charitable organi>ation. Truth the most difficult $rinci$le to recogni>e and thus the most difficult to achieve has long been neglected. Wilmshurst carefully $laces his designs u$on the trestle board to build his thesis that the al$ha and omega of ,reemasonry is not the re$etition of the ritual nor the safeguarding of secrets but the regeneration of the ?rethren. This book im$lores the reader to learn to see in ,reemasonry something more than a $arochial system en@oining elementary morality $erforming $erfunctory and insignificant rites and serving as an agreeable accessory to social life. The greater system of s$iritual doctrine contained in the rituals is strongly em$hasi>ed. The Meaning of Masonry -as -ritten -ith a vie- to-ard $romoting a dee$er understanding of the ,raternity and this goal has been achieved. The ideals of the Masonic ,raternity have a -ide a$$eal to the best instincts of men and the &raft has become one of the greatest social institutions in the -orld. .n this ne- #Auarian age -hen many individuals and grou$s are -orking in various -ays for the eventual restoration of the mysteries an increasing number of as$irants are beginning to recogni>e that ,reemasonry may -ell be the vehicle for this achievement. We have here a sincere effort by a learned and earnest ?rother to $oint to the source of Masonic Light in elegant and at times $rofound language. They -ho look -ith him may en@oy the same felicity. The great value of this book is that it -as -ritten by one -ho sets an e%am$le for all Masters of Lodges. 2is -as a soul filled -ith the -onder of -isdom strength and beauty. .n these $ages he -his$ers the $ass-ord to those of us -ho still clamour at the gate enabling us to enter that inner chamber -here -e can @oin the true initiates and share e%$eriences no- veiled from all but a handful of ?rethren. #LL#/ ?0!1R"#! P2.1. &urator and Librarian Grand Lodge of ,ree and #cce$ted 6uly ()9+ Masons of the 3tate of /e- York

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

INTRO$U%TION THE POSITION AND POSSIBILITIES OF THE MASONIC ORDER

T2" $a$ers here collected are -ritten solely for members of the Masonic 0rder constituted under the !nited Grand Lodge of "ngland. To all such they are offered in the best s$irit of fraternity and good-ill and -ith the -ish to render to the 0rder some small return for the $rofit the author has received from his association -ith it e%tending over thirty't-o years. They have been -ritten -ith a vie- to $romoting the dee$er understanding of the meaning of MasonryB to $roviding the e%$lanation of it that one constantly hears called for and that becomes all the more necessary in vie- of the un$recedented increase of interest in and membershi$ of the 0rder at the $resent day. The meaning of Masonry ho-ever is a sub@ect usually left entirely une%$ounded and that accordingly remains largely unreali>ed by its members save such fe- as make it their $rivate studyB the authorities of -hat in all other res$ects is an elaborately organi>ed and admirably controlled community have hitherto made no $rovision for e%$laining and teaching the Cnoble scienceC -hich Masonry $roclaims itself to be and -as certainly designed to im$art. .t seems taken for granted that rece$tion into the 0rder -ill automatically be accom$anied by an ability to a$$reciate forth-ith and at its full value all that one there finds. The contrary is the case for Masonry is a veiled and cry$tic e%$ression of the difficult science of s$iritual life and the understanding of it calls for s$ecial and informed guidance on the one hand and on the other a genuine and earnest desire for kno-ledge and no small ca$acity for s$iritual $erce$tion on the $art of those seeking to be instructedB and not infreAuently one finds ?rethren discontinuing their interest or their membershi$ because they find that Masonry means nothing to them and that no e%$lanation or guidance is vouchsafed them. Were such instruction $rovided assimilated and res$onded to the life of the 0rder -ould be enormously Auickened and dee$ened and its efficiency as a means of .nitiation intensified -hilst incidentally the fact -ould $rove an added safeguard against the admission into the 0rder of unsuitable members by -hich is meant not merely $ersons -ho fail to satisfy conventional Aualifications but also those -ho -hilst fitted in these res$ects are as yet either so intellectually or s$iritually un$rogressed as to be inca$able of benefiting from .nitiation in its true sense although $assing formally through .nitiation rites. 3$iritual Auality rather than numbers ability to understand the Masonic system and reduce its im$lications into $ersonal e%$erience rather than the $erfunctory conferment of its rites are the desiderata of the &raft to'day. #s a contribution to re$airing the absence of e%$lanation referred to these $a$ers have been com$iled. The first t-o of them have often been read as lectures at Lodge meetings. Many reAuests that they should be $rinted and made more -idely available led to my e%$anding their sub@ect'matter into greater detail than could be used for occasional lectures and accordingly they are here am$lified by a $a$er containing fuller notes u$on &raft symbolism. To com$lete the consideration of the &raft system it -as necessary also to add a cha$ter u$on that -hich forms the cro-n and culmination of the &raft 1egrees and -ithout -hich they -ould be im$erfect the 0rder of the Royal #rch. Lastly a cha$ter has been added u$on the im$ortant sub@ect -hich forms the background of the rest the Page < of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst relationshi$ of modern Masonry to the #ncient Mysteries from -hich it is the direct though greatly attenuated s$iritual descendant. Thus in the five $a$ers . have sought to $rovide a survey of the -hole Masonic sub@ect as e%$ressed by the &raft and #rch 1egrees -hich it is ho$ed may $rove illuminating to the increasing number of ?rethren -ho feel that ,reemasonry enshrines something dee$er and greater than in the absence of guidance they have been able to reali>e. .t does not $rofess to be more than an elementary and far from e%haustive surveyB the sub@ect might be treated much more fully in more technical terminology and -ith abundant references to authorities -ere one com$iling a more ambitious and scholarly treatise. ?ut to the average Mason such a treatise -ould $robably $rove less serviceable than a summary e%$ressed in as sim$le and untechnical terms as may be and unburdened by numerous literary references. 3ome re$etition due to the $a$ers having been -ritten at different times may be found in later cha$ters of $oints already dealt -ith in $revious ones though the restatement may be advantageous in em$hasi>ing those $oints and maintaining continuity of e%$osition. ,or reasons e%$lained in the cha$ter itself that on the 2oly Royal #rch -ill $robably $rove difficult of com$rehension by those unversed in the literature and $sychology of religious mysticismB if so the reading of it may be deferred or neglected. ?ut since a survey of the Masonic system -ould like the system itself be incom$lete -ithout reference to that su$reme 1egree and since that 1egree deals -ith matters of advanced $sychological and s$iritual e%$erience about -hich e%$lanation must al-ays be difficult the sub@ect has been treated here -ith as much sim$licity of statement as is $ossible and rather -ith a vie- to indicating to -hat great heights of s$iritual attainment the &raft 1egrees $oint as achievable than -ith the e%$ectation that they -ill be readily com$rehended by readers -ithout some measure of mystical e%$erience and $erha$s unfamiliar -ith the testimony of the mystics thereto. Pur$osely these $a$ers avoid dealing -ith matters of &raft history and of merely antiAuarian or archDological interest. 1ates $articulars of Masonic constitutions historical changes and develo$ments in the e%ternal as$ects of the &raft references to old Lodges and the names of outstanding $eo$le connected there-ith these and such like matters can be read about else-here. They are all subordinate to -hat alone is of vital moment and -hat so many ?rethren are hungering for kno-ledge of the s$iritual $ur$ose and lineage of the 0rder and the $resent'day value of rites of .nitiation. .n giving these $ages to $ublication care has been taken to observe due reticence in res$ect of essential matters. The general nature of the Masonic system is ho-ever no-adays -idely kno-n to outsiders and easily ascertainable from many $rinted sources -hilst the large interest in and out$ut of literature u$on mystical religion and the science of the in-ard life during the last fe- years has familiari>ed many -ith a sub@ect of -hich as is sho-n in these $a$ers Masonry is but a s$eciali>ed form. To e%$lain Masonry in general outline is therefore not to divulge a sub@ect -hich is entirely e%clusive to its members but merely to sho- that Masonry stands in line -ith other doctrinal systems inculcating the same $rinci$les and to -hich no secrecy attaches and that it is a s$eciali>ed and highly effective method of inculcating those $rinci$les. Truth -hether as e%$ressed in Masonry or other-ise is at all times an o$en secret but is as a $illar of light to those able to receive and $rofit by it and to all others but one of darkness and unintelligibility. #n elementary and formal secrecy is reAuisite as a $ractical $recaution against the intrusion of im$ro$er Page E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $ersons and for $reventing $rofanation. .n other res$ects the vital secrets of life and of any system e%$ounding life $rotect themselves even though shouted from the houseto$s because they mean nothing to those as yet unAualified for the kno-ledge and unready to identify themselves -ith it by incor$orating it into their habitual thought and conduct. .n vie- of the great s$read and $o$ularity of Masonry to'day -hen there are some three thousand Lodges in Great ?ritain alone it is as -ell to consider its $resent bearings and tendencies and to give a thought to future $ossibilities. The 0rder is a semi'secret semi' $ublic institutionB secret in res$ect of its activities intra mFnia but other-ise of full $ublic notoriety -ith its doors o$en to any a$$licant for admission -ho is of ordinary good character and re$ute. Those -ho enter it as the ma@ority do entirely ignorant of -hat they -ill find there usually because they have friends there or kno- Masonry to be an institution devoted to high ideals and benevolence and -ith -hich it may be socially desirable to be connected may or may not be attracted and $rofit by -hat is disclosed to them and may or may not see anything beyond the bare form of the symbol or hear anything beyond the mere letter of the -ord. Their admission is Auite a lotteryB their .nitiation too often remains but a formality not an actual a-akening into an order and Auality of life $reviously une%$eriencedB their membershi$ unless such an a-akening eventually ensues from the careful study and faithful $ractice of the 0rder4s teaching has little if any greater influence u$on them than -ould ensue from their @oining a $urely social club. ,or C.nitiationC for -hich there are so many candidates little conscious of -hat is im$lied in that for -hich they ask -hat does it really mean and intendG .t means a ne- beginning 8initium=B a break'a-ay from an old method and order of life and the entrance u$on a neone of larger self'kno-ledge dee$ened understanding and intensified virtue. .t means a transition from the merely natural state and standards of life to-ards a regenerate and su$er'natural state and standard. .t means a turning a-ay from the $ursuit of the $o$ular ideals of the outer -orld in the conviction that those ideals are but shado-s images and tem$oral substitutions for the eternal Reality that underlies them to the keen and undivertible Auest of that Reality itself and the recovery of those genuine secrets of our being -hich lie buried and hidden at Cthe centreC or innermost $art of our souls. .t means the a-akening of those hitherto dormant higher faculties of the soul -hich endue their $ossessor -ith ClightC in the form of ne- enhanced consciousness and enlarged $erce$tive faculty. #nd lastly in -ords -ith -hich every Mason is familiar it means that the $ostulant -ill henceforth dedicate and devote his life to the 1ivine rather than to his o-n or any other service so that by the $rinci$les of the 0rder he may be the better enabled to dis$lay that beauty of godliness -hich $reviously $erha$s has not manifested through him. To com$ly -ith this definition of .nitiation -hich it might be useful to a$$ly as a test not only to those -ho seek for admission into the 0rder but to ourselves -ho are already -ithin it it is obvious that s$ecial Aualifications of mind and intention are essential in a candidate of the ty$e likely to be benefited by the 0rder in the -ay that its doctrine contem$lates and that it is not necessarily the ordinary man of the -orld $ersonal friend and good fello- though he be according to usual social standards -ho is either $ro$erly $re$ared for or likely to benefit in any vital sense by rece$tion into it. The true candidate must indeed needs be as the -ord candidus im$lies a C-hite man C -hite -ithin as symbolically he is -hite'vestured -ithout so that no in-ard stain or soilure may obstruct the da-n -ithin his soul of that Light -hich he $rofesses to be the $redominant -ish of his Page H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst heart on asking for admissionB -hilst if really desirous of learning the secrets and mysteries of his o-n being he must be $re$ared to divest himself of all $ast $reconce$tions and thought'habits and -ith childlike meekness and docility surrender his mind to the rece$tion of some $erha$s novel and une%$ected truths -hich .nitiation $romises to im$art and -hich -ill more and more unfold and @ustify themselves -ithin those and those only -ho are and continue to kee$ themselves $ro$erly $re$ared for them. CIno- thyselfJC -as the in@unction inscribed over the $ortals of ancient tem$les of .nitiation for -ith that kno-ledge -as $romised the kno-ledge of all secrets and all mysteries. #nd Masonry -as designed to teach self'kno-ledge. ?ut self'kno-ledge involves a kno-ledge much dee$er vaster and more difficult than is $o$ularly conceived. .t is not to be acAuired by the formal $assage through three or four degrees in as many monthsB it is a kno-ledge im$ossible of full achievement until kno-ledge of every other kind has been laid aside and a difficult $ath of life long and strenuously $ursued that alone fits and leads its follo-ers to its attainment. The -isest and most advanced of us is $erha$s still but an "ntered #$$rentice at this kno-ledge ho-ever high his titular rank. 2ere and there may be one -orthy of being hailed as a ,ello-'&raft in the true sense. The full Master'Mason the @ust man made $erfect -ho has actually and not merely ceremonially travelled the entire $ath endured all its tests and ordeals and become raised into conscious union -ith the #uthor and Giver of Life and able to mediate and im$art that life to others is at all times hard to find. 3o high so ideal an attainment it may be urged is beyond our reachB -e are but ordinary men of the -orld sufficiently occu$ied already -ith our $rimary civic social and family obligations and follo-ing the obvious normal $ath of natural lifeJ Granted. /evertheless to $oint to that attainment as $ossible to us and as our destiny to indicate that $ath of self' $erfecting to those -ho care and dare to follo- it modern 3$eculative Masonry -as instituted and to em$hasi>ing the fact these $a$ers are devoted. ,or Masonry means this or it means nothing -orth the serious $ursuit of thoughtful menB nothing that cannot be $ursued as -ell outside the &raft as -ithin it. .t $roclaims the fact that there e%ists a higher and more secret $ath of life than that -hich -e normally tread and that -hen the outer -orld and its $ursuits and re-ards lose their attractiveness for us and $rove insufficient to our dee$er needs as sooner or later they -ill -e are com$elled to turn back u$on ourselves to seek and knock at the door of a -orld -ithinB and it is u$on this inner -orld and the $ath to and through it that Masonry $romises light charts the -ay and indicates the Aualifications and conditions of $rogress. This is the sole aim and intention of Masonry. ?ehind its more elementary and obvious symbolism behind its counsels to virtue and conventional morality behind the $latitudes and sententious $hraseology 8-hich no-adays might -ell be sub@ected to com$etent and intelligent revision= -ith -hich after the fashion of their day the eighteenth'century com$ilers of its ceremonies clothed its teaching there e%ists the frame-ork of a scheme of initiation into that higher $ath of life -here alone the secrets and mysteries of our being are to be learnedB a scheme moreover that as -ill be sho-n later in these $ages re$roduces for the modern -orld the main features of the #ncient Mysteries and that has been -ell described by a learned -riter on the sub@ect as Can e$itome or reflection at a far distance of the once universal science.C ?ut because for long and for many Masonry has meant less than this it has not as yet fulfilled its original $ur$ose of being the efficient initiating instrument it -as designed to beB its energies have been diverted from its true instructional $ur$ose into social and Page : of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $hilanthro$ic channels e%cellent in their -ay but foreign to and accretions u$on the $rimal main intention. .ndeed so little $erceived or a$$reciated is that central intention that one freAuently hears it confessed by men of eminent $osition in the &raft and -arm devotion to it that only their interest in its great charitable institutions kee$s alive their connection -ith the 0rder. Relief is indeed a duty incumbent u$on a Mason but its Masonic inter$retation is not meant to be limited to $hysical necessities. The s$iritually as -ell as the financially $oor and distressed are al-ays -ith us and to the former eAually -ith the latter Masonry -as designed to minister. Theoretically every man u$on rece$tion into the &raft ackno-ledges himself as -ithin the category of the s$iritually $oor and as content to renounce all tem$oral riches if ha$ly by that sacrifice his hungry heart may be filled -ith those good things -hich money cannot $urchase but to -hich the truly initiated can hel$ him. ?ut if Masonry has not as yet fulfilled its $rimary $ur$ose and though engaged in admirable secondary activities is as yet an initiating instrument of lo- efficiency it may be that -ith enlarged understanding of its designs that efficiency may yet become very considerably increased. 1uring the last t-o centuries the &raft has been gradually develo$ing from small and crude beginnings into its $resent vast and highly elaborated organi>ation. To'day the number of Lodges and the membershi$ of the &raft are increasing beyond all $recedent. 0ne asks oneself -hat this gro-ing interest $ortends and to -hat it -ill or can be made to leadG The gro-th synchroni>es -ith a corres$onding defection of interest in orthodo% religion and $ublic -orshi$. .t need not no- be enAuired -hether or to -hat e%tent the sim$le $rinci$les of faith and the humanitarian ideals of Masonry are -ith some men taking the $lace of the theology offered in the various &hurchesB it is $robable that to some e%tent they do so. ?ut the fact is -ith us that the ideals of the Masonic 0rder are making a -ide a$$eal to the best instincts of large numbers of men and that the 0rder has im$erce$tibly become the greatest social institution in the "m$ire. .ts $rinci$les of faith and ethics are sim$le and of virtually universal acce$tance. Providing means for the e%$ression of universal fraternity under a common 1ivine ,atherhood and of a common loyalty to the headshi$ and established government of the 3tate it leaves room for divergences of $rivate belief and vie- u$on matters u$on -hich unity is im$racticable and $erha$s undesirable. .t is utterly clean of $olitics and $olitical intrigue but nevertheless has unconsciously become a real though unobtrusive asset of $olitical value both in stabili>ing the social fabric and tending to foster international amity. The elaborateness of its organi>ation the care and admirable control of its affairs by its higher authorities are $raise-orthy in the e%treme -hilst in the conduct of its individual Lodges there has been and is a $rogressive endeavour to raise the standard of ceremonial -ork to a far higher degree of reverence and intelligence than -as $erha$s $ossible under conditions e%isting not long ago. The Masonic &raft has gro-n and ramified to dimensions undreamed of by its original founders and at its $resent rate of increase its $otentialities and influence in the future are Auite incalculable. What seems no- needed to intensify the -orth and usefulness of this great ?rotherhood is to dee$en its understanding of its o-n system to educate its members in the dee$er meaning and true $ur$ose of its rites and its $hiloso$hy. Were this achieved the Masonic 0rder -ould become in $ro$ortion to that achievement a s$iritual force greater than it can ever be so long as it continues content -ith a formal and unintelligent $er$etuation of rites the real and sacred $ur$ose of -hich remains largely un$erceived and $artici$ation in Page ; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst -hich too often means nothing more than association -ith an agreeable semi'religious social institution. &arried to its fullest that achievement -ould involve the revival in a form ada$ted to modern conditions of the ancient Wisdom'teaching and the $ractice of those Mysteries -hich became $roscribed fifteen centuries ago but of -hich modern Masonry is the direct and re$resentative descendant as -ill a$$ear later in these $ages. The future develo$ment and the value of the 0rder as a moral force in society de$end therefore u$on the vie- its members take of their system. .f they do not s$irituali>e it they -ill but increasingly materiali>e it. .f they fail to inter$ret its veiled $ur$ort to enter into the understanding of its underlying $hiloso$hy and to translate its symbolism into -hat is signified thereby they -ill be mistaking shado- for substance a husk for the kernel and seculari>ing -hat -as designed as a means of s$iritual instruction and grace. .t is from lack of instruction rather than of desire to learn the meaning of Masonry that the &raft suffers to'day. ?ut as one finds every-here that desire e%istsB and so for -hat they may be -orth these $a$ers are offered to the &raft as a contribution to-ards satisfying it. Let me conclude -ith an a$ologue and an as$iration. .n the &hronicles of .srael it may be read ho- that after long $re$aratory labour after em$loying the choicest material and the most skilful artificers 3olomon the Iing at last made an end of building and beautifying his Tem$le and dedicated to the service of the Most 2igh that -ork of his hands in a state as $erfect as human $rovision could make itB and ho- that then but not till then his offering -as acce$ted and the acce$tance -as signified by a 1ivine descent u$on it so that the glory of the Lord shone through and filled the -hole house. 3o if -e -ill have it so may it be -ith the tem$le of the Masonic 0rder. 3ince the ince$tion of 3$eculative Masonry it has been a'building and e%$anding no- these last three hundred years. ,ashioned of living stones into a far'reaching organic structureB brought gradually under the good guidance of its rulers to high $erfection on its tem$oral side and in res$ect of its e%ternal observances and made available for high $ur$oses and giving godly -itness in a dark and troubled -orldB u$on these $reliminary efforts let there no- be invoked this cro-ning and com$leting blessing that the 3$irit of Wisdom and !nderstanding may descend u$on the -ork of our hands in abundant measure $ros$ering it still farther and filling and transfiguring our -hole Masonic house.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

%HA&TER I THE DEEPER SYMBOLISM OF FREEMASONRY

&#/1.1#T" $ro$osing to enter ,reemasonry has seldom formed any definite idea of the nature of -hat he is engaging in. "ven after his admission he usually remains Auite at a loss to e%$lain satisfactorily -hat Masonry is and for -hat $ur$ose his 0rder e%ists. 2e finds indeed that it is Ca system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols C but that e%$lanation -hilst true is but $artial and does not carry him very far. ,or many members of the &raft to be a Mason im$lies merely connection -ith a body -hich seems to be something combining the natures of a club and a benefit society. They find of course a certain religious element in it but as they are told that religious discussion -hich means of course sectarian religious discussion is forbidden in the Lodge they infer that Masonry is not a religious institution and that its teachings are intended to be merely secondary and su$$lemental to any religious tenets they may ha$$en to hold. 0ne sometimes hears it remarked that Masonry is Cnot a religionCB -hich in a sense is Auite trueB and sometimes that it is a secondary or su$$lementary religion -hich is Auite untrue. #gain Masonry is often su$$osed even by its o-n members to be a system of e%treme antiAuity that -as $ractised and that has come do-n in -ell'nigh its $resent form from "gy$tian or at least from early 2ebre- sources7 a vie- -hich again $ossesses the merest modicum of truth. .n brief the vaguest notions obtain about the origin and history of the &raft -hilst the still more vital sub@ect of its immediate and $resent $ur$ose and of its $ossibilities remains almost entirely outside the consciousness of many of its o-n members. We meet in our Lodges regularlyB -e $erform our ceremonial -ork and re$eat our catechetical instruction'lectures night after night -ith a less or greater degree of intelligence and verbal $erfection and there our -ork ends as though the ability to $erform this -ork creditably -ere the be'all and the end'all of Masonic -ork. 3eldom or never do -e em$loy our Lodge meetings for that $ur$ose for -hich Auite as much as for ceremonial $ur$oses they -ere intended vi>.7 for Ce%$atiating on the mysteries of the &raft C and $erha$s our neglect to do so is because -e have ourselves im$erfectly reali>ed -hat those mysteries are into -hich our 0rder -as $rimarily formed to introduce us. Yet there e%ists a large number of brethren -ho -ould -illingly re$air this obvious deficiencyB brethren to -hose natures Masonry even in their more limited as$ect of it makes a $rofound a$$eal and -ho feel their membershi$ of the &raft to be a $rivilege -hich has brought them into the $resence of something greater than they kno- and that enshrines a $ur$ose and that could unfold a message dee$er than they at $resent reali>e. .n a brief address like this it is ho$eless to attem$t to deal at all adeAuately -ith -hat . have suggested are deficiencies in our kno-ledge of the system -e belong to. The most one can ho$e to do is to offer a fe- hints or clues -hich those -ho so desire may develo$ for themselves in the $rivacy of their o-n thought. ,or in the last resource no one can communicate the dee$er things in Masonry to another. "very man must discover and learn them for himself although a friend or brother may be able to conduct him a certain distance on the $ath of understanding. We kno- that even the elementary and su$erficial secrets of the 0rder must not be communicated to unAualified $ersons and the reason for this in@unction is not so much because those secrets have any s$ecial value but because Page ) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst that silence is intended to be ty$ical of that -hich a$$lies to the greater dee$er secrets some of -hich for a$$ro$riate reasons must not be communicated and some of -hich indeed are not communicable at all because they transcend the $o-er of communication. .t is -ell to em$hasi>e then at the outset that Masonry is a sacramental system $ossessing like all sacraments an out-ard and visible side consisting of its ceremonial its doctrine and its symbols -hich -e can see and hear and an in-ard intellectual and s$iritual side -hich is concealed behind the ceremonial the doctrine and the symbols and -hich is available only to the Mason -ho has learned to use his s$iritual imagination and -ho can a$$reciate the reality that lies behind the veil of out-ard symbol. #nyone of course can understand the sim$ler meaning of our symbols es$ecially -ith the hel$ of the e%$lanatory lecturesB but he may still miss the meaning of the scheme as a vital -hole. .t is absurd to think that a vast organi>ation like Masonry -as ordained merely to teach to gro-n'u$ men of the -orld the symbolical meaning of a fe- sim$le builders4 tools or to im$ress u$on us such elementary virtues as tem$erance and @ustice7 the children in every village school are taught such thingsB or to enforce such sim$le $rinci$les of morals as brotherly love -hich every church and every religion teachesB or as relief -hich is $ractised Auite as much by non'Masons as by usB or of truth -hich every infant learns u$on its mother4s knee. There is surely too no need for us to @oin a secret society to be taught that the volume of the 3acred La- is a fountain of truth and instructionB or to go through the great and elaborate ceremony of the third degree merely to learn that -e have each to die. The &raft -hose -ork -e are taught to honour -ith the name of a Cscience C a Croyal art C has surely some larger end in vie- than merely inculcating the $ractice of social virtues common to all the -orld and by no means the mono$oly of ,reemasons. 3urely then it behoves us to acAuaint ourselves -ith -hat that larger end consists to enAuire -hy the fulfilment of that $ur$ose is -orthy to be called a science and to ascertain -hat are those CmysteriesC to -hich our doctrine $romises -e may ultimately attain if -e a$$ly ourselves assiduously enough to understanding -hat Masonry is ca$able of teaching us. Reali>ing then -hat Masonry cannot be deemed to be let us ask -hat it is. ?ut before ans-ering that Auestion let me $ut you in $ossession of certain facts that -ill enable you the better to a$$reciate the ans-er -hen . formulate it. .n all $eriods of the -orld4s history and in every $art of the globe secret orders and societies have e%isted outside the limits of the official churches for the $ur$ose of teaching -hat are called Cthe MysteriesC7 for im$arting to suitable and $re$ared minds certain truths of human life certain instructions about divine things about the things that belong to our $eace about human nature and human destiny -hich it -as undesirable to $ublish to the multitude -ho -ould but $rofane those teachings and a$$ly the esoteric kno-ledge that -as communicated to $erverse and $erha$s to disastrous ends. These Mysteries -ere formerly taught -e are told Con the highest hills and in the lo-est valleys C -hich is merely a figure of s$eech for saying first that they have been taught in circumstances of the greatest seclusion and secrecy and secondly that they have been taught in both advanced and sim$le forms according to the understanding of their disci$les. .t is of course common kno-ledge that great secret systems of the Mysteries 8referred to in our lectures as Cnoble orders of architecture C i.e. of soul'building= e%isted in the "ast in &haldea #ssyria "gy$t Greece .taly amongst the 2ebre-s amongst Mahommedans and amongst &hristiansB even among uncivili>ed #frican races they are to be found. #ll the Page (+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst great teachers of humanity 3ocrates Plato Pythagoras Moses #ristotle 5irgil the author of the 2omeric $oems and the great Greek tragedians along -ith 3t. 6ohn 3t. Paul and innumerable other great names -ere initiates of the 3acred Mysteries. The form of the teaching communicated has varied considerably from age to ageB it has been e%$ressed under different veilsB but since the ultimate truth the Mysteries aim at teaching is al-ays one and the same there has al-ays been taught and can only be taught one and the same doctrine. What that doctrine -as and still is -e -ill consider $resently so far as -e are able to s$eak of it and so far as Masonry gives e%$ression to it. ,or the moment let me merely say that behind all the official religious systems of the -orld and behind all the great moral movements and develo$ments in the history of humanity have stood -hat 3t. Paul called the kee$ers or Cste-ards of the Mysteries.C ,rom that source &hristianity itself came into the -orld. ,rom them originated the great school of Iabalism that marvellous system of secret oral tradition of the 2ebre-s a strong element of -hich has been introduced into our Masonic system. ,rom them too also issued many fraternities and orders such for instance as the great orders of &hivalry and of the Rosicrucians and the school of s$iritual alchemy. Lastly from them too also issued in the seventeenth century modern s$eculative ,reemasonry. To trace the genesis of the movement -hich came into activity some *H+ years ago 8our rituals and ceremonies having been com$iled round about the year (;++= is beyond the $ur$ose of my $resent remarks. .t may merely be stated that the movement itself incor$orated the slender ritual and the elementary symbolism that for centuries $reviously had been em$loyed in connection -ith the mediDval ?uilding Guilds but it gave to them a far fuller meaning and a far -ider sco$e. .t has al-ays been the custom for Trade Guilds and even for modern ,riendly 3ocieties to s$irituali>e their trades and to make the tools of their trade $oint some sim$le moral. /o trade $erha$s lends itself more readily to such treatment than the builder4s tradeB but -herever a great industry has flourished there you -ill find traces of that industry becoming allegori>ed and of the allegory being em$loyed for the sim$le moral instruction of those -ho -ere o$erative members of the industry. . am acAuainted for instance -ith an "gy$tian ceremonial system some H +++ years old -hich taught $recisely the same things as Masonry does but in the terms of shi$building instead of in the terms of architecture. ?ut the terms of architecture -ere em$loyed by those -ho originated modern Masonry because they -ere ready to handB because they -ere in use among certain trade'guilds then in e%istenceB and lastly because they are e%tremely effective and significant from the symbolic $oint of vie-. #ll that . -ish to em$hasi>e at this stage is that our $resent system is not one coming from remote antiAuity7 that there is no direct continuity bet-een us and the "gy$tians or even those ancient 2ebre-s -ho built in the reign of Iing 3olomon a certain Tem$le at 6erusalem. What is e%tremely ancient in ,reemasonry is the s$iritual doctrine concealed -ithin the architectural $hraseologyB for this doctrine is an elementary form of the doctrine that has been taught in all ages no matter in -hat garb it has been e%$ressed. 0ur o-n teaching for instance recogni>es Pythagoras as having undergone numerous initiations in different $arts of the -orld and as having attained great eminence in the science. /o- it is $erfectly certain that Pythagoras -as not a Mason at all in our $resent sense of the -ordB but it is also $erfectly certain that Pythagoras -as a very highly advanced master in the kno-ledge of the secret schools of the Mysteries of -hose doctrine some small $ortion is enshrined for us in our Masonic system. Page (( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst What then -as the $ur$ose the framers of our Masonic system had in vie- -hen they com$iled itG To this Auestion you -ill find no satisfying ans-er in ordinary Masonic books. .ndeed there is nothing more dreary and dismal than Masonic literature and Masonic histories -hich are usually devoted to considering merely unessential matters relating to the e%ternal develo$ment of the &raft and to its antiAuarian as$ect. They fail entirely to deal -ith its vital meaning and essence a failure that in some cases may be intentional but that more often seems due to lack of kno-ledge and $erce$tion for the true inner history of Masonry has never yet been given forth even to the &raft itself. There are members of the &raft to -hom it is familiar and -ho in due time may feel @ustified in gradually making $ublic at any rate some $ortion of -hat is kno-n in interior circles. ?ut ere that time comes and that the &raft itself may the better a$$reciate -hat can be told it is desirable nay even necessary that its o-n members should make some effort to reali>e the meaning of their o-n institution and should dis$lay sym$toms of earnest desire to treat it less as a system of archaic and $erfunctory rites and more as a vital reality ca$able of entering into and dominating their livesB less as a merely $leasant social order and more as a sacred and serious method of initiation into the $rofoundest truths of life .t is -ritten that Cto him that hath shall be given and from him that hath not shall be taken a-ay even that -hich he hathCB and it remains -ith the &raft itself to determine by its o-n action -hether it shall enter into its full heritage or -hether by failing to reali>e and to safeguard the value of -hat it $ossesses by suffering its o-n mysteries to be vulgari>ed and $rofaned its organi>ation -ill degenerate and $ass into disre$ute and deserved oblivion as has been the fate of many secret orders in the $ast. There are signs ho-ever of a -ell'nigh universal increase of interest of a genuine desire for kno-ledge of the s$iritual content of our Masonic system and . am glad to be able to offer to my ?rethren some light and im$erfect outline of -hat . conceive to be the true $ur$ose of our -ork -hich may tend to dee$en their interest in the -ork of the 0rder they belong to and 8-hat is of more moment still= hel$ to make Masonry for them a vital factor and a living serious reality rather than a mere $leasurable a$$endage to social life. To state things briefly Masonry offers us in dramatic form and by means of dramatic ceremonial a $hiloso$hy of the s$iritual life of man and a diagram of the $rocess of regeneration. We shall see $resently that that $hiloso$hy is not only consistent -ith the doctrine of every religious system taught outside the ranks of the 0rder but that it e%$lains elucidates and more shar$ly defines the fundamental doctrines common to every religious system in the -orld -hether $ast or $resent -hether &hristian or non'&hristian. The religions of the -orld though all aiming at teaching truth e%$ress that truth in different -ays and -e are more $rone to em$hasi>e the differences than to look for the corres$ondences in -hat they teach. .n some Masonic Lodges the candidate makes his first entrance to the Lodge room amid the clash of s-ords and the sounds of strife to intimate to him that he is leaving the confusion and @arring of the religious sects of the e%terior -orld and is $assing into a Tem$le -herein the ?rethren d-ell together in unity of thought in regard to the basal truths of life truths -hich can $ermit of no difference or schism. #llied -ith no e%ternal religious system itself Masonry is yet a synthesis a concordat for men of every race of every creed of every sect and its foundation $rinci$les being common to them all admit of no variation. C#s it -as in the beginning so it is no- and ever shall be into the ages of ages.C 2ence it is that every Master of a Lodge is called u$on Page (* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst to s-ear that no innovation in the body of Masonry 8i.e. in its substantial doctrine= is $ossible since it already contains a minimum and yet a sufficiency of truth -hich none may add to nor alter and from -hich none may take a-ayB and since the 0rder accords $erfect liberty of o$inion to all men the truths it has to offer are entirely Cfree toC us according to our ca$acity to assimilate them -hilst those to -hom they do not a$$eal those -ho think they can find a more sufficing $hiloso$hy else-here are eAually at liberty to be Cfree fromC them and men of honour -ill find it their duty to -ithdra- from the 0rder rather than suffer the harmony of thought that should characteri>e the &raft to be disturbed by their $resence. The admission of every Mason into the 0rder is -e are taught Can emblematical re$resentation of the entrance of all men u$on this mortal e%istence.C Let us reflect a little u$on these $regnant -ords. To those dee$ $ersistent Auestionings -hich $resent themselves to every thinking mind What am .G Whence come .G Whither go .G Masonry offers em$hatic and luminous ans-ers. "ach of us it tells us has come from that mystical C"ast C the eternal source of all light and life and our life here is described as being s$ent in the CWestC 8that is in a -orld -hich is the anti$odes of our original home and under conditions of e%istence as far removed from those -e came from and to -hich -e are returning as is West from "ast in our ordinary com$utation of s$ace=. 2ence every &andidate u$on admission finds himself in a state of darkness in the West of the Lodge. Thereby he is re$eating symbolically the incident of his actual birth into this -orld -hich he entered as a blind and hel$less babe and through -hich in his early years not kno-ing -hither he -as going after many stumbling and irregular ste$s after many deviations from the true $ath and after many tribulations and adversities incident to human life he may at length ascend $urified and chastened by e%$erience to larger life in the eternal "ast. 2ence in the ".#. degree -e ask C#s a Mason -hence come youGC and the ans-er coming from an a$$rentice 8i.e. from the natural man of undevelo$ed kno-ledge= is C,rom the West C since he su$$oses that his life has originated in this -orld. ?ut in the advanced degree of M.M. the ans-er is that he comes C,rom the "ast C for by this time the Mason is su$$osed to have so enlarged his kno-ledge as to reali>e that the $rimal source of life is not in the CWest C not in this -orldB that e%istence u$on this $lanet is but a transitory so@ourn s$ent in search of Cthe genuine secrets C the ultimate realities of lifeB and that as the s$irit of man must return to God -ho gave it so he is no- returning from this tem$orary -orld of Csubstituted secretsC to that C"astC from -hich he originally came. #s the admission of every candidate into a Lodge $resu$$oses his $rior e%istence in the -orld -ithout the Lodge so our doctrine $resu$$oses that every soul born into this -orld has lived in and has come hither from an anterior state of life. .t has lived else-here before it entered this -orld7 it -ill live else-here -hen it $asses hence human life being but a $arenthesis in the midst of eternity. ?ut u$on entering this -orld the soul must needs assume material formB in other -ords it takes u$on itself a $hysical body to enable it to enter into relations -ith the $hysical -orld and to $erform the functions a$$ro$riate to it in this $articular $hase of its career. /eed . say that the $hysical form -ith -hich -e have all been invested by the &reator u$on our entrance into this -orld and of -hich -e shall all divest ourselves -hen -e leave the Lodge of this life is re$resented among us by our Masonic a$ronG This our body of mortality this veil of flesh and blood clothing the inner soul of us this is the real Cbadge of innocence C the common Cbond of friendshi$ C -ith -hich the Great #rchitect has been $leased to invest us all7 this the human body is the Page (< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst badge -hich is Colder and nobler than that of any other 0rder in e%istenceC7 and though it be but a body of humiliation com$ared -ith that body of incorru$tion -hich is the $romised inheritance of him -ho endures to the end let us never forget that if -e never do anything to disgrace the badge of flesh -ith -hich God has endo-ed each of us that badge -ill never disgrace us. ?rethren . charge you to regard your a$ron as one of the most $recious and s$eaking symbols our 0rder has to give you. Remember that -hen you first -ore it it -as a $iece of $ure -hite lambskinB an emblem of that $urity and innocence -hich -e al-ays associate -ith the lamb and -ith the ne-born child. Remember that you first -ore it -ith the fla$ raised it being thus a five'cornered badge indicating the five senses by means of -hich -e enter into relations -ith the material -orld around us 8our Cfive $oints of fello-shi$C -ith the material -orld= but indicating also by the triangular $ortion above in con@unction -ith the Auadrangular $ortion belo- that man4s nature is a combination of soul and bodyB the three'sided emblem at the to$ added to the four'sided emblem beneath making seven the $erfect numberB for as it is -ritten in an ancient 2ebre- doctrine -ith -hich Masonry is closely allied CGod blessed and loved the number seven more than all things under 2is throne C by -hich is meant that man the seven'fold being is the most cherished of all the &reator4s -orks. #nd hence also it is that the Lodge has seven $rinci$al officers and that a Lodge to be $erfect reAuires the $resence of seven brethrenB though the dee$er meaning of this $hrase is that the individual man in virtue of his seven'fold constitution in himself constitutes the C$erfect Lodge C if he -ill but kno- himself and analyse his o-n nature aright. To each of us also from our birth have been given three lesser lights by -hich the Lodge -ithin ourselves may be illumined. ,or the CsunC symboli>es our s$iritual consciousness the higher as$irations and emotions of the soulB the CmoonC betokens our reasoning or intellectual faculties -hich 8as the moon reflects the light of the sun= should reflect the light coming from the higher s$iritual faculty and transmit it into our daily conductB -hilst Cthe Master of the LodgeC is a symbolical $hrase denoting the -ill'$o-er of man -hich should enable him to be master of his o-n life to control his o-n actions and kee$ do-n the im$ulses of his lo-er nature even as the stroke of the Master4s gavel controls the Lodge and calls to order and obedience the ?rethren under his direction. ?y the assistance of these lesser lights -ithin us a man is enabled to $erceive -hat is again symbolically called the Cform of the Lodge C i.e. the -ay in -hich his o-n human nature has been com$osed and constituted the length breadth height and de$th of his o-n being. ?y their hel$ too he -ill $erceive that he himself his body and his soul are Choly ground C u$on -hich he should build the altar of his o-n s$iritual life an altar -hich he should suffer no Ciron tool C no debasing habit of thought or conduct to defile. ?y them too he -ill $erceive ho- Wisdom 3trength and ?eauty have been em$loyed by the &reator like three grand su$$orting $illars in the structure of his o-n organism. #nd by these finally he -ill discern ho- that there is a mystical Cladder of many rounds or staves C i.e. that there are innumerable $aths or methods by means of -hich men are led u$-ards to the s$iritual Light encircling us all and in -hich -e live and move and have our being but that of the three $rinci$al methods the greatest of these the one that com$rehends them all and brings us nearest heaven is Love in the full e%ercise of -hich God'like virtue a Mason reaches the summit of his $rofessionB that summit being God 2imself -hose name is Love.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst . cannot too strongly im$ress u$on you ?rethren the fact that throughout our rituals and our lectures the references made to the Lodge are not to the building in -hich -e meet. That building itself is intended to be but a symbol a veil of allegory concealing something else. CIno- ye notC says the great initiate 3t. Paul Cthat ye are the tem$les of the Most 2ighB and that the 3$irit of God d-elleth in youG CThe real Lodge referred to throughout our rituals is our o-n individual $ersonalities and if -e inter$ret our doctrine in the light of this fact -e shall find that it reveals an entirely ne- as$ect of the $ur$ose of our &raft. .t is after investment -ith the a$ron that the initiate is $laced in the /.". corner. Thereby he is intended to learn that at his birth into this -orld the foundation'stone of his s$iritual life -as duly and truly laid and im$lanted -ithin himselfB and he is charged to develo$ itB to create a su$erstructure u$on it. T-o $aths are o$en to him at this stage a $ath of light and a $ath of darknessB a $ath of good and a $ath of evil. The /.". corner is the symbolical dividing $lace bet-een the t-o. .n symbolical language the /. al-ays signifies the $lace of im$erfection and undevelo$mentB in olden times the bodies of suicides re$robates and unba$ti>ed children -ere al-ays buried in the north or sunless side of a churchyard. The seat of the @unior members of the &raft is allotted to the north for symbolically it re$resents the condition of the s$iritually unenlightened manB the novice in -hom the s$iritual light latent -ithin him has not yet risen above the hori>on of consciousness and dis$ersed the clouds of material interests and the im$ulses of the lo-er and merely sensual life. The initiate $laced in the /.". corner is intended to see then that on the one side of him is the $ath that leads to the $er$etual light of the "ast into -hich he is encouraged to $roceed and that on the other is that of s$iritual obscurity and ignorance into -hich it is $ossible for him to remain or rela$se. .t is a $arable of the dual $aths of life o$en to each one of usB on the one hand the $ath of selfishness material desires and sensual indulgence of intellectual blindness and moral stagnationB on the other the $ath of moral and s$iritual $rogress in $ursuing -hich one may decorate and adorn the Lodge -ithin him -ith the ornaments and @e-els of grace and -ith the invaluable furniture of true kno-ledge and -hich he may dedicate in all his actions to the service of God and of his fello- men #nd mark that of those @e-els some are said to be moveable and transferable because -hen dis$layed in our o-n lives and natures their influence becomes transferred and communicated to others and hel$s to u$lift and s-eeten the lives of our fello-sB -hilst some are immoveable because they are $ermanently fi%ed and $lanted in the roots of our o-n being and are indeed the ra- material -hich has been entrusted to us to -ork out of chaos and roughness into due and true form. The &eremony of our first degree then is a s-ift and com$rehensive $ortrayal of the entrance of all men into first $hysical life and second into s$iritual lifeB and as -e e%tend congratulations -hen a child is born into the -orld so also -e receive -ith acclamation the candidate for Masonry -ho symbolically is seeking for s$iritual re'birthB and herein -e emulate -hat is -ritten of the @oy that e%ists among the angels of heaven over every sinner -ho re$ents and turns to-ards the light. The first degree is also eminently the degree of $re$aration of self'disci$line and $urification. .t corres$onds -ith that symbolical cleansing accorded in the sacrament of ?a$tism -hich in the churches is so to s$eak the first degree in the religious lifeB and -hich is administered a$$ro$riately at the font near the entrance of the church even as the act itself takes $lace at the entrance of the s$iritual career. ,or to all of us such initial cleansing and $urifying is necessary. #s has been beautifully -ritten by a fello-'-orker in the &raft7'' Page (H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst CKTis scarcely true that souls come naked do-n To take abode u$ in this earthly to-n 0r naked $ass of all they -ear denied. We enter sli$shod and -ith clothes a-ry #nd -e take -ith us much that by'and'by May $rove no easy task to $ut aside. &leanse therefore that -hich round about us clingsB We $ray Thee Master ere Thy sacred halls We enter. 3tri$ us of redundant things #nd meetly clothe us in $ontificals. L .n the schools of the Mysteries -hen as$irants for the higher life -ere -ont to Auit the outer -orld and enter tem$les or sanctuaries of initiation $rolonged $eriods -ere allotted to the $ractical achievement of -hat is briefly summari>ed in our first degree. We are told seven or more years -as the normal $eriod though less sufficed in -orthy cases. The most severe tests of disci$line of $urity of self'balance -ere reAuired before a neo$hyte -as $ermitted to $ass for-ard and a reminiscence of these tests of fitness is $reserved in our o-n -orking by the conducting of the candidate to the t-o -ardens and submitting him to a merely formal trial of efficiency. ,or it is im$ossible to'day as it -as im$ossible in ancient times for a man to reach the heights of moral $erfection and s$iritual consciousness -hich -ere then and are no- the goal and aim of all the schools of the Mysteries and all the secret orders -ithout $urification and trial. &om$lete stainlessness of body utter $urity of mind are absolute essentials to the attainment of things of great and final moment. CWhoC says the Psalmist 8and remember that the Psalms -ere the sacred hymns used in the 2ebre- Mysteries= CWho -ill go u$ to the hill of the Lord and ascend to 2is holy $laceG "ven he that hath clean hands and a $ure heartCB -hence it comes that -e -ear -hite gloves and a$rons as emblems that -e have $urified our hearts and -ashed our hands in innocency. 3o also our Patron 3aint 83t. 6ohn= teaches C2e -ho hath this ho$e in him $urifieth himself even as 2e 8i.e. the Master -hom he is seeking= is $ure.C ,or he -ho is not $ure in body and mind7 he -ho is enslaved by $assions and desires or by bondage to the material interests of this -orld is by the very fact of his uncleanness $revented from $assing on. /othing unclean or that defileth a man -e are told can enter into the kingdomB and therefore our candidates are told that if they have Cmoney or metals about themCB if that is they are sub@ect to any $hysical attraction or mental defilement their real initiation into the higher things of -hich our ceremony is but a dramatic symbol must be deferred and re$eated again and again until they are cleansed and fitted to $ass on. #fter $urification come contem$lation and enlightenment -hich are the s$ecial sub@ects of the second degree. #foretime the candidate for the Mysteries after $rotracted disci$line and $urification enabling his mind to acAuire com$lete control over his $assions and his lo-er $hysical nature -as advanced as he may advance himself to'day to the study of his more interior faculties to understand the science of the human soul and to trace these faculties in their develo$ment from their elementary stage until he reali>es that they connect -ith and terminate in the 1ivine itself. The secrets of his mental nature and the $rinci$les of intellectual life became at this stage gradually unfolded to his vie-. You -ill thus $erceive ?rethren that the ,.&. degree sometimes regarded by us as a some-hat uninteresting one ty$ifies in reality a long course of $ersonal develo$ment reAuiring the most $rofound kno-ledge of the mental and $sychical side of our nature. .t involves not Page (: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst merely the cleansing and control of the mind but a full com$rehension of our inner constitution of the more hidden mysteries of our nature and of s$iritual $sychology. .n this degree it is that our attention is called to the fact that the Mason -ho has attained $roficiency in this grade has been enabled to discover a sacred symbol $laced in the centre of the building and alluding to the G.G.0.T.!. 1oubtless -e have often asked ourselves -hat that $hrase and -hat that symbol im$ly. /eed . re$eat that the building alluded to is not the edifice -e meet in but is our o-n selves and that the sacred symbol at the centre of the roof and of the floor of this out-ard tem$le is but symbolic of that -hich e%ists at the centre of ourselves and -hich -as s$oken of by the &hristian Master -hen 2e $roclaimed that Cthe kingdom of heaven is -ithin youCB that at the de$ths of our o-n being concealed beneath the heavy veils of the sensual lo-er nature there resides that vital and immortal $rinci$le -hich is said to Callude toC the G.G. because it is nothing other than a s$ark of God 2imself immanent -ithin us. 0ver the old tem$les of the Mysteries -as -ritten the in@unction CMan kno- thyself and thou shalt kno- the universe and God.C 2a$$y then is the Mason -ho has so far $urified and develo$ed his o-n nature as to reali>e in its fulness the meaning of the Csacred symbolC of the second degree and found God $resent not outside but -ithin himself. ?ut in order to find the C$erfect $oints of entranceC to this secret 8and -e are told else-here that Cstraight is the -ay and narro- the gate and fe- there be that find itC= em$hasis again is laid in our teaching u$on the necessity of com$lete moral rectitude of utter e%actness of thought -ord and action as e%em$lified by rigid observance of the symbolic $rinci$les of the sAuare level and $lumb' rule. 2ere again the symbolism of our -ork becomes e%tremely $rofound and interesting. 2e -ho desires to rise to the heights of his o-n being must first crush and crucify his o-n lo-er nature and inclinationsB he must $erforce tread -hat else-here is described as the -ay of the &rossB and that &ross is indicated by the con@unction of those -orking tools 8-hich -hen united form a cross=B and that C-ayC is involved in the scru$ulous $erformance of all that -e kno- those -orking tools signify. ?y $erfecting his conduct by struggles against his o-n natural $ro$ensities the candidate is -orking the rough ashlar of his o-n nature into the $erfect cube and . -ould ask you to observe also that the cube itself contains a secret for unfolded it itself denotes and takes the form of the cross. The in-ard develo$ment -hich the second degree symboli>es is ty$ified by the lo-ering of the triangular fla$ of the a$ron u$on the rectangular $ortion belo-. This is eAuivalent to the rite of &onfirmation in the &hristian &hurches. .t denotes Cthe $rogress -e have made in the science C or in other -ords it indicates that the higher nature of the man symboli>ed by the trinity of s$irit has descended into and is no- $ermeating his lo-er nature. 2itherto in his state of ignorance and moral blindness the s$iritual $art of his nature has as it -ere but hovered above himB he has been unconscious of its $resence in his constitutionB but no- having reali>ed its e%istence the day's$ring from on high has visited him and the nobler $art of him descends into his lo-er nature illuminating and enriching it. /o- the man -ho so develo$s himself s$eedily becomes more conscious of the difficulties of his task more sensitive to the obstacles the life of the outer -orld $laces in the -ay of the s$iritual life. ?ut he is taught to $ersist -ith fortitude and -ith $rudence to develo$ the highest -ithin him -ith Cfervency and >eal.C !$on self'scrutiny too i.e. u$on entering into that C$orch'-ayC of contem$lation -hich like a -inding staircase leads in-ard to the 2oly of 2olies -ithin himself he reali>es that difficulties and obstacles Page (; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $laced in his -ay are utilised by the "ternal Wisdom as the necessary means of develo$ing the latent and $otential good in him and that as the rough ashlar can only be sAuared and $erfected by chi$$ing and $olishing so he also can be made $erfect only by toil and by suffering. 2e sees that difficulty adversity and $ersecution serve a beneficent $ur$ose. These are his C-agesC7 and he learns to acce$t them C-ithout scru$le and -ithout diffidence kno-ing that he is @ustly entitled to them and from the confidence he has in the integrityC of that "m$loyer -ho has sent him into this far'off -orld to $re$are the materials for building the tem$le of the heavenly city. #nd so as the sign $eculiar to the degree suggests he endeavours to e%amine and lay bare his heart to cast a-ay all im$urity from it and he stands like 6oshua $raying that the light of day may be e%tended to him until he has accom$lished the overthro- of his o-n in-ard enemies and of every obstacle to his com$lete develo$ment. The as$irant -ho attains $roficiency in the -ork of self'$erfecting to -hich the ,.&. grade alludes has $assed a-ay from the /. side of the Lodge the side of darkness and im$erfectionB and no- stands on the 3.". side in the meridian sunlight of moral illumination 8so far as the natural man may $ossess it= but yet still far removed from that fuller reali>ation of himself and of the mysteries of his o-n nature -hich it is $ossible for the s$iritual ade$t or Master Mason to attain. ?efore that attainment is reached there remains for him Cthat last and greatest trialC by -hich alone he can enter into the great consolations and make acAuaintance -ith the su$reme realities of e%istence. .n the $laces -here the great Mysteries have al-ays been taught -hat is ceremonially $erformed in our third degree is no mere symbolical re$resentation as -ith us but an actual vital e%$erience of a most severe character7 one the nature of -hich can hardly be made intelligible or even credible to those unfamiliar -ith the sub@ect. . refrain therefore from more than mere mention of it observing only that it is one not involving $hysical death and in this res$ect only is our ceremony in accord -ith the e%$erience symboli>ed. ,or if you follo- closely the raising ceremony although distinct reference to the death of the body is made yet such death is obviously intended to be merely symbolical of another kind of death since the candidate is eventually restored to his former -orldly circumstances and material comforts and his earthly Masonic career is not re$resented as coming to a close at this stage. #ll that has ha$$ened in the third degree is that he has symbolically $assed through a great and striking change7 a rebirth or regeneration of his -hole nature. 2e has been Cso-n a corru$tible bodyCB and in virtue of the self'disci$line and self'develo$ment he has undergone there has been raised in him Can incorru$tible body C and death has been s-allo-ed u$ in the victory he has attained over himself. . sometimes fear that the too cons$icuous dis$lay of the emblems and tra$$ings of mortality in our Lodges is a$t to create the false im$ression that the death to -hich the third degree alludes is the mere $hysical change that a-aits all men. ?ut a far dee$er meaning is intended. The Mason -ho kno-s his science kno-s that the death of the body is only a natural transition of -hich he need have no dread -hateverB he kno-s also that -hen the due time for it arrives that transition -ill be a -elcome res$ite from the bondage of this -orld from his $rison'like husk of mortality and from the daily burdens incident to e%istence in this lo-er $lane of life. #ll that he fears is that -hen the time comes he may not be free from those Cstains of falsehood and dishonour C those im$erfections of his o-n nature that may delay his after' $rogress. /oJ the death to -hich Masonry alludes using the analogy of bodily death and under the veil of a reference to it is that death'in'life to a man4s o-n lo-er self -hich 3t. Paul referred to -hen he $rotested C. die daily.C .t is over the grave not of one4s dead body Page (9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst but of one4s lo-er self that the as$irant must -alk before attaining to the heights. What is meant is that com$lete self'sacrifice and self'crucifi%ion -hich as all religions teach are essential before the soul can be raised in glory Cfrom a figurative death to a reunion -ith the com$anions of its former toilsC both here and in the unseen -orld. The $erfect cube must $ass through the metamor$hosis of the &ross. The soul must voluntarily and consciously $ass through a state of utter hel$lessness from -hich no earthly hand can rescue it and in trying to raise him from -hich the gri$ of any succouring human hand -ill $rove but a sli$7 until at length 1ivine 2el$ itself descends from the Throne above and -ith the Clion4s gri$C of almighty $o-er raises the faithful and regenerated soul to union -ith itself in an embrace of reconciliation and at'one'ment. .n all the schools of the Mysteries as -ell as in all the great religions of the -orld the attainment of the s$iritual goal @ust described is enacted or taught under the veil of a tragic e$isode analogous to that of our third degreeB and in each there is a Master -hose death the as$irant is instructed he must imitate in his o-n $erson. .n Masonry that $rototy$e is 2iram #biff7 but it must be made clear that there is no historical basis -hatever for the legendary account of 2iram4s death. The entire story is symbolical and -as $ur$osely invented for the symbolical $ur$oses of our teaching. .f you e%amine it closely you -ill $erceive ho- obvious the corres$ondence is bet-een this story and the story of the death of the &hristian Master related in the Gos$elsB and it is needless to say that the Mason -ho reali>es the meaning of the latter -ill com$rehend the former and the veiled allusion that is im$lied. .n the one case the Master is crucified bet-een the t-o thievesB in the other he is done to death bet-een t-o villains. .n the one case a$$ear the $enitent and the im$enitent thiefB in the other -e have the cons$irators -ho make a voluntary confession of their guilt and -ere $ardoned and the others -ho -ere found guilty and $ut to deathB -hilst the moral and s$iritual lessons deducible from the stories corres$ond. #s every &hristian is taught that in his o-n life he must imitate the life and death of &hrist so every Mason is Cmade to re$resent one of the brightest characters recorded in our annalsCB but as the annals of Masonry are contained in the volume of the 3acred La- and not else-here it is easy to see -ho the character is -ho is alluded to. #s that great authority and initiate of the Mysteries 3t. Paul taught -e can only attain to the Master4s resurrection by Cbeing made conformable unto 2is death C and -e Cmust die -ith 2im if -e are to be raised like 2imC7 and it is in virtue of that conformity in virtue of being individually made to imitate the Grand Master in 2is death that -e are made -orthy of certain C$oints of fello-shi$C -ith 2im7 for the Cfive $oints of fello-shi$C of the third degree are the five -ounds of &hrist The three yearsK ministry of the &hristian Master ended -ith 2is death and these refer to the three degrees of the &raft -hich also end in the mystical death of the Masonic candidate 'and his subseAuent raising or resurrection. The name 2iram #biff signifies in 2ebre- Cthe teacher 8Guru or enlightened one= from the ,atherC7 a fact -hich may hel$ you still further to recogni>e the concealed $ur$ose of the teaching. !nder the name of 2iram then and beneath a veil of allegory -e see an allusion to another MasterB and it is this Master this "lder ?rother -ho is alluded to in our lectures -hose Ccharacter -e $reserve -hether absent or $resent C i.e. -hether 2e is $resent to our minds or no and in regard to -hom -e Cado$t the e%cellent $rinci$le silence C lest at any time there should be among us trained in some other than the &hristian ,aith and to -hom on that account the mention of the &hristian Master4s name might $ossibly $rove an offence or $rovoke contention. Page () of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst To ty$ify the advance by the candidate at this stage of his develo$ment the a$ron here assumes greater elaborateness. .t is garnished -ith a light blue border and rosettes indicating that a higher than the natural light no- $ermeates his being and radiates from his $erson and that the -ilderness of the natural man is no- blossoming as the rose in the flo-ers and graces incident to his regenerated natureB -hilst u$on either side of the a$ron are seen t-o columns of light descending from above streaming into the de$ths of his -hole being and terminating in the seven'fold tassels -hich ty$ify the seven'fold $rismatic s$ectrum of the su$ernal Light. 2e is no- lord of himselfB the true Master' MasonB able to govern that lodge -hich is -ithin himselfB and as he has $assed through the three degrees of $urifying and self'$erfecting and sAuared levelled and harmoni>ed his tri$le nature of body soul and s$irit he also -ears on attaining Mastershi$ the tri$le TauB -hich com$rises the form of a level but is also the 2ebre- form of the &rossB the three crosses u$on the a$ron thus corres$onding -ith the three crosses of &alvary. To sum u$ the im$ort of the teaching of the three degrees it is clear therefore that from grade to grade the candidate is being led from an old to an entirely ne- Auality of life. 2e begins his Masonic career as the natural manB he ends it by becoming through its disci$line a regenerated $erfected man. To attain this transmutation this metamor$hosis of himself he is taught first to $urify and subdue his sensual natureB then to $urify and develo$ his mental natureB and finally by utter surrender of his old life and losing his soul to save it he rises from the dead a Master a @ust man made $erfect -ith larger consciousness and faculties an efficient instrument for use by the Great #rchitect in 2is $lan of rebuilding the Tem$le of fallen humanity and ca$able of initiating and advancing other men to a $artici$ation in the same great -ork. This the evolution of man into su$erman -as al-ays the $ur$ose of the ancient Mysteries and the real $ur$ose of modern Masonry is not the social and charitable $ur$oses to -hich so much attention is $aid but the e%$editing of the s$iritual evolution of those -ho as$ire to $erfect their o-n nature and transform it into a more god'like Auality. #nd this is a definite science a royal art -hich it is $ossible for each of us to $ut into $racticeB -hilst to @oin the &raft for any other $ur$ose than to study and $ursue this science is to misunderstand its meaning. 2ence it is that no one should a$$ly to enter Masonry unless from the dee$est $rom$tings of his o-n heart as it hungers for light u$on the $roblem of its o-n nature. We are all im$erfect beings conscious of something lacking to us that -ould make us -hat in our best moments -e fain -ould be. What is that -hich is lacking to usG CWhat is that -hich is lostGC #nd the ans-er is CThe genuine secrets of a Master Mason C the true kno-ledge of ourselves the conscious reali>ation of our divine $otentialities. The very essence of the Masonic doctrine is that all men in this -orld are in search of something in their o-n nature -hich they have lost but that -ith $ro$er instruction and by their o-n $atience and industry they may ho$e to find. .ts $hiloso$hy im$lies that this tem$oral -orld is the anti$odes of another and more real -orld from -hich -e originally came and to -hich -e may accelerate our return by such a course of self'kno-ledge and self'disci$line as our teaching inculcates. .t im$lies that this $resent -orld is the $lace -here the symbolic stones and timber are being $re$ared Cso far offC from that mystical 6erusalem -here one day they -ill be found $ut together and collectively to constitute that Tem$le -hich even no- is being built -ithout hands and -ithout the noise or hel$ of metal tools. #nd this -orld therefore being but a transient tem$orary one for us it is Page *+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst necessarily one of shado-s images and merely Csubstituted secrets C until such time as being raised not merely symbolically but actually in character and kno-ledge and consciousness to the sublime degree of Master Mason -e fit ourselves to learn something of the Cgenuine secrets C something of the living realities that lurk and live in concealment behind the out-ard sho- of things. #ll human life having originated in the mystical C"astC and @ourneyed into this -orld -hich -ith us is the CWest C must return again to its source. To Auote again the verse of the ?rother . have already citedB'' C,rom "ast to West the soul her @ourney takesB #t many bitter founts her fever slakesB 2alts at strange taverns by the -ay to feast Resumes her load and $ainful $rogress makes ?ack to the "ast.C Masonry by means of a series of dramatic re$resentations is intended to furnish those -ho care to discover its $ur$ort and to take advantage of the hints it thro-s out in allegorical form -ith an e%am$le and -ith instructions by -hich our return to the C"astC may be accelerated. .t refers to no architecture of a mundane kind but to the architecture of the soul4s life. .t is not in itself a religionB but rather a dramati>ed and intensified form of religious $rocesses inculcated by every religious system in the -orld. ,or there is no religion but teaches the lesson of the necessity of bodily $urification of our first degreeB none but em$hasi>es that of the second degree that mental moral and s$iritual develo$ments are essential and -ill lead to the discovery of a certain secret centre C-here truth abides in fullness C and that that centre is a C$oint -ithin a circleC of our o-n nature from -hich no man or Mason can ever err for it is the divine kingdom latent -ithin us all into -hich -e have as yet failed to enter. #nd there is none but insists u$on the su$reme lesson of self'sacrifice and mystical death to the things of this -orld so gra$hically $ortrayed in our third degreeB none but indicates that in that hour of greatest darkness the light of the $rimal divine s$ark -ithin us is never -holly e%tinguished and that by loyalty to that light by $atience and by $erseverance time and circumstances -ill restore to us the Cgenuine secrets C the ultimate truths and realities of our o-n nature. We are here Masonry teaches as it -ere in ca$tivity by the -aters of ?abylon and in a strange landB and our doctrine truly tells us that the richest harmonies of this life are as nothing in com$arison -ith the songs of MionB and that even -hen -e are installed into the highest eminences this -orld or the &raft may offer it -ere better that our right hand should forget its cunning and that -e should fling the illusory treasures of this transitory -orld behind our backs than in all our doings fail to remember the 6erusalem that lies beyond. 0ur teaching is $ur$osely veiled in allegory and symbol and its dee$er im$ort does not a$$ear u$on the surface of the ritual itself. This is $artly in corres$ondence -ith human life itself and the -orld -e live in -hich are themselves but allegories and symbols of another life and the veils of another -orldB and $artly intentional also so that only those -ho have reverent and understanding minds may $enetrate into the more hidden meaning of the doctrine of the &raft. The dee$er secrets in Masonry like the dee$er secrets of life are heavily veiledB are closely hidden. They e%ist concealed beneath a great reservationB but -hoso kno-s anything of them kno-s also that they are Cmany and valuable C and that they are disclosed only to those -ho act u$on the hint given in our lectures C3eek and ye shall findB ask and ye shall haveB knock and it shall be o$ened unto you.C The search may be long and difficult but great things are not acAuired -ithout effort and searchB but it may Page *( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst be affirmed that to the candidate -ho is C$ro$erly $re$aredC 8in a much fuller sense than -e conventionally attach to that e%$ression= there are doors leading from the &raft that -hen knocked -ill assuredly o$en and admit him to $laces and to kno-ledge he at $resent recks little of. ,or him too -ho -ould enter u$on the greater initiations the same rule a$$lies as that -hich -as symbolically re$resented u$on his first entrance into the 0rder but this time it -ill no longer be a symbol but a realistic fact. 2e -ill find . mean that a dra-n s-ord is al-ays threatening in front of him and that a cable'to- is still around his neck. 1anger indeed a-aits the candidate -ho -ould rush $reci$itately and in a state of moral unfitness into the dee$er mysteries of his being -hich are indeed Cserious solemn and a-fulCB but on the other hand for him -ho has once entered u$on the $ath of light it is moral suicide to turn back. #nd no- ?rethren to bring to an end this brief and im$erfect survey of the dee$er meaning and $ur$oses of our &raft . $ray that -hat is no- s$oken may hel$ to $rove to some of you a further restoration to that light -hich is at all times the $redominant -ish of our hearts. .t rests -ith ourselves -hether Masonry remains for us -hat u$on its out-ard and su$erficial side a$$ears to be merely a series of symbolic rites or -hether -e allo- those symbols to $ass into our lives and become realities therein. Whatever formalities -e may have gone through in connection -ith our admission into the 0rder -e cannot be said to have been Cregularly initiatedC into Masonry so long as -e regard the &raft as merely an incident of social life and treat its ceremonies as but rites of an archaic and $erfunctory nature. The &raft as . have already suggested -as given out to the -orld from more secret sources still as a great e%$eriment and means of grace and as a great o$$ortunity for those -ho cared to avail themselves of -hat is little kno-n and little taught outside certain sanctuaries of concealment. .t -as intended to furnish forth an e$itome or syno$sis in dramatic form of the s$iritual regeneration of manB and to thro- out hints and suggestions that might lead those ca$able . of discerning its dee$er $ur$ose and symbolism into still dee$er initiations than the merely su$erficial ones enacted in our Lodges. ,or as on the e%ternal side of the 0rder -e may be called to occu$y $ositions of honour and office in the Provincial Grand Lodge or may enter other Masonic grades outside the &raft so also u$on its internal side there are eminences to -hich -e may be called that -hilst offering us no social distinction and no visible advancement are yet really the true $ri>es the most valuable attainments of Masonic desire. To this goal all may attain -ho truly seek to do so and -ho $re$are the -ay for themselves by a$$ro$riating the truths lying beneath the su$erficial allegory and the symbolic veils of the &raft teaching. #nd since there seems to'day a genuine and -ides$read desire on the $art of many members of the 0rder to enter into a fuller understanding of -hat the 0rder itself conceals rather than reveals . feel . should not be discharging my duties as a Master in the &raft did . not take advantage of that $osition to share -ith them some measure at least of -hat . have been able to glean for myself. ?ut finally . must ask you to remember that in accordance -ith the general design of our system every Master of a Lodge is but a symbol and a substitution and that behind him and behind all other the grand officers of the Masonic hierarchy there stands the CGreat White 2ead C the CGreat .nitiatorC and Grand Master of all true Masons throughout the !niverse -hether members of our &raft or not. To -hom let us all bo- in gratitude for the invaluable gift accorded to us in this our 0rderB and to -hose $rotection and to -hose enlightening guidance into its dee$er mysteries . commend you all. Page ** of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

%HA&TER II MASONRY AS A PHILOSOPHY

3.G/3 are not -anting that a higher Masonic consciousness is a-akening in the &raft. Members of the 0rder are gradually and here and there becoming alive to the fact that much more than meets the eye and ear lies beneath the surface of Masonic doctrine and symbols. They are beginning to think for themselves instead of taking the face'value of things for granted and as their thought develo$s facts that $reviously remained un$erceived assume $rominence and significance. They discern the Masonic system to be something dee$er than a code of elementary morality such as all men are e%$ected to observe -hether formally Masons or not. They reflect that the $henomenal gro-th of the &raft is scarcely accountable for u$on the su$$osition that modern s$eculative Masonry $er$etuates nothing more than the $rivate associations that once e%isted in connection -ith the o$erative builders4 trade. They recogni>e that there can be no $eculiar virtue or interest in continuing to imitate the customs of ancient trade'guilds for the mere sake of so doingB or of kee$ing on foot a costly organi>ation for teaching men the elementary symbolism of a fe- building tools su$$lemented by a considerable amount of social conviviality. !$on a little thought it becomes $retty obvious that our Third 1egree and the great central legend that forms the clima% of the &raft system cannot have and can never have had any direct or $ractical bearing u$on or connection -ith the trade of the o$erative mason. .t may be urged that -e have our great charity system and that the social side of our $roceedings is a valuable and humani>ing asset. Granted but other $eo$le and other societies are $hilanthro$ic and social as -ell as -eB and a secret society is not necessary to $romote such ends -hich are merely su$$lemental to the original $ur$ose of the 0rder. The discernment of such facts as these then suggests to us that the &raft has not yet entered into the full heritage of understanding its o-n system and that side'matters connected -ith Masonry -hich -e have long em$hasi>ed so strongly valuable in their o-n -ay as they are are not after all the $rimary and $ro$er -ork of the 0rder. The -ork of the 0rder is to initiate into certain secrets and mysteries and obviously if the 0rder fails to e%$ound its o-n secrets and mysteries and so to confer real initiations as distinguished from $assing candidates through certain formal ceremonies it is not fulfilling its original $ur$ose -hatever other incidental good it may be doing. /o- as these facts are the basis u$on -hich this lecture $roceeds let me at the outset make my first $oint by stating that as the $rogress in the &raft of every ?rother admitted into its ranks is by gradual successive stages in like manner the understanding of the Masonic system and doctrine is also a matter of gradual develo$ment. 3tated in the sim$lest terms $ossible the theory of Masonic $rogress is that every Member admitted to the 0rder enters in a state of darkness and ignorance as to -hat Masonry teaches and that later on he is su$$osed to be brought to light and kno-ledge. Putting it in other terms he enters the &raft symbolically as a rough ashlar and it is his business so to develo$ both his character and his understanding that ultimately in virtue of -hat he has learned and $racticed he may be as a finished and $erfect cube. /o- the understanding of the Masonic scheme tends to develo$ u$on $recisely similar lines. .ts meaning is not discernible all at once and unless our minds are $ro$erly $re$ared Page *< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst and our understandings carefully trained they are unlikely ever to $artici$ate in the real secrets and mysteries of Masonry at all ho-ever often -e may -atch the $erformance of e%ternal ceremonial or ho-ever $roficient -e may be in memori>ing the rituals and instruction lectures. The first stage the first conce$tion of -hat Masonry involves is concerned merely -ith the surface'value of the doctrineB -ith an acAuaintance -ith the literal side of the im$arted kno-ledge -hich -e all obtain u$on entering the &raft. ?eyond this stage the vast ma@ority of Masons it is to be feared never $asses. This is the stage of kno-ledge in -hich the &raft is regarded as a social semi'$ublic semi'secret community to -hich it is agreeable and advantageous to belong for sociable or even for ulterior $ur$osesB in -hich the goal of the Mason4s ambition is to attain office and high $referment and to -ear a breastful of decorationsB in -hich he takes a literal su$erficial and historic vie- of the sub@ect'matter of the doctrineB in -hich ability to $erform the ceremonial -ork -ith dignity and effectiveness and to kno- the instruction catechisms by heart so that not a syllable is -rongly rendered is deemed the height of Masonic $roficiencyB and -here after discharging these functions -ith a certain degree of credit his idea is often to have the Lodge closed as s$eedily as may be and get a-ay to the rela%ation of the festive board. /o- all these things belong to -hat may be called the very rough'ashlar stage of the Masonic conce$tion. . am not of course alluding to any individual Mason. . confess frankly to having come -ithin this category myself and . think -e may agree that -e have all $assed through the $hase . have described for the sim$le reason that -e kne- nothing better and had no one able to teach us something better. Let us not com$lain. .f -e look back u$on the $rogress of the &raft during the last (H+ years -e cannot but congratulate ourselves u$on the enormous if gradual strides made in Masonic $rogress and decorum even in the rough'ashlar stage of our conce$tion of it. #nyone familiar -ith the records of old Lodges -ill have been brought into close touch -ith times -hen almost every element of reverence and dignity seems to have been lacking. Lodges -ere held in the $ublic rooms of taverns. Whatever official furniture decorated these $rimitive tem$les Auart'$ots and Cchurch-ardensC figured largely among the unauthori>ed eAui$ment. .n one of the great London galleries there hangs a famous $icture called C/ightC by the great artist and moralist of his age 2ogarth. 2is $ur$ose -as to de$ict a characteristic night'scene in the streets of London as they a$$eared in his time. #mong the ty$ical s$ecimens of de$ravity haunting those ill'lit streets the great artist has held u$ to the derision of all time the figure of a ,reemason staggering home drunk still -earing his a$ron and being assisted by the tyler of the Lodge. /o true Mason can regard this $icture -ithout a burning sense of shame and -ithout registering a resolution to redeem the &raft from this stigma. We have . ho$e got $ast such things as these. We have a-akened to some sense of dignity and self' reverence. The &raft is -ell governed by its higher authorities and individual Lodges take a $ride in $roviding $ro$er tem$les and in conducting their assemblies -ith due regard to the solemnity of Masonic doctrine. May the 0rder never rela$se into the $rimitive and chaotic condition from -hich it has emerged. ?ut this im$rovement in matters of e%ternal de$ortment great and -elcome as it is is not enough. To $revent the 0rder settling do-n into a state of self'satisfaction -ith its social $rivileges and the agreeableness of friendly intercourse among its membersB to $revent its making its claims to being a system of kno-ledge and science as $erfunctory and little onerous as $ossible the im$rovement . have s$oken of must be attended 8and . believe is destined to be attended= by an a-akening to the dee$ significance of the &raft4s internal Page *E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $ur$oses. #nd since . have referred to -hat . have termed the Crough'ashlarC conce$tion of that $ur$ose you have the right to ask me no- to state that loftier conce$tion -hich may be regarded in com$arison as the C$erfect cube.C The ans-er to this enAuiry . shall not attem$t to state in so many -ords. . invite you to regard this -hole lecture as an indication of -hat that ans-er must be. To some e%tent . endeavoured to formulate that ans-er u$on a $revious occasion but -hilst . then entered rather into the details and minutiD of the &raft system and symbols . shall treat the sub@ect no- u$on broader lines and deal -ith Masonry in its -ider and more $hiloso$hic as$ect. . said u$on that occasion and . must re$eat it no- that in its broad and more vital doctrine Masonry -as essentially a $hiloso$hic and religious system e%$ressed in dramatic ceremonial. .t is a system intended to su$$ly ans-ers to the three great Auestions that $ress so ine%orably u$on the attention of every thoughtful man and that are the sub@ect around -hich all religions and all $hiloso$hies move7 What am .G Whence come .G Whither go .G .t is a truism to say that in our Auieter and more serious moments -e all feel the need of some reliable ans-er to these Auestions. Light u$on them is Cthe $redominant -ish of our heartsCB and u$on such light as -e can obtain -hether from Masonry or else-here de$ends our $hiloso$hy of life and the rule of conduct by -hich -e regulate our life. .n a larger sense then than our conventional limited one the Masonic candidate is $resumed to enter the 0rder in search of light u$on these $roblemsB light that he is $resumed not to have succeeded in finding else-here. .f his candidature is actuated by any motive other than a genuine desire for kno-ledge u$on these $roblems -hich beyond all others are vital to his $eace and by a sincere -ish to render himself by the hel$ of that kno-ledge serviceable to his fello-'creatures then his candidature is less than a -orthy one. The reason -hy no man should be solicited to @oin the 0rder is that in regard to these matters of sacred and momentous im$ort the first s$rings of im$ulse must originate -ithin the $ostulant himselfB the first $lace of his $re$aration must ever be in his o-n heart and it is to the cry and knocking of his in-ard need and for no less a motive that in theory though scarcely in $ractice the door to the Mysteries is o$ened and the seeker enters in and finds hel$. #t another stage of his symbolical $rogress the candidate learns from his su$erior brethren that they along -ith himself are in search of something that is lost and -hich they have ho$es of finding. #nd it is here that the great motive of this and of all Auests as -ell as the clue to the real $ur$ose of Masonry a$$ears $rominently and is stated in em$hatic terms. Masonry is the Auest after something that has been lost. /o- -hat is it that has been lostG &onsider the matter thus. Why should -e or the -orld at large reAuire systems of religion and $hiloso$hy at allG What is the motive and reason for the e%istence of a Masonic 0rder and of many other 0rders of .nitiation both of the $ast and the $resentG Why should they e%ist at allG . might reduce the matter to the com$ass of a small and $ersonal $oint by asking -hy have you come to hear this lecture and -hy should . have been striving for many years to acAuire the information that enables me to give itG if it be not the fact as indeed it is that every man in his reflective moments reali>es the sense of some element of his o-n being having become lostB that he is conscious if he be honest -ith himself of the sense of moral im$erfection of ignorance of restricted kno-ledge about himself and his surroundingsB that he is a-are in short of some radical deficiency in his constitution -hich -ere it but found and made good -ould satisfy this craving for information for com$leteness and $erfection -ould Clead him from darkness to light C and -ould $ut him beyond ignorance and beyond the touch of the many ills that flesh is heir to. The $oint is too obvious to need $ressing further and the ans-er to it is to be found by a reference to a Page *H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst great doctrine that forms the $hiloso$hic basis of all systems of religion and all the great systems of the Mysteries and of .nitiation of antiAuity vi>. that -hich is $o$ularly kno-n as the ,all of Man. 2o-ever -e may choose to regard this event and throughout the history of the human race it has been taught in innumerable -ays and in all manner of $arables allegories myths and legends its sole and single meaning is that humanity as a -hole has fallen a-ay from its original $arent'source and $laceB that from being imbedded in the eternal centre of life man has become $ro@ected to the circumferenceB and that in this $resent -orld of ours he is undergoing a $eriod of restriction of ignorance of disci$line and e%$erience that shall ultimately fit him to return to the centre -hence he came and to -hich he $ro$erly belongs. CParadise LostC is the real theme of Masonry no less than of Milton as it is also of all the ancient systems of the Mysteries. The Masonic doctrine focuses and em$hasi>es the fact and the sense of this loss. ?eneath a veil of allegory describing the intention to build a certain tem$le that could not be finished because of an untimely disaster Masonry im$lies that 2umanity is the real tem$le -hose building became obstructed and that -e -ho are both the craftsmen and the building materials of -hat -as intended to be an un$aralleled structure are o-ing to a certain unha$$y event living here in this -orld in conditions -here the genuine and full secrets of our nature are for the time being lost to usB -here the full $o-ers of the soul of man are curtailed by the limitations of $hysical lifeB and -here during our a$$renticeshi$ of $robation and disci$line -e have to $ut u$ -ith the substituted kno-ledge derivable through our limited and very fallible senses. ?ut -hilst Masonry em$hasi>es this great truth it indicates also and this is its great virtue and real $ur$ose the method by -hich -e may regain that -hich is lost to us. .t holds out the great $romise that -ith divine assistance and by our o-n industry the genuine realities of -hich -e at $resent $ossess but the im$erfect shado-s shall be restored to us and that $atience and $erseverance -ill eventually entitle every -orthy man to a $artici$ation in them. This large sub@ect is mirrored in miniature in the &raft ceremonial. The "ast of the Lodge is the symbolic centreB the source of all lightB the $lace of the throne of the Master of all life. The West the $lace of the disa$$earing sun is this -orld of im$erfection and darkness from -hich the divine s$iritual light is in large measure -ithdra-n and only shines by reflection. The ceremonies through -hich the candidate $asses are symbolic of the stages of $rogress that every man -hether a formal member of the &raft or not may make by -ay of self'$urification and self'building until he at length lies dead to his $resent natural self and is raised out of a state of im$erfection and brought once more into $erfect union -ith the Lord of life and glory into -hose image he has thus become sha$ed and conformed. .t is in this large sense then that Masonry may become for us as indeed it -as intended to become by those -ho instituted our $resent s$eculative system a -orking $hiloso$hy for those brought -ithin its influence. .t su$$lies a need to those -ho are earnestly enAuiring into the $ur$ose and destiny of human life. .t is a means of initiating into reliable kno-ledge those -ho feel that their kno-ledge of life and their $ath of life have hitherto been but a series of irregular ste$s made at ha$ha>ard and under hood-inked conditions as to -hither they are going. /ot -ithout good reason does our catechism assert that Masonry contains Cmany and invaluable secrets.C ?ut these of course are not the formal and symbolic signs tokens and -ords communicated ceremonially to candidatesB they are rather those secrets -hich -e instinctively kee$ locked u$ in the recesses and safe Page *: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst re$ository of our heartsB secrets of the dee$ and hidden things of the soul about -hich -e do not often talk and -hich by a natural instinct -e are not in the habit of communicating to any but such of our brethren and fello-s as share -ith us a common and a sym$athetic interest in the dee$er $roblems and mysteries of life. . have said already that Masonry is a modern $er$etuation of great systems of initiation that have e%isted for the s$iritual instruction of men in all $arts of the -orld since the beginning of time. The reason for their e%istence has been the obvious one resulting from the cardinal truth already alluded to that man in his $resent natural state is inherently and radically im$erfectB that sooner or later he becomes conscious of a sense of loss and de$rivation and feels an im$erative need of learning ho- to re$air that loss. The great -orld'religions have been ordained to teach in their res$ective manners the same truths as the Mystery systems have taught. Their teaching has al-ays been t-ofold. There has al-ays e%isted an e%ternal elementary $o$ular doctrine -hich has served for the instruction of the masses -ho are insufficiently $re$ared for dee$er teachingB and concurrently there-ith there has been an interior advanced doctrine a more secret kno-ledge -hich has been reserved for ri$er minds and into -hich only $roficient and $ro$erly $re$ared candidates -ho voluntarily sought to $artici$ate in it -ere initiated. Whether in ancient .ndia "gy$t Greece .taly or Me%ico or among the 1ruids of "uro$e tem$les of initiation have ever e%isted for those -ho felt the in-ard call to come a$art from the multitude and to dedicate themselves to a long disci$line of body and mind -ith a vie- to acAuiring the secret kno-ledge and develo$ing the s$iritual faculties by means of e%$erimental $rocesses of initiation of -hich our $resent ceremonies are the faint echo. .t is far beyond my $resent sco$e to describe any of these great systems or the methods of initiation they em$loyed. ?ut in regard to them . -ill ask you to acce$t my statement u$on t-o $oints7 8(= that although these great schools of the Mysteries have long dro$$ed out of the $ublic mind they or the doctrine they taught have never ceased to e%istB the enmity of official ecclesiasticism and the tendencies of a materialistic and commercial age have caused them to subside into e%treme secrecy and concealment but their initiates have never been absent from the -orldB and 8*= that it -as through the activity and foresight of some of these advanced initiates that our $resent system of s$eculative Masonry is due. You must not im$ly from this that modern Masonry is by any means a full or adeAuate $resentation of these older and larger systems. .t is but their $ale and elementary shado-. ?ut such as they are and so far as they do go our rituals and doctrine are an authentic embodiment of a secret doctrine and a secret $rocess that have al-ays e%isted for the enlightenment of such as$irants as $utting their trust in God 8as our $resent candidates are made to say= have knocked at the door of certain secret sanctuaries in the confidence that that door -ould o$en and that they -ould find in due course that for -hich they -ere seeking. Those -ho instituted modern s$eculative Masonry some *H+ years ago took certain materials lying ready to hand. They took that is the elementary rites and symbols $ertaining to mediDval o$erative guilds of stone'masons and transformed them into a system of religio'$hiloso$hic doctrine. Thencefor-ard from being related to the trade -hich deals in stones and bricks the intention of Masonry -as to deal solely and sim$ly -ith the greater science of soul'buildingB and save for retaining certain analogies -hich the art of the $ractical Page *; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst stone'mason $rovided thencefor-ard it became dedicated to $ur$oses that are -holly s$iritual religious and $hiloso$hic. Perha$s the chief evidence of the transformation thus effected -as the incor$oration of the central legend and traditional history com$rised in our Third 1egree. 0bviously that legend can have had no relation to or $ractical bearing u$on the o$erative buildersK trade. . -ill ask you to reflect that no building of stone no tem$le or other edifice ca$able of being built -ith hands has remained unfinished through the death of any $rofessional architect such as 2iram #biff is $o$ularly su$$osed to have been. The $rinci$les of architecture the genuine secrets of the building trade are not and never have been lostB they are thoroughly -ell kno-n and the absurdity is manifest of su$$osing that Masons of any kind are -aiting for time or circumstances to restore any lost kno-ledge as to the manner in -hich tem$oral buildings ought to be constructed. We kno- ho- to erect buildings to'day Auite as -ell as our 2ebre- forefathers did -ho built the famous tem$le at 6erusalem and indeed a -ell'kno-n architect has stated that most of our London churches are both for si>e and ornamentation far larger and more s$lendid than that tem$le ever -as. 0ur duty then is to look behind the literal storyB to $ierce the veil of allegory contained in the great legend and to gras$ the significance of its true $ur$ort. That -hich is lost is to be found -e are told -ith the &entre. ?ut if -e enAuire -hat a &entre is the average Mason -ill give you nothing more than the official enigmatic and not very luminous ans-er that it is a $oint -ithin a circle from -hich every $art of the circumference is eAuidistant. ?ut -hat circleG and -hat circumferenceG for there are no such things as centres or circles in res$ect of ordinary buildings or architecture. #nd here the average Mason is at an utter loss to e%$lain. Press him further CWhy -ith the &entreGC and again he can only give you the elusive and $er$le%ing ans-er C?ecause that is a $oint from -hich a Master Mason cannot err C and you are no -iser. ?rethren it is @ust this elusiveness these intentional enigmas this $ur$osed $u>>le' language that are intended to $ut us on the scent of something dee$er than the -ords themselves convey and if -e fail to find to reali>e and to act u$on the intention of -hat is veiled behind the letter of the rituals -e can scarcely claim to understand our o-n doctrineB -e can scarcely claim to have been regularly initiated $assed and raised in the higher sense of those e%$ressions -hatever ceremonies -e have formally $assed through. CThe letter killeth the s$irit giveth life.C Let us enAuire -hat the s$irit of this $u>>le' language is. The method of all great religious and initiatory systems has been to teach their doctrine in the form of myth legend or allegory. #s our first tracing'board lecture says CThe $hiloso$hers un-illing to e%$ose their mysteries to vulgar eyes concealed their tenets and $rinci$les of $hiloso$hy under hierogly$hical figures C and our traditional history is one of these hierogly$hical figures. /o- the literally'minded never see behind the letter of the allegory. The truly initiated mind discerns the allegory4s s$iritual value. .n fact $art of the $ur$ose of all initiation -as and still is to educate the mind in $enetrating the out-ard shell of all $henomena and the value of initiation de$ends u$on the -ay in -hich the in-ard truths are allo-ed to influence our thought and lives and to a-aken in us still dee$er $o-ers of consciousness. The legend of the Third 1egree then in -hich the essence of Masonic doctrine lies -as brought into our system by some advanced minds -ho derived their kno-ledge from other and concealed sources. The legend is an ada$tation of a very old one and e%isted in various Page *9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst forms long before its association -ith modern Masonry. .n the guise of a story about the building of a tem$le by Iing 3olomon at 6erusalem they -ere $romulgating the truth -hich . have alluded to before and -hich is generally kno-n as the ,all of Man. #s our legend runs u$on the literal side of it it -as the $ur$ose of a great king to erect a su$erb structure. 2e -as assisted in that -ork by another king -ho su$$lied the building materials by a skilful artificer -hose business -as to $ut these together according to a $re' ordained $lan and by large com$anies of craftsmen and labourers. ?ut in the course of the -ork an evil cons$iracy arose resulting in the destruction of the chief artificer and $reventing the com$letion of the building -hich remains unfinished therefore to this day. /o- . -ill ask you to observe that this legend cannot refer to any historical building built in the old metro$olis of Palestine. .f -e refer to the ?ible as an authority you -ill find that that tem$le -as com$letedB it -as after-ards destroyed rebuilt and destroyed again on more than one occasion. Moreover the biblical accounts make no reference -hatever to the cons$iracy or to the death of 2iram. 0n the other hand they state e%$ressly that 2iram Cmade an end of buildingC the tem$leB that it -as finished and com$leted in every $articular. .t is very clear then that -e must kee$ the t-o sub@ects entirely se$arate in our mindsB and recogni>e that the Masonic story deals -ith something Auite distinct from the biblical story. What tem$le then is referred toG The tem$le brethren that is still incom$lete and unfinished is none that can be built -ith hands. .t is that tem$le of -hich all material edifices are but the ty$es and symbols7 it is the tem$le of the collective body of humanity itselfB of -hich the great initiate 3t. Paul said CIno- ye not that ye are the tem$le of GodGC # $erfect humanity -as the great Tem$le -hich in the counsels of the Most 2igh -as intended to be reared in the mystical 2oly &ity of -hich the local 6erusalem -as the ty$e. The three great Master'builders 3olomon and the t-o 2irams are a triad corres$onding after a manner -ith the 2oly Trinity of the &hristian religionB 2iram #biff being the chief architect he Cby -hom all things -ere madeC and Cin -hom 8as 3t. Paul said using N$aragra$h continuesO Masonic language= the -hole building fitly framed together gro-eth unto a holy tem$le in the Lord.C The material of this mystical tem$le -as the souls of men at once the living stones the fello- craftsmen and collaborators -ith the divine $ur$ose. ?ut in the course of the construction of this ideal tem$le something ha$$ened that -recked the scheme and delayed the fulfilment indefinitely. This -as the ,all of ManB the cons$iracy of the craftsmen. Turn to the book of Genesis you -ill find the same sub@ect related in the allegory of #dam and "ve. They -ere intended as you kno- for $erfection and ha$$iness but their &reator4s $ro@ect became nullified by their disobedience to certain conditions im$osed u$on them. . -ill ask you to observe that their offence -as $recisely that committed by our Masonic cons$irators. They had been forbidden to eat of the Tree of Ino-ledgeB or in Masonic language they -ere under obligation Cnot to attem$t to e%tort the secrets of a su$erior degreeC -hich they had not attained. /o- the 2ebre- -ord 2iram means Guru teacher of Csu$reme kno-ledge C divine light and -isdom and the liberty that comes there-ith. ?ut this kno-ledge is only for the $erfected man. .t is that kno-ledge that 2iram said -as Ckno-n to but three in the -orld C i.e. kno-n only in the counsels of the 1ivine Trinity but it is kno-ledge that -ith $atience and $erseverance every Mason every child of the &reator Cmay in due time become entitled to a $artici$ation in.C ?ut @ust as #dam and "ve4s attem$t to obtain illicit kno-ledge caused their e%$ulsion from "den and defeated the divine $ur$ose until they and their $osterity Page *) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst should regain the Paradise they had lost so also the com$letion of the great mystical Tem$le -as $revented for the time being by the cons$irators4 attem$t to e%tort from 2iram the Master4s secrets and its construction is delayed until time and circumstances God4s time and the circumstances -e create for ourselves restore to us the lost and genuine secrets of our nature and of the divine $ur$ose in us. The tragedy of 2iram #biff then is not the record of any vulgar brutal murder of an individual man. .t is a $arable of cosmic and universal lossB an allegory of the breakdo-n of a divine scheme. We are dealing -ith no calamity that occurred during the erection of a building in an eastern city but -ith a moral disaster to universal humanity. 2iram is slainB in other -ords the faculty of enlightened -isdom has been cut off from us. 0-ing to that disaster mankind is here to'day in this -orld of im$erfect kno-ledge of limited faculties of cheAuered ha$$iness of $er$etual toil of death and freAuent bitterness and $ainB our life here is 8to use a $oet4s -ords=7'' C#n ever'moaning battle in the mist 1eath in all life and lying in all loveB The meanest having $o-er u$on the highest #nd the high $ur$ose broken by the -orm.C The tem$le of human nature is unfinished and -e kno- not ho- to com$lete it. The -ant of $lans and designs to regulate the disorders of individual and social life indicates to us all that some heavy calamity has befallen us as a race. The absence of a clear and guiding $rinci$le in the -orld4s life reminds us of the utter confusion into -hich the absence of that 3u$reme Wisdom -hich is $ersonified as 2iram has thro-n us all and causes every reflective mind to attribute to some fatal catastro$he his mysterious disa$$earance. We all long for that light and -isdom -hich have become lost to us. Like the craftsmen in search of the body -e go our different -ays in search of -hat is lost. Many of us make no discovery of im$ortance throughout the length of our days. We seek it in $leasure in -ork in all the varied occu$ations and diversions of our livesB -e seek it in intellectual $ursuits in religion in Masonry and those -ho search farthest and dee$est are those -ho become most conscious of the loss and -ho are com$elled to cry CMachaboneJ MacbenahJ the Master is smitten C or as the &hristian 3cri$tures -ord it CThey have taken a-ay my Lord and . kno- not -here they have laid him.C 2iram #biff is slain. The high light and -isdom ordained to guide and enlighten humanity are -anting to us. The full bla>e of light and $erfect kno-ledge that -ere to be ours are vanished from the race but in the 1ivine Providence there still remains to us a glimmering light in the "ast. .n a dark -orld from -hich as it -ere the sun has disa$$eared -e have still our five senses and our rational faculties to -ork -ith and these $rovide us -ith the substituted secrets that must distinguish us before -e regain the genuine ones. Where is 2iram buriedG We are taught that the Wisdom of the Most 2igh $ersonified as Iing 3olomon ordered him to be interred in a fitting se$ulchre outside the 2oly &ity Cin a grave from the centre < feet bet-een /. and 3. < feet bet-een ". and W. and H feet or more $er$endicular.C Where ?rethren do you imagine that grave to beG &an you locate it by follo-ing these minute details of its situationG Probably you have never thought of the matter as other than an ordinary burial outside the -alls of a geogra$hical 6erusalem. ?ut the grave of 2iram is ourselves. "ach of us is the se$ulchre in -hich the smitten Master is interred. .f -e kno- it not it is a further sign of our benightedness. #t the centre of Page <+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst ourselves dee$er than any dissecting'knife can reach or than any $hysical investigation can fathom lies buried the Cvital and immortal $rinci$le C the Cglimmering rayC that affiliates us to the 1ivine &entre of all life and that is never -holly e%tinguished ho-ever evil or im$erfect our lives may be. We are the grave of the Master. The lost guiding light is buried at the centre of ourselves. 2igh as your hand may reach u$-ards or do-n-ards from the centre of your o-n body i.e. < feet bet-een /. and 3. far as it can reach to right or left of the middle of your $erson i.e. < feet bet-een W. and ". and H feet or more $er$endicular the height of the human body these are the indications by -hich our cry$tic ritual describes the tomb of 2iram #biff at the centre of ourselves. 2e is buried Coutside the 2oly &ity C in the same sense that the $osterity of #dam have all been $laced outside the -alls of Paradise for Cnothing unclean can enter into the holy $laceC -hich else-here in our 3cri$tures is called the Iingdom of 2eaven. What then is this C&entre C by reviving and using -hich -e may ho$e to regain the secrets of our lost natureG We may reason from analogies. #s the 1ivine Life and Will is the centre of the -hole universe and controls itB as the sun is the centre and life'giver of our solar system and controls and feeds -ith life the $lanets circling round it so at the secret centre of individual human life e%ists a vital immortal $rinci$le the s$irit and the s$iritual -ill of man. This is the faculty by using -hich 8-hen -e have found it= -e can never err. .t is a $oint -ithin the circle of our o-n nature and living as -e do in this $hysical -orld the circle of our e%istence is bounded by t-o grand $arallel linesB Cone re$resenting MosesB the other Iing 3olomon C that is to say la- and -isdomB the divine ordinances regulating the universe on the one handB the divine C-isdom and mercy that follo- us all the days of our lifeC on the other. 5ery truly then the Mason -ho kee$s himself thus circumscribed cannot err. Masonry then is a system of religious $hiloso$hy in that it $rovides us -ith a doctrine of the universe and of our $lace in it. .t indicates -hence -e are come and -hither -e may return. .t has t-o $ur$oses. .ts first $ur$ose is to sho- that man has fallen a-ay from a high and holy centre to the circumference or e%ternali>ed condition in -hich -e no- liveB to indicate that those -ho so desire may regain that centre by finding the centre in ourselves for since 1eity is as a circle -hose centre is every-here it follo-s that a divine centre a Cvital and immortal $rinci$le C e%ists -ithin ourselves by develo$ing -hich -e may ho$e to regain our lost and $rimal stature. The second $ur$ose of the &raft doctrine is to declare the -ay by -hich that centre may be found -ithin ourselves and this teaching is embodied in the disci$line and ordeals delineated in the three degrees. The Masonic doctrine of the &entre or in other -ords the &hristian a%iom that Cthe Iingdom of 2eaven is -ithin youC is no-here better stated than by the $oet ?ro-ning7 CTruth is -ithin ourselves. .t takes no rise ,rom out-ard things -hateKer you may believe. There is an inmost centre in ourselves Where truth abides in fullnessB and to knoRather consists in finding out a -ay Whence the im$risoned s$lendour may esca$e Than by effecting entrance for a light 3u$$osed to be -ithout.C ?rethren may -e all come to the kno-ledge ho- to Co$en the Lodge u$on the centreC of ourselves and so reali>e in our o-n conscious e%$erience the finding of the Cim$risoned Page <( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst s$lendourC hidden in the de$ths of our being -hose rising -ithin ourselves -ill bring us $eace and salvation. 2o- then does the &raft doctrine $rescribe for the liberation of this im$risoned centreG .ts first in@unctions are those of our first degree. There must be $urity of thought and $ur$ose. . need scarcely remind you that the -ord candidate derives from the Latin candidus -hite 8in the sense of $urity= or that our $ostulants before entering the Lodge leave behind them in the $recincts the garments that belong to the fashion of the outer -orld -hose ideals they are desirous of relinAuishing and enter the Lodge clad in -hite as emblematic of the blamelessness of their thought and the $urification of their lives. #s this symbolic -hite clothing is -orn during each of the three degrees it is as though the seeker after the high light of the &entre must al-ays come uttering the tri$le ascri$tion C2oly 2oly 2oly C as the token of the threefold $urity of body soul and s$irit -hich is essential to the achievement of his Auest. 2e has left all money and metals behind him for the gross things of this -orld are su$erfluous in the -orld that lies -ithinB -hilst if any dross of thought or im$erfections of character remain in him he -ill find the im$ossibility of attaining to the consciousness of his highest selfB he -ill learn that he must renounce them and begin again and that his attem$t at real initiation must be re$eated. 2e must be animated by a s$irit of universal sym$athy. ,inancial doles and $ractical relief to the $ecuniarily $oor and distressed are admirable $ractices as far as they go but they by no means e%haust the meaning of the term charity as Masonry intends it. The $ayment of a fe- guineas to $hilanthro$ic institutions is scarcely a fulfilment of 3t. Paul4s great definition of charity so often read in our Lodges by e%ercising -hich -e are -ont to say that a Mason Cattains the summit of his $rofession.C There is a far larger sense of ?rotherhood than the limited conventional one obtaining among those -ho are members of a common association. There is that dee$ sense in -hich a man feels himself not only in fraternity -ith his fello-'men -hether moronically his brethren or not but reali>es himself brother to all that is $art of the universal life that thrills through all things. # great illuminate 3t. ,rancis of #ssisi e%$ressed -hat . refer to -hen he -rote in his famous canticle of his brothers the sun and the -indB his sisters the moon and the seaB his brethren the animals and the birdsB as being all $arts of a common life all constituents in the scheme of the Great #rchitect for the restoration of the Tem$le of &reation and its dedication to 2is service and as all -orthy of a common love u$on our $art even as they are the sub@ect of a common solicitude u$on 2is. #nd $assing from these $rimary Aualifications -e $roceed to -hat is signified by our second degree -herein is inculcated the analysis and cultivation of the mental and rational facultiesB the study of the secrets of the marvellous com$le% $sychical nature of manB the relation of these -ith the still higher and s$iritual $art of him -hich in turn he may learn to trace Ceven to the throne of God 2imselfC -ith -hich he is affiliated at the root essence of his being. These studies brethren so lightly touched u$on in our $assing'ceremony so glibly referred to as -e recite our ritual -hen undertaken -ith the seriousness that attached to them in the old mystery'systems are not -ithout @ust reason described in our o-n -ords as Cserious solemn and a-ful.C The de$ths of human nature and self' kno-ledge the hidden mysteries of the soul of man are not as real initiates -ell kno$robed into -ith im$unity e%ce$t by the C$ro$erly $re$ared.C The man -ho does so has as it -ere a cable'to- around his neckB because -hen once stirred by a genuine desire for the higher kno-ledge that real initiation is intended to confer he can never turn back on -hat he learns thereof -ithout committing moral suicideB he can never be again the same man Page <* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst he -as before he gained a glim$se of the hidden mysteries of life. #nd as the #ngel stood -ith a flaming s-ord at the entrance of "den to guard the -ay to the Tree of Life so -ill the man -hose initiation is not a conventional one find himself threatened at the door of the higher kno-ledge by o$$osing invisible forces if he rashly rushes for-ard in a state of moral unfitness into the dee$ secrets of the &entre. ?etter remain ignorant than embark u$on this unkno-n sea un-isely and -ithout being $ro$erly $re$ared and in $ossession of the $ro$er $ass$orts. #nd eventually the as$irant after these $reliminary disci$lines has to learn the great truth embodied in the third degreeB that he -ho -ould be raised to $erfection and regain -hat he has long reali>ed has been lost to himself may do so only by utter self'abnegation by a dying to all that to the eyes and the reason of the uninitiated outer -orld is $recious and desirable. The third degree brethren is an e%$osition in dramatic ceremonial of the te%t CWhoso -ould save his life must lose it.C ?eneath the allegory of the death of the Master and remember that it is allegory is e%$ressed the universal truth that mystical death must $recede mystical rebirth. CIno- ye not that ye must be born againGC C!nless a grain of corn fall into the ground and die it abideth aloneB if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.C #nd it is only thus that all Master'Masons can be raised from a figurative 8not a $hysical= death to a regenerated state and to the full stature of human nature. The $ath of true initiation into fullness of life by -ay of a figurative death to one4s lo-er self is the $ath called in the 3cri$tures the narro- -ay of -hich it is also said that fethere be -ho find it. .t is the narro- $ath bet-een the Pillars for ?oa> and 6achin stand im$liedly at the entrance of every Masonic Tem$le and bet-een them -e $ass each time -e enter the Lodge. 5ery great $rominence is accorded these $illars in the ritual but very little e%$lanation of their im$ort is given and it is desirable to kno- something of their great significance. To deal -ith them at all fully -ould reAuire an entire lecture u$on this one sub@ect and even then there -ould have to remain unsaid in regard to these great symbols much that is unsuited to treatment in a general lecture. The $illars form and have al-ays formed a $rominent feature in the tem$les of all great systems of religion and initiation -hether Masonic or not. They have been incor$orated into &hristian architecture. .f you recall the construction of York Minster or Westminster #bbey you -ill recogni>e the $illars in the t-o great to-ers flanking the main entrance to those cathedrals at the -est end of the structure. /on'Masons therefore enter these tem$les as -e do bet-een the $illars in the WestB they look through them along the straight $ath that leads to the high altar @ust as the Mason4s symbolic $assage is also from the West to the throne in the N$aragra$h continuesO "ast. That $ath is as it -ere the straight $ath of life beginning in this outer -orld and terminating at the throne or altar in the "ast. Many centuries before our ?ible -as -ritten or the tem$le of 3olomon described in the ?ooks of Iings and &hronicles -as thought of the t-o $illars -ere used in the great tem$les of the Mysteries in "gy$t and one of the great annual $ublic festivals -as that of the setting u$ of the $illars. What then did they signifyG . can deal -ith the sub@ect but very su$erficially here. .n one of their as$ects they stand for -hat is kno-n in "astern $hiloso$hy as the C$airs of o$$osites.C "verything in nature is dual and can only be kno-n in contrast -ith its o$$osite -hilst the t-o in combination $roduce a meta$hysical third -hich is their synthesis and $erfect balance. Thus -e have good and evilB light and darkness 8and one of the $illars -as al-ays -hite and the other black=B active and $assiveB $ositive and negativeB yes and noB outside and insideB man and -oman. /either of these is Page << of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst com$lete -ithout the otherB taken together they form stability. Morning and evening unite to form the com$lete day. Man is $roverbially im$erfect -ithout his Cbetter half C -omanB the t-o marry to im$art strength to each other and to establish their common house. Physical science sho-s all matter to be com$osed of $ositive and negative electric forces in $erfect balance and that things -ould disintegrate and disa$$ear if they did not stand firm in $erfect union. "very dro$ of healthy blood in our bodies is a combination of red and -hite cor$uscles by the due balance of -hich -e are established in strength and health -hilst lack of balance is attended by disease. The $illars therefore ty$ify in one of their as$ects $erfect integrity of body and soul such as are essential to achieving s$iritual $erfection. .n the terms of ancient $hiloso$hy all created things are com$osed of fire and -aterB fire being their s$iritual and -ater their material element and so the $illars re$resented also these universal $ro$erties. .n one of the #$ocry$hal 3cri$tures 8* "sdras ;B ;'9= the $ath to true -isdom and life is s$oken of as an entrance bet-een a fire on the right hand and a dee$ -ater on the left and so narro- and $ainful that only one man may go through it at once. This is in allusion to the narro- and $ainful $ath of real initiation of -hich our entrance into the Lodge bet-een the $illars is a symbol. /o- all great symbols are shado-ed forth in the $erson of man himself. The human organism is the true Lodge that must be o$ened and -herein the great Mysteries are to be found and our Lodge'rooms are so built and furnished as to ty$ify the human organism. The lo-er and $hysical $art of us is animal and earthy and rests like the base of 6acob4s ladder u$on the earthB -hilst our higher $ortion is s$iritual and reaches to the heavens. These t-o $ortions of ourselves are in $er$etual conflict the s$iritual and the carnal ever -arring against one anotherB and he alone is the -ise man -ho has learned to effect a $erfect balance bet-een them and to establish himself in strength so that his o-n in-ard house stands firm against all -eakness and tem$tation. #nd in still another sense the t-o $illars may be seen e%em$lified in the human body. There are our t-o legs u$on both of -hich -e must stand firm to acAuire a $erfect $hysical balance. #nd having discerned this sim$le truth and having seen that the $ath of true initiation -hich is one of s$iritual rebirth is an arduous and $ainful $rogress to him -ho undertakes it let me ask you to consider in all sacredness another $hysical $henomenon the great mystery of -hich -e $erha$s think little of by reason of its freAuency and of our familiarity -ith it. . refer to the incident the great mystery . might say of child'birth. ?rethren every child born into this -orld coming into this life as into a great house of initiation trial and disci$line $asses amid $ain and travail through a strait and narro- -ay and bet-een the t-o $illars that su$$ort the tem$le of its mother4s body. #nd thus in the common$laces of life in -hich for those -ho have clean hearts there is nothing common or unclean but everything is sacred and symbolic the act of $hysical birth is an image and a foreshado-ing of that mystical rebirth and of that $assing through a strait gate and a narro- -ay in a dee$er sense -ithout -hich it is -ritten that a man shall not enter into the Iingdom of 2eaven. The regenerated man the man -ho not merely in ceremonial form but in vital e%$erience has $assed through the $hases of -hich the Masonic degrees are the faint symbol is alone -orthy of the title of Master'Mason in the building of the Tem$le that is not made -ith hands but that is being built invisibly out of the souls of @ust men made $erfect. /ot only in this -orld is this tem$le being builtB only the foundations of the intended structure are $erce$tible here. The &raft contem$lates other and loftier $lanes of life other storeys of the vast structure than this -e live and -ork in. 6ust as our &raft organi>ation has its higher Page <E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst assemblies and councils in the form of the Provincial and the Grand Lodges that regulate and minister to the need of the Lodges of common craftsmen so in the mighty system of the universal structure there are grades of higher life hierarchies of celestial beings -orking and ministering in the loftier $ortions of the building beyond our $resent ken. #nd as here at the head of our limited and tem$oral brotherhood there rules a Grand Master so too over the cosmic system there $resides the Great #rchitect and Most Worshi$ful Grand Master of all -hose officers are holy #ngelsB and the recognition of this truth may tend to consecrate us in the discharge of the little symbolic $art -e severally $erform in the system -hich is the image of the great scheme. The -orld at large ?rethren is as it -ere but one great Lodge and $lace of initiation of -hich our Masonic Lodges are the little mirrors. Mother'"arth is also the Mother'Lodge of us all. #s its vast -ork goes on souls are ever descending into it and souls are being called out of it at the knocks of some great unseen Warden of life and death -ho calls them here to labour and summons them hence for refreshment. #fter the Lodge the festive boardB after the labour of this -orld the re$ast and refreshment of the heavenly $laces. #nd thus although our after'$roceedings have no formal $lace in the Masonic system any more than the after'life is in formal connection -ith us -hilst our s$here of activity is in this $resent -orld still it $lays a striking and a$$ro$riate $art calculated to a-aken us to the dee$ significance of our customary conviviality. !$on such occasions -e are -ont to drink the toast of Cthe Iing and the &raft C remembering as loyal sub@ects and loving brethren our earthly sovereign and our Masonic comrades throughout the -orld. ?ut here again . -ould ask every Master -ho gives and every brother -ho drinks this toast to lift his thoughts to a greater Iing and to a larger craft than our limited and symbolic fraternity. . -ould remind you ho- in the &hristian Mysteries there -as another Master -hom unconsciously -e imitate -ho also after su$$er took the cu$ and -hen he had given thanks to the Iing of kings $ledged himself as it -ere to that larger &raft -hich is co'e%tensive -ith humanity itselfB directing them in this manner to sho- forth symbolically a certain great mystery until his coming again. ?ut this ?rethren is none other than -hat is im$lied in our o-n Masonic -ords -hen -e also are directed to use certain substituted secrets until time and circumstances shall restore to us the genuine ones. .n submitting then these thoughts to you it may be claimed that Masonry offers to those ca$able of a$$reciating it a -orking $hiloso$hy and a $ractical rule of life. .t discloses to us the scheme of the universe a scheme once shattered and arrested but left in the hands of humanity to restore. .t indicates our $lace our $ur$ose and our destiny in that universe. .t is as a great house of instruction and initiation into the Mysteries of a larger and fuller life than the unenlightened -orldling is as yet ri$e for a$$reciating. Let us therefore value and endeavour fully to a$$reciate its mysteries. Let us also be careful not to chea$en the 0rder by failing to reali>e its meaning and by admitting to its ranks those -ho are unready or unfitted to understand its im$ort. . said at the outset of this lecture that some Masons are beginning to a-ake to a larger consciousness of the true meaning and $ur$ort of our &raft. . say no- at the end ?rethrenJ lift u$ your heartsB thro- -ide o$en the shutters of your minds and imaginations. Learn to see in Masonry something more than a $arochial system en@oining elementary morality $erforming $erfunctory and meaningless rites and serving as an agreeable accessory to social life. ?ut look to find in it a living $hiloso$hy a vital guide u$on those matters -hich of all others are the most sacred and the most urgent to our ultimate -ell'being. Reali>e that its secrets -hich are Cmany and invaluableC are not u$on Page <H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst the surfaceB that they are not those of the tongue but of the heartB and that its mysteries are those eternal ones that treat of the s$irit rather than of the body of man. #nd -ith this kno-ledge clothe yourselves and enter the Lodge not merely the Lodge'room of our symbolic &raft but the larger Lodge of life -herein silently and -ithout the sound of metal tool is $roceeding the $er$etual -ork of rebuilding the unfinished and invisible Tem$le of -hich the mystical stones and timber are the souls of men. .n that rebuilding men and -omen are taking $art -ho -hilst formally not members of our &raft are still unconsciously Masons in the best of senses. ,or -hosoever is carefully and deliberately CsAuaring his stoneC is fitting himself for his $lace in the Cintended structureC -hich gradually is being C$ut together -ith e%act nicetyC and -hich though erected by ourselves one day -ill become manifest to our clearer vision and -ill a$$ear Cmore like the -ork of the Great #rchitect of the !niverse than that of human hands.C !$on us Masons therefore -ho have the advantage of a regular and organi>ed system -hich $rovides and inculcates for us an outline of the great truths that -e have been considering and that al-ays in the -orld have been regarded as secret as sacred and as vital there rests the res$onsibility attaching to our $rivilege and it must be our aim to endeavor to enter into the full heritage of understanding and $racticing the system to -hich -e belong.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

%HA&TER III FURTHER NOTES ON CRAFT SYMBOLISM.

CThere is no darkness but ignorance.C 83hakes$eare=. CLighten our darkness -e beseech Thee and defend us from all $erils and dangers of this night.C 8#nglican Liturgy=. C?elovKd #ll',ather and all you gods that haunt this $lace grant me to be beautiful in the inner man and all . have of outer things to be one -ith those -ithinJ May . count only the -ise man rich and may my store of gold be such as none but the good can bear. #nything moreG That $rayer . think is enough for meJC 8Prayer of 3ocrates=. ./ the Lecture on the ,irst 1egree tracing'board Masonry is s$oken of as Can art founded on the $rinci$les of Geometry C and also as being Ca science dealing -ith the cultivation and im$rovement of the human mind.C .ts usages and customs are also there said to have derived Cfrom the ancient "gy$tians -hose $hiloso$hers un-illing to e%$ose their mysteries to vulgar eyes conceal their $rinci$les and $hiloso$hy under signs and symbols C -hich are still $er$etuated in the Masonic 0rder. 3omething of these signs and symbols as -ell as the $ur$ose of the Masonic system as a -hole has already been outlined in $revious $a$ers. .n the $resent notes it is $ro$osed to e%tend the consideration of the sub@ect in greater detail. The .nstruction Lectures associated -ith each 1egree of the &raft $ur$ort to e%$ound the doctrine of the system and inter$ret the symbols and rituals. ?ut these Lectures themselves stand in similar need of inter$retation. .ndeed they are contrived -ith very great cunning and concealment. Their com$ilers -ere confronted -ith the dual task of giving a faithful if $artial e%$ression of esoteric doctrine and at the same time of so masking it that its full sense -ould not be understood -ithout some effort or enlightenment and should convey little or nothing at all to those un-orthy of or unri$e for the CgnosisC or -isdom'teaching. They discharged that task -ith signal success and in a -ay -hich $rovokes admiration from those -ho can a$$reciate it for their $rofound kno-ledge of and insight into the science of self'kno-ledge and regeneration. They -ere obviously .nitiates of an advanced ty$e -ell versed in the secret tradition and $hiloso$hy of the Mystery systems of the $ast and acutely $erce$tive of the dee$er and mystical sense of the 2oly 3cri$tures to -hich they constantly make luminous reference. To deal -ith these e%$lanatory Lectures in com$lete detail -ould involve a very long task. We -ill ho-ever $roceed to s$eak of some of the more $rominent matters -ith -hich they deal and so elaborate the sub@ect'matter of our $revious $a$ers. #ttention must first be called to the term CGeometry C the art u$on -hich the entire system is stated to be founded. To the ordinary man Geometry means nothing more than the branch of mathematics associated -ith the $roblems of "uclid a sub@ect obviously having no relation to Masonic ceremonial and ideals. #nother e%$lanation of the term must therefore be looked for.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst /o- Geometry -as one of the Cseven noble arts and sciencesC of ancient $hiloso$hy. .t means literally the science of earth'measurement. ?ut the CearthC of the ancients did not mean as it does to us this $hysical $lanet. .t meant the $rimordial substance or undifferentiated soul'stuff out of -hich -e human beings have been created the Cmother' earthC from -hich -e have all s$rung and to -hich -e must all undoubtedly return. Man -as made the 3cri$tures teach out of the dust of the ground and it is that ground that earth or fundamental substance of his being -hich reAuires to be CmeasuredC in the sense of investigating and understanding its nature and $ro$erties. /o com$etent builder erects a structure -ithout first satisfying himself about the nature of the materials -ith -hich he $ro$oses to build and in the s$eculative or s$iritual and CroyalC art of Masonry no Mason can $ro$erly build the tem$le of his o-n soul -ithout first understanding the nature of the ra- material he has to -ork u$on. Geometry therefore is synonymous -ith self'kno-ledge the understanding of the basic substance of our being its $ro$erties and $otentialities. 0ver the ancient tem$les of initiation -as inscribed the sentence CIno- thyself and thou shalt kno- the universe and God C a $hrase -hich im$lies in the first $lace that the uninitiated man is -ithout kno-ledge of himself and in the second $lace that -hen he attains that kno-ledge he -ill reali>e himself to be no longer the se$arate distinctified individual he no- su$$oses himself to be but to be a microcosm or summary of all that is and to be identified -ith the ?eing of God. Masonry is the science of the attainment of that su$reme kno-ledge and is therefore rightly said to be founded on the $rinci$les of Geometry as thus defined. ?ut do not let it be su$$osed that the $hysical matter of -hich our mortal bodies are com$osed is the CearthC referred to. That is but corru$tible im$ermanent stuff -hich merely forms a tem$orary encasement of the im$erishable true CearthC or substance of our souls and enables them to enter into sense'relations -ith the $hysical -orld. The distinction must be clearly gras$ed and held in mind for Masonry has to deal not so much -ith the transient out-ard body as -ith the eternal in-ard being of man although the out-ard body is tem$orarily involved -ith the latter. .t is the immortal soul of man -hich is the ruined tem$le and needs to be rebuilt u$on the $rinci$les of s$iritual science. The mortal body of it -ith its unruly -ills and affections stands in the -ay of that achievement. .t is the rubble -hich needs to be cleared before the ne- foundations can be set and the ne- structure reared. Yet even rubble can be made to serve useful $ur$oses and be rearranged and -orked into the ne- erection and accordingly man4s outer tem$oral nature can be disci$lined and utili>ed in the reconstruction of himself. ?ut in order to effect this reconstruction he must first have a full understanding of the material he has to -ork -ith and to -ork u$on. ,or this $ur$ose he must be made acAuainted -ith -hat is called Cthe form of the Lodge.C

THE FORM OF THE LODGE

This is officially described as Can oblong sAuareB in length bet-een "ast and West in breadth bet-een /orth and 3outh in de$th from the surface of the earth to its centre and even as high as the heavens.C

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst This is inter$retable as alluding to the human individual. Man himself is a Lodge. #nd @ust as the Masonic Lodge is Can assemblage of brethren and fello-s met to e%$atiate u$on the mysteries of the &raft C so individual man is a com$osite being made u$ of various $ro$erties and faculties assembled together in him -ith a vie- to their harmonious interaction and -orking out the $ur$ose of life. .t must al-ays be remembered that everything in Masonry is figurative of man and his human constitution and s$iritual evolution. #ccordingly the Masonic Lodge is sacramental of the individual Mason as he is -hen he seeks admission to a Lodge. # man4s first entry into a Lodge is symbolical of his first entry u$on the science of kno-ing himself. 2is organism is symbolised by a four'sAuare or four'sided building. This is in accordance -ith the very ancient $hiloso$hical doctrine that four is the arithmetical symbol of everything -hich has manifested or $hysical form. 3$irit -hich is unmanifest and not $hysical is e%$ressed by the number three and the triangle. ?ut 3$irit -hich has so far $ro@ected itself as to become ob@ective and -ear a material form or body is denoted by the number four and the Auadrangle or sAuare. 2ence the 2ebre- name of 1eity as kno-n and -orshi$$ed in this outer -orld -as the great uns$eakable name of four letters or Tetragrammaton -hilst the cardinal $oints of s$ace are also four and every manifested thing is a com$ound of the four basic meta$hysical elements called by the ancients fire -ater air and earth. The four'sidedness of the Lodge therefore is also a reminder that the human organism is com$ounded of those four elements in balanced $ro$ortions. CWaterC re$resents the $sychic natureB C#ir C the mentalityB C,ire C the -ill and nervous forceB -hilst C"arthC is the condensation in -hich the other three become stabili>ed and encased. ?ut it is an oblongated 8or du$licated= sAuare because man4s organism does not consist of his $hysical body alone. The $hysical body has its CdoubleC or ethereal counter$art in the astral body -hich is an e%tension of the $hysical nature and a com$ound of the same four elements in an im$al$able and more tenuous form. The oblong s$atial form of the Lodge must therefore be considered as referable to the $hysical and ethereal nature of man in the con@unction in -hich they in fact consist in each of us. The four sides of the Lodge have a further significance. The "ast of the Lodge re$resents man4s s$irituality his highest and most s$iritual mode of consciousness -hich in most men is very little develo$ed if at all but is still latent and slumbering and becomes active only in moments of stress or dee$ emotion. The West 8or $olar o$$osite of the "ast= re$resents his normal rational understanding the consciousness he em$loys in tem$oral every'day affairs his material'mindedness or as -e might say his Ccommon sense.C Mid-ay bet-een these "ast and West e%tremes is the 3outh the half-ay house and meeting'$lace of the s$iritual intuition and the rational understandingB the $oint denoting abstract intellectuality and our intellectual $o-er develo$s to its highest @ust as the sun attains its meridian s$lendour in the 3outh. The anti$odes of this is the /orth the s$here of benightedness and ignorance referable to merely sense'reactions and im$ressions received by that lo-est and least reliable mode of $erce$tion our $hysical sense'nature. Thus the four sides of the Lodge $oint to four different yet $rogressive modes of consciousness available to us. 3ense'im$ression 8/orth= reason 8West= intellectual ideation 83outh= and s$iritual intuition 8"ast=B making u$ our four $ossible -ays of kno-ledge. 0f these the ordinary man em$loys only the first t-o or $erha$s three in accordance -ith his develo$ment and education and his outlook on life and kno-ledge of truth are corres$ondingly restricted and im$erfect. ,ull and $erfect kno-ledge is $ossible Page <) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst only -hen the dee$'seeing vision and consciousness of man4s s$iritual $rinci$le have been a-akened and su$eradded to his other cognitive faculties. This is $ossible only to the true Master -ho has all four methods of kno-ledge at his dis$osal in $erfect balance and ad@usted like the four sides of the LodgeB and hence the $lace of the Master and Past' Masters being al-ays in the "ast. The Cde$thC of the Lodge 8Cfrom the surface of the earth to its centreC= refers to the distance or difference of degree bet-een the su$erficial consciousness of our earthly mentality and the su$reme divine degree of consciousness resident at man4s s$iritual centre -hen he has become able to o$en his Lodge u$on that centre and to function in and -ith it. The CheightC of the Lodge 8Ceven as high as the heavensC= im$lies that the range of consciousness $ossible to us -hen -e have develo$ed our $otentialities to the full is infinite. Man -ho has s$rung from the earth and develo$ed through the lo-er kingdoms of nature to his $resent rational state has yet to com$lete his evolution by becoming a god' like being and unifying his consciousness -ith the 0mniscient to $romote -hich is and al-ays has been the sole aim and $ur$ose of all .nitiation. To scale this Cheight C to attain this e%$ansion of consciousness is achieved Cby the use of a ladder of many rounds or staves but of three $rinci$al ones ,aith 2o$e and &harity C of -hich the greatest and most effectual is the last. That is to say there are innumerable -ays of develo$ing one4s consciousness to higher degrees and in fact every common'$lace incident of daily e%$erience may contribute to that end if it be rightly inter$reted and its $ur$ose in the general $attern of our life'scheme be discernedB yet even these should be subordinate to the three chief Aualifications namely ,aith in the $ossibility of attaining the end in vie-B 2o$e or a $ersistent fervent desire for its fulfilmentB and finally an unbounded Love -hich seeking God in all men and all things des$ite their out-ard a$$earances and thinking no evil gradually identifies the mind and nature of the as$irant -ith that ultimate Good u$on -hich his thought desire and ga>e should be $ersistently directed. .t is im$ortant to note here that this enlargement of consciousness is in no -ay re$resented as being de$endent u$on intellectual attainments learning or book'kno-ledge. These may be and indeed are lesser staves of the ladder of attainmentB but they are not numbered among the $rinci$al ones. &om$are 3t. Paul4s -ords CThough . have all kno-ledge and have not love . am nothingBC and those of a mediDval mystic C?y love 2e may be gotten and holden but by -it and understanding never.C The Lodge is Csu$$orted by three grand $illars Wisdom 3trength and ?eauty.C #gain the references are not to the e%ternal meeting'$lace but to a tri$licity of $ro$erties resident in the individual soul -hich -ill become increasingly manifest in the as$irant as he $rogresses and ada$ts himself to the Masonic disci$line. #s is -ritten of the youthful &hristian Master that Che increased in -isdom and stature and in favour -ith God and man C so -ill it also become true of the neo$hyte Mason -ho as$ires to Mastershi$. 2e -ill become conscious of an increase of $erce$tive faculty and understandingB he -ill become a-are of having ta$$ed a $reviously unsus$ected source of $o-er giving him enhanced mental strength and self'confidenceB there -ill become observable in him develo$ing graces of character s$eech and conduct that -ere $reviously foreign to him. The ,loor or ground-ork of the Lodge a cheAuer'-ork of black and -hite sAuares denotes the dual Auality of everything connected -ith terrestrial life and the $hysical Page E+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst ground-ork of human nature the mortal body and its a$$etites and affections. CThe -eb of our life is a mingled yarn good and ill together C -rote 3hakes$eare. "verything material is characteri>ed by ine%tricably interblended good and evil light and shade @oy and sorro- $ositive and negative. What is good for me may be evil for youB $leasure is generated from $ain and ultimately degenerates into $ain againB -hat it is right to do at one moment may be -rong the ne%tB . am intellectually e%alted to'day and to'morrocorres$ondingly de$ressed and benighted. The dualism of these o$$osites governs us in everything and e%$erience of it is $rescribed for us until such time as having learned and outgro-n its lesson -e are ready for advancement to a condition -here -e outgro- the sense of this cheAuer'-ork e%istence and those o$$osites cease to be $erceived as o$$osites but are reali>ed as a unity or synthesis. To find that unity or synthesis is to knothe $eace -hich $asses understanding i.e. -hich sur$asses our $resent e%$erience because in it the darkness and the light are both alike and our $resent conce$ts of good and evil @oy and $ain are transcended and found sublimated in a condition combining both. #nd this lofty condition is re$resented by the indented or tesselated border skirting the black and -hite cheAuer'-ork even as the 1ivine Presence and Providence surrounds and embraces our tem$oral organisms in -hich those o$$osites are inherent. Why is the cheAuer floor'-ork given such $rominence in the Lodge'furnitureG The ans-er is to be found in the statement in the Third 1egree Ritual7 CThe sAuare $avement is for the 2igh Priest to -alk u$on.C /o- it is not merely the 6e-ish 2igh Priest of centuries ago that is here referred to but the individual member of the &raft. ,or every Mason is intended to be the 2igh Priest of his o-n $ersonal tem$le and to make of it a $lace -here he and 1eity may meet. ?y the mere fact of being in this dualistic -orld every living being -hether a Mason or not -alks u$on the sAuare $avement of mingled good and evil in every action of his life so that the floor'cloth is the symbol of an elementary $hiloso$hical truth common to us all. ?ut for us the -ords C-alk u$onC im$ly much more than that. They mean that he -ho as$ires to be master of his fate and ca$tain of his soul must -alk u$on these o$$osites in the sense of transcending and dominating them of tram$ling u$on his lo-er sensual nature and kee$ing it beneath his feet in sub@ection and control. 2e must become able to rise above the motley of good and evil to be su$erior and indifferent to the u$s and do-ns of fortune the attractions and fears governing ordinary men and s-aying their thoughts and actions this -ay or that. 2is ob@ect is the develo$ment of his innate s$iritual $otencies and it is im$ossible that these should develo$ so long as he is over'ruled by his material tendencies and the fluctuating emotions of $leasure and $ain that they give birth to. .t is by rising su$erior to these and attaining serenity and mental eAuilibrium under any circumstances in -hich for the moment he may be $laced that a Mason truly C-alks u$onC the cheAuered ground-ork of e%istence and the conflicting tendencies of his more material nature. The &overing of the Lodge is sho-n in shar$ contrast to its black and -hite flooring and is described as Ca celestial cano$y of divers colours even the heavens.C .f the flooring symboli>es man4s earthy sensuous nature the ceiling ty$ifies his ethereal nature his CheavensC and the $ro$erties resident therein. The one is the reverse and the o$$osite $ole of the other. 2is material body is visible and densely com$osed. 2is ethereal surround or Caura C is tenuous and invisible 8save to clairvoyant vision= and like the fragrance thro-n off by a flo-er. .ts e%istence -ill be doubted by those un$re$ared to acce$t -hat is not $hysically demonstrable but the Masonic student -ho -ill be called Page E( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst u$on to acce$t many such truths $rovisionally until he kno-s them as certainties should reflect 8(= that he has entered the &raft -ith the $rofessed ob@ect of receiving light u$on the nature of his o-n being 8*= that the 0rder engages to assist him to that light in regard to matters of -hich he is admittedly ignorant and that its teachings and symbols -ere devised by -ise and com$etent instructors in such matters and 8<= that a humble docile and rece$tive mental attitude to-ards those symbols and their meanings -ill better conduce to his advancement than a critical or hostile one. The fact that man thro-s off or radiates from himself an ethereal surround or CcoveringC is testified to by the aureoles and haloes sho-n in -orks of art about the $ersons of saintly characters. The unsaintly are not so distinctified not because they are not so surrounded but because in their case the CauraC e%ists as but an irregularly sha$ed and coloured cloud reflecting their normal undisci$lined mentality and $assional nature as the rain'clouds reflect the sunlight in different tints. The CauraC of the man -ho has his mentality clean and his $assions and emotions -ell in hand becomes a corres$ondingly orderly and sha$ely encasement of clearly defined form and iridescence regularly striated like the colours of the s$ectrum or the rainbo-. ?iblically this CauraC is described as a Ccoat of many coloursC and as having characteri>ed 6ose$h the greatest of the sons of 6acob in contrast -ith that $atriarch4s less morally and s$iritually develo$ed sons -ho -ere not distinctified by any such coat. .n Masonry the eAuivalent of the aureole is the symbolic clothing -orn by Provincial and Grand Lodge 0fficers. This is of dee$ blue heavily fringed -ith gold in corres$ondence -ith the dee$ blue centre and luminous circumference of flame. C2is ministers are flames of fire.C Provincial and Grand Lodge 0fficers are dra-n from those -ho are Past Masters in the &raftB that is from those -ho theoretically have attained sanctity regeneration and Mastershi$ of themselves and have become @oined to the Grand Lodge above -here they Cshine as the stars.C .t follo-s from all this that the Mason -ho seriously yields himself to the disci$line of the 0rder is not merely im$roving his character and chastening his thoughts and desires. 2e is at the same time unconsciously building u$ an inner ethereal body -hich -ill form his clothing or covering -hen his transitory outer body shall have $assed a-ay. CThere are celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial . . . . . . . and as -e have borne the image of the earthly -e also shall bear the image of the heavenly.C #nd the celestial body must be built u$ out of the sublimated $ro$erties of the terrestrial one. This is one of the secrets and mysteries of the $rocess of regeneration and self'transmutation to $romote -hich the &raft -as designed. This is the true tem$le'building that Masonry is concerned -ith. The #$ron being the Masonic symbol of the bodily organism changes and increasing elaborateness in it as the Mason advances to higher stages in the &raft symboli>e 8in theory= the actual develo$ment that is gradually taking $lace in his nature. Moreover as in the outer heavens of nature the sun moon and stars e%ist and function so in the $ersonal heavens of man there o$erate meta$hysical forces inherent in himself and described by the same terms. .n the make'u$ of each of us e%ists a $sychic magnetic field of various forces determining our individual tem$eraments and tendencies and influencing our future. To those forces have also been given the names of Csun C CmoonC and $lanets and the science of their interaction and out-orking -as the ancient science of astronomy Page E* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst or as it is no- more often called astrology -hich is one of the liberal arts and sciences recommended to the study of every Mason and the $ursuit of -hich belongs in $articular to the ,ello-'&raft stage.

THE POSITIONS OF THE OFFICERS OF THE LODGE.

The seven 0fficers three $rinci$al and three subordinate ones -ith an additional minor one serving as a connecting link -ith the outside -orld re$resent seven as$ects or faculties of consciousness $sychologically interactive and co'ordinated into a unity so as to constitute a C@ust and $erfect Lodge.C #s a man any one of -hose faculties is disordered or uncoordinated is accounted insane so a Lodge -ould be im$erfect and inca$acitated for effective -ork if its functional mechanism -ere incom$lete. 3even is universally the number of com$leteness The time'$eriods of creation -ere seven. The s$ectrum of light consists of seven coloursB the musical scale of seven notesB our division of time is into -eeks of seven daysB our $hysiological changes run in cycles of seven years. Man himself is a seven'fold organism in corres$ondence -ith all these and the normal years of his life are seven multi$lied by ten. The CMaster C or &hief 0fficer in man is the s$iritual $rinci$le in him -hich is the a$e% and root of his being and to -hich all his subsidiary faculties should be subordinate and res$onsive. When the Master4s gavel knocks those of the Wardens at once re$eat the knocks. When the 1ivine Princi$le in man s$eaks in the de$th of his being the remaining $ortions of his nature should reverberate in sym$athy. Without the $resence of this 1ivine Princi$le in him man -ould be less than human. ?ecause of its $resence in him he can become more than human. ?y cultivating his consciousness of it he may become unified -ith it in $ro$ortion as he denies and renounces everything in himself that is less than divine. .t is the ine%tinguishable light of a Master Mason -hich being immortal and eternal continues to shine -hen everything tem$oral and mortal has disa$$eared. The 3enior Warden -hilst the Master4s chief e%ecutive officer is his antithesis and o$$osite $ole. 2e $ersonifies the soul the $sychic or animistic $rinci$le in man -hich if unassociated -ith and unillumined by the greater light of the 3$irit or Master'$rinci$le has no inherent light of its o-n at all. #t best he in the West can but reflect and transmit that greater light from the "ast as the moon receives and reflects sunlight. Wherefore in Masonry his light is s$oken of as the moon. .n /ature -hen the moon is not shone u$on by the sun it is invisible and virtually non'e%istent for usB -hen it is it is one of the most res$lendent of $henomena. 3imilarly human intelligence is valuable or negligible according as it is enlightened by the Master'light of the 1ivine Princi$le or merely darkly functioning from its o-n unillumined energies. .n the former case it is the chief e%ecutive faculty or transmitting medium of the 3u$reme WisdomB in the latter it can dis$lay nothing better than brute'reason. Mid-ay bet-een the Master'light from the "ast and the CMoonC in the West is $laced the 6unior Warden in the 3outh symboli>ing the third greater light the C3un.C #nd masonically the CsunC stands for the illuminated human intelligence and understanding -hich results from the material brain'mind being thoroughly $ermeated and enlightened by the 3$iritual Princi$leB it denotes these t-o in a state of balance and harmonious interaction the 6unior Warden $ersonifying the balance'$oint or meeting'$lace of man4s Page E< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst natural reason and his s$iritual intuition. #ccordingly it is he -ho as re$resenting this enlightened mental condition asserts in the 3econd 1egree 8-hich is the degree of $ersonal develo$ment -here that condition is theoretically achieved= that he has been enabled in that degree to discover a sacred symbol $laced in the centre of the building and alluding to the G.G.0.T.!. What is meant is of course that the man -ho has in reality 8and not merely ceremonially= advanced to the second degree of self'develo$ment has nodiscerned that God is not outside him but -ithin him and overshado-ing his o-n CbuildingC or organismB a discovery -hich he is thereu$on urged to follo- u$ -ith fervency and >eal so that he may more and more closely unify himself -ith this 1ivine Princi$le. This ho-ever is a $rocess reAuiring time effort and self'struggle. The unification is not achieved suddenly. There are found to be obstacles CenemiesC in the -ay obstructing it due to the as$irant4s o-n im$erfections and limitations. These must first be gradually overcome and it is the eradication of these -hich is alluded to in the sign of the degree indicating that he desires to cleanse his heart and cast a-ay all evil from it to $urify himself for closer alliance -ith that $ure Light. .t is only by this Csun'light C this ne-ly found illumination that he has become able to see into the de$ths of his o-n natureB and this is the C3unC -hich like 6oshua he $rays may Cstand stillC and its light be retained by him until he has achieved the conAuest of all these enemies. The $roblem of the much discredited biblical miracle of the sun standing still in the heavens disa$$ears -hen its true meaning is $erceived in the light of the inter$retation given by the com$ilers of the Masonic ritual -ho -ell kne- that it -as not the solar orb that -as miraculously stayed in its course in violation of natural la- but that the CsunC in Auestion denotes an enlightened $erce$tive state e%$erienced by every one -ho in this Cvalley of #@alonC undertakes the task of self'conAuest and Cfighting the battles of the LordC against his o-n lo-er $ro$ensities. We have no- s$oken of the 3enior and 6unior Wardens in their res$ective $sychological significances and as being described as the CMoonC and C3un.C .n this connection it is -ell to $oint out here that the lights of both Moon and 3un become e%tinguished in the darkness of the Third 1egree. .n the great -ork of self'transformation they are lights and hel$s u$ to a $oint. When that $oint is reached they are of no further availB the gri$ of each of them $roves a sli$ and the Master'Light or 1ivine Princi$le alone takes u$ and com$letes the regenerative change7 CThe sun shall be no more thy light by day neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto theeB but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light and thy God thy gloryB and the days of thy mourning shall be ended.C 8.s. l%. ()'*+=. The three lesser 0fficers and Tyler -ho -ith the three $rinci$al ones com$lete the e%ecutive se$tenary re$resent the three greater 0fficersK energies transmitted into the lo-er faculties of man4s organism. The 3enior 1eacon as the Master4s ad@utant and emissary forms the link bet-een "ast and West. The 6unior 1eacon as the 3enior Warden4s ad@utant and emissary forms the link bet-een West and 3outhB -hilst the .nner Guard acts under the immediate control of the 6unior Warden and in mutually refle% action -ith the 0uter Guard or contact'$oint -ith the outer -orld of sense'im$ressions. The -hole seven thus ty$ify the mechanism of human consciousnessB they re$resent a series of discrete but co'ordinated $arts connecting man4s outer nature -ith his inmost 1ivine Princi$le and $roviding the necessary channels for reci$rocal action bet-een the s$iritual and material $oles of his organism.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst .n other -ords and to use an alternative symbol of the same fact man is $otentially a seven'branched golden candlestick. Potentially so because as yet he has not transmuted the base metals of his nature into gold or lit u$ the seven candles or $arts of his organism -ith the Promethean fire of the 1ivine Princi$le. Mean-hile that symbol of -hat is $ossible to him is offered for his reflection and contem$lation and he may $rofitably study the descri$tion of regenerated $erfected man given in Revelation ( (*'*+. To summari>e the seven 0fficers ty$ify the follo-ing sevenfold $arts of the human mechanism7 W.M. 3.W. 6.W. 3.1. 6.1. ..G. 0.G. 3$irit 8Pneuma=. 3oul 8Psyche=. Mind 8/ous .ntellect=. The link bet-een 3$irit and 3oul. The link bet-een 3oul and Mind. The inner sense'nature 8astral=. The outer sense'nature 8$hysical=.

THE GREATER AND LESSER LIGHTS

The $ur$ose of .nitiation may be defined as follo-s7 it is to stimulate and a-aken the &andidate to direct cognition and irrefutable demonstration of facts and truths of his o-n being about -hich $reviously he has been either -holly ignorant or only notionally informedB it is to bring him into direct conscious contact -ith the Realities underlying the surface'images of things so that instead of holding merely beliefs or o$inions about himself the !niverse and God he is directly and convincingly confronted -ith Truth itselfB and finally it is to move him to become the Good and the Truth revealed to him by identifying himself -ith it. 8This is of course a gradual $rocess involving greater or less time and effort in $ro$ortion to the ca$acity and eAui$ment of the candidate himself.= The restoration to light of the candidate in the ,irst 1egree is therefore indicative of an im$ortant crisis. .t symboli>es the first enlargement of $erce$tion that thanks to his o-n earnest as$irations and the good offices of the guides and instructors to -hom he has yielded himself .nitiation brings him. .t reveals to him a threefold symbol referred to as the three great though emblematic lights in Masonry the 2oly ?ible 3Auare and &om$asses in a state of con@unction the t-o latter resting on the first'named as their ground or base. #s this tri$le symbol is the first ob@ect his out-ard eye ga>es u$on after enlightenment so in corres$ondence -hat they emblemati>e is the first truth his in-ard eye is meant to recogni>e and contem$late u$on. 2e is also made a-are of three emblematic lesser lights described as alluding to the C3un C CMoonC and CMaster of the Lodge C 8the $sychological significance of -hich has already been e%$lained in our inter$retation of the 0fficers of the Lodge=. /o- the fact is that the candidate can only see the three greater Lights by the hel$ of the three lesser ones. .n other -ords the lesser triad is the instrument by -hich he beholds the greater oneB it is his o-n $erce$tive faculty 8sub@ect= looking out u$on something larger 8ob@ect= -ith -hich it is not yet identified @ust as so small a thing as the eye can behold the e%$anse of the heavens and the finite mind can contem$late infinitude.

Page EH of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst What is im$lied then is that the lesser lights of the candidate4s normal finite intelligence are em$loyed to reveal to him the greater lights or fundamental essences of his as yet undevelo$ed being. # $igmy rudimentary consciousness is being made a-are of its submerged source and roots and $laced in shar$ contrast -ith the limitless $ossibilities available to it -hen those hidden de$ths have been develo$ed and brought into function. The candidate4s $roblem and destiny is to lose himself to find himself to unify his lesser -ith his greater lights so that he no longer functions merely -ith an elementary refle% consciousness but in alliance -ith the #ll'&onscious -ith -hich he has become identified. .n the Royal #rch 1egree he -ill discover that this identification of the lesser and greater lights has theoretically become achieved. The interlaced triangles of lights surrounding the central altar in that 3u$reme 1egree im$ly the union of $erce$tive faculty -ith the ob@ect of their contem$lationB the blending of the human and the 1ivine consciousness. What then do the three Greater Lights emblemati>e and -hat does their intimate con@unction connoteG 8(= The -ritten Word is the emblem and e%ternal e%$ression of the un-ritten "ternal Word the Logos or 3ubstantial Wisdom of 1eity out of -hich every living soul has emanated and -hich therefore is the ground or base of human life. C.n the beginning -as the Word and the Word -as -ith God and the Word -as GodB -ithout 2im -as not anything made that -as madeB in 2im -as life and the life -as the light of menB and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness com$rehendeth it not.C .n an intelligently conducted Lodge the 3acred 5olume should lie o$en at the first cha$ter of the Gos$el by 3t. 6ohn the $atron'saint of Masonry so that it may be these -ords that shall meet the candidate4s eyes -hen restored to light and remind him that the basis of his being is the 1ivine Word resident and shining -ithin his o-n darkness and ignorance -hich reali>e and com$rehend not that fact. 2e has lost all consciousness of that truth and this dereliction is the Clost WordC of -hich every Mason is theoretically in search and -hich -ith due instruction and his o-n industry he ho$es to find. ,inding that he -ill find all things for he -ill have found God -ithin himself. Let the candidate also reflect that it is the secret motions and $rom$tings of this Word -ithin him that have im$elled him to enter the &raft and to seek initiation into light. .n the -ords of a great initiate Cthy seeking is the cause of thy findingCB for the finding is but the final coming to self'consciousness of that in-ard force -hich first im$elled the Auest for light. 2ence it is that no one can $ro$erly enter the &raft or ho$e for real initiation if he @oins the 0rder from any less motive than that of finding God the Chid treasure C -ithin himself. 2is first $lace of $re$aration must needs be in the heart and his $aramount desire and heart'hunger must be for that Light -hich -hen attained is 0mniscience coming to consciousness in himB other-ise all ceremonial initiation -ill be -ithout avail and he -ill fail even to understand the e%ternal symbols and allegories of it. 8*= The 3Auare resting u$on the 3acred 5olume is the symbol of the human soul as it -as generated out of the 1ivine Word -hich underlies it. That soul -as created CsAuare C $erfect and like everything -hich $roceeded from the &reator4s hand -as originally $ronounced Cvery good C though invested -ith freedom of choice and ca$acity for error. The builder4s sAuare ho-ever used as a &raft symbol is really an a$$ro%imation of a triangle -ith its a$e% do-n-ards and base u$-ards -hich is Page E: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst a very ancient symbol of the soul and $sychic constitution of man and is kno-n as the Water Triangle. 8<= The &om$asses interlaced -ith the sAuare are the symbol of the 3$irit of the 3oul its functional energy or ,ire. 0f itself the soul -ould be a mere inert $assivity a negative Auantity unbalanced by a $ositive o$$osite. .ts active $ro$erties are the $roduct of the union of itself -ith its underlying and ins$iring 1ivine basis as modified by the good or evil tendencies of the soul itself. God Cbreathed into man the breath of life and man became no longer a soul -hich he -as $reviously but a living 8energi>ing= soul.C This $roduct or fiery energy of the soul is the 3$irit of man 8a good or evil force accordingly as he sha$es it= and is symboli>ed by -hat has al-ays been kno-n as the ,ire Triangle 8-ith a$e% u$-ard and base do-n-ard= -hich symbol is a$$ro%imately re$roduced in the &om$asses. To summari>eB the three Greater Lights emblemati>e the ine%tricably inter-oven triadic ground-ork of man4s beingB 8(= the 1ivine Word or 3ubstance as its foundationB 8*= a $assive soul emanated therefromB 8<= an active s$irit or energi>ing ca$acity generated in the soul as the result of the interaction of the former t-o. Man himself therefore 8vie-ed a$art from the tem$oral body no- clothing him= is a triadic unit rooted in and $roceeding from the basic 1ivine 3ubstance. 0bserve that in the ,irst 1egree the $oints of the &om$asses are hidden by the 3Auare. .n the 3econd 1egree one $oint is disclosed. .n the Third both are e%hibited. The im$lication is that as the &andidate $rogresses the inertia and negativity of the soul become increasingly transmuted and su$erseded by the $ositive energy and activity of the 3$irit. The ,ire Triangle gradually assumes $re$onderance over the Water Triangle signifying that the #s$irant becomes a more vividly living and s$iritually conscious being than he -as at first.

OPENING AND CLOSING THE LODGE

FIRST OR ENTERED APPRENTICE DEGREE
.f the Lodge -ith its a$$ointments and officers be a sacramental figure of oneself and of the mechanism of $ersonal consciousness o$ening the Lodge in the successive 1egrees im$lies ability to e%$and o$en u$ and intensify that consciousness in three distinct stages sur$assing the normal level a$$licable to ordinary mundane affairs. This fact $asses unrecogni>ed in Masonic Lodges. The o$enings and closings are regarded as but so much casual formality devoid of interior $ur$ose or meaning -hereas they are ceremonies of the highest instructiveness and rites -ith a distinctive $ur$ose -hich should not be $rofaned by casual $erfunctory $erformance or -ithout understanding -hat they im$ly. #s a flo-er Co$ens its LodgeC -hen it unfolds its $etals and dis$lays its centre to the sun -hich vitali>es it so the o$ening of a Masonic Lodge is sacramental of o$ening out the Page E; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst human mind and heart to God. .t is a dramati>ed form of the $sychological $rocesses involved in so doing. Three degrees or stages of such o$ening are $ostulated. ,irst one a$$ro$riate to the a$$rentice stage of develo$mentB a sim$le 3ursum cordaJ or call to Clift u$ your heartsJC above the everyday level of e%ternal things. 3econd a more advanced o$ening ada$ted to those -ho are themselves more advanced in the science and ca$able of greater things than a$$rentices. This o$ening is $roclaimed to be Cu$on the sAuare C -hich the ,irst 1egree o$ening is not. ?y -hich is im$lied that it is one s$ecially involving the use of the $sychic and higher intellectual nature 8denoted as $reviously e%$lained by the 3Auare or Water Triangle=. Third a still more advanced o$ening declared to be Cu$on the centre C for those of Master Mason4s rank and $ointing to an o$ening u$ of consciousness to the very centre and de$ths of one4s being. 2o- far and to -hat degree any of us is able to o$en his $ersonal Lodge determines our real $osition in Masonry and discloses -hether -e are in very fact Masters &raftsmen or #$$rentices or only titularly such. Progress in this as in other things comes only -ith intelligent $ractice and sustained sincere effort. ?ut -hat is Auite overlooked and desirable to em$hasi>e is the $o-er as an initiatory force of an assemblage of individuals each sufficiently $rogressed and com$etent to Co$en his LodgeC in the sense described. 3uch an assembly gathered in one $lace and acting -ith a common definite $ur$ose creates as it -ere a vorte% in the mental and $sychical atmos$here into -hich a ne-ly initiated candidate is dra-n. The tension created by their collective energy of thought and -ill $rogressively intensifying as the Lodge is o$ened in each successive degree and corres$ondingly rela%ing as each 1egree is closed acts and leaves a $ermanent effect u$on the candidate 8assuming al-ays that he is eAually in earnest and C$ro$erly $re$aredC in an interior sense= inducing a favourable mental and s$iritual ra$$ort bet-een him and those -ith -hom he seeks to be elevated into organic s$iritual membershi$B and further it both stimulates his $erce$tivity and causes his mentality to become charged and $ermeated -ith the ideas and u$lifting influences $ro@ected u$on him by his initiators. The fact that a candidate is not admitted -ithin the Lodge'$ortals -ithout certain assurances safeguards and tests and that even then he is menaced by the s-ord of the ..G. is an indication that $eril to the mental and s$iritual organism is recogni>ed as attending the $resum$tuous engaging in the things -ith -hich .nitiation deals. #s the flaming s-ord is described as kee$ing the -ay to the Tree of Life from those as yet unfitted to a$$roach it so does the secret la- of the 3$irit still avenge itself u$on those -ho are unAualified to $artici$ate in the kno-ledge of its mysteries. 2ence the commandment CThou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain C that is by invoking 1ivine "nergy for un-orthy or vain $ur$oses. 2ere and u$on the general sub@ect of the signs tokens and -ords em$loyed and communicated in .nitiatory Rites may usefully be Auoted the follo-ing -ords by a -ell' informed Mason -ho is of course s$eaking of them not as the merely $erfunctory acts they are in ordinary Lodges but as they are -hen intelligently em$loyed by those fully instructed in s$iritual science and able to use signs tokens and -ords -ith dynamic $o-er and real efficiency7 CThe symbols of the Mysteries embodied in the sign of the 3Auare and &ircle constitute the eternal language of the gods the same in all -orlds from all eternity. They have had Page E9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst neither beginning of years nor end of days. They are contem$orary -ith time and -ith eternity. They are the Word of God the 1ivine Logos articulate and e%$ressed in forms of language. "ach sign $ossesses a corres$onding vocal e%$ression bodily gesture or mental intention. This fact is of great im$ortance to the student of the Wisdom for in it rests the main reason of the secrecy and the intense -atchfulness and carefulness of the ste-ards of the Mysteries lest the secret doctrines find e%$ression on the li$s or through the action of unfit $ersons to $ossess the secrets. ,or the secret $o-er of the Mysteries is -ithin the signs. #ny $erson attaining to natural and su$ernatural states by the $rocess of develo$ment if his heart be untuned and his mind -ithdra-n from the 1ivine to the human -ithin him that $o-er becomes a $o-er of evil instead of a $o-er of good. #n unfaithful initiate in the degree of the Mysteries he has attained is ca$able by virtue of his antecedent $re$arations and $rocesses of diverting the $o-er to unholy demoniacal astral and dangerous uses. . . . . . The use of the signs the vocal sounds $hysical acts and mental intentions -as absolutely $rohibited e%ce$t under rigorously tested conditions. ,or instance the utterance of a symbolical sound or a $hysical act corres$onding to a sign belonging to a given degree in a congregation of an inferior degree -as fatal in its effects. .n each degree no initiates -ho have not attained that degree are admitted to its congregations. 0nly initiates of that degree and above it are ca$able of sustaining the $ressure of dynamic force generated in the s$iritual atmos$here and concentrated in that degree. The actual mental e@aculation of a sign under such circumstances brought the immediate $utting forth of an occult $o-er corres$onding to it. .n all the congregations of the initiates an .nner Guard -as stationed -ithin the sanctuary chancel or oratory at the door of entrance -ith the dra-n s-ord in his hand to -ard off unAualified tres$assers and intruders. .t -as no mere formal or meta$horical $erformance. .t -as at the risk of the life of any man attem$ting to make an entrance if he succeeded in crossing the threshold. 3ecret signs and $ass-ords and other tests -ere a$$lied to all -ho knocked at the door before admission -as granted. The $ossession of the Mysteries after initiation and the use of the signs either vocally actionally or e@aculatorily -ith CintentionC in their use 8not as mere mechanical re$etition= -ere attended by occult $o-ers directed to the sub@ects of their s$ecial intention -hether absent or $resent or for $ur$oses beneficial to the cause in contem$lation.C 82. ". 3am$son4s Progressive Redem$tion $$. (;('(;E=. To Co$en the LodgeC of one4s o-n being to the higher verities is no sim$le task for those -ho have closed and sealed it by their o-n habitual thought'modes $reconce$tions and distrust of -hatever is not sensibly demonstrable. Yet all these $ro$ensities must be eradicated or shut out and the Lodge close tyled against themB they have no $art or $lace in the things of the in-ard man. "ffort and $ractice also are needed to attain stability of mind control of emotion and thought and to acAuire interior stillness and the harmony of all our $arts. #s the formal ceremony of Lodge'o$ening is achieved only by the organi>ed co' o$eration of its constituent officers so the due o$ening of our inner man to God can only be accom$lished by the consensus of all our $arts and faculties. #bsence or failure of any $art invalidates the -hole. The W.M. alone cannot o$en the LodgeB he can only invite his brethren to assist him to do so by a concerted $rocess and the unified -ills of his subordinates. 3o too -ith o$ening the Lodge of man4s soul. 2is s$iritual -ill as master' faculty summons his other faculties to assist itB Csees that none but Masons are $resentC by taking care that his thoughts and motives in a$$roaching God are $ureB calls all these CbrethrenC to order to $rove their due Aualification for the -ork in handB and only then after seeing that the Lodge is $ro$erly formed does he undertake the res$onsibility of Page E) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst invoking the descent of the 1ivine blessing and influ% u$on the unified and dedicated -hole. 0f all -hich the Psalmist -rites7 C2o- good and @oyful a thing it is for brethren to d-ell together in unity. . . . . .t is like the $recious ointment 8anointing= -hich flo-s do-n unto the skirts of the clothing C im$lying that the 1ivine influ% -hen it descends in res$onse to such an invocation floods and illuminates the entire human organism even to its carnal sense'e%tremities 8-hich are the Cskirts of the clothingC of the soul=. &om$are also the &hristian Master4s -ords7 CWhen thou $rayest enter into thy secret chamber 8the Lodge of the soul= and -hen thou hast shut thy door 8by tyling the mind to all out-ard concerns and thoughts= $ray to the ,ather -ho seeth in secret -ho shall re-ard thee o$enlyC 8by conscious communion=. The foregoing may hel$ both to inter$ret the meaning and solemn $ur$ose of the 0$ening in the ,irst 1egree and to indicate the nature of the conditions and s$iritual atmos$here that ought to e%ist -hen a Lodge is o$en for business in that 1egree. .f the Lodge'o$ening be a real o$ening in the sense here indicated and not a mere ceremonial form if the conditions and atmos$here referred to -ere actually induced at a Masonic meeting it -ill be at once a$$arent that they must needs react $o-erfully u$on a candidate -ho enters them seeking initiation and s$iritual advancement. .f he be truly a -orthy candidate $ro$erly $re$ared in his heart and an earnest seeker for the light the mere fact of his entering such an atmos$here -ill so im$ress and a-aken his dormant soul'faculties as in itself to constitute an initiation and an indelible memory -hilst the sensitive'$late of his mind thus stimulated -ill be readily rece$tive of the ideas $ro@ected into it by the assembled brethren -ho are initiating him and receiving him into s$iritual communion -ith themselves. 0n the other hand if he be an un-orthy or not $ro$erly $re$ared candidate that atmos$here and those conditions -ill $rove re$ellent to him and he -ill himself be the first to -ish to -ithdra- and not to re$eat the e%$erience. The &losing of the ,irst 1egree im$lies the reverse $rocess of the 0$eningB the rela%ing of the in-ard energies and the return of the mind to its former habitual level. Yet not -ithout gratitude e%$ressed for 1ivine favours and $erce$tions received during the $eriod of o$enness or -ithout a counsel to kee$ closed the book of the heart and lay aside the use of its @e-els until -e are duly called to resume themB since silence and secrecy are essential to the gestation and gro-th of the in-ard man. C2e -ho has seen God is dumb.C

SECOND OR FELLOW-CRAFT DEGREE

The 0$ening of the 3econd 1egree $resu$$oses an ability to o$en u$ the inner nature and consciousness to a much more advanced stage than is $ossible to the beginner -ho in theory is su$$osed to undergo a long $eriod of disci$line and a$$renticeshi$ in the elementary -ork of self'$re$aration and to be able to satisfy certain tests that he has done so before being Aualified for advancement to the ,ello-'craft stage of self'building. #gain that o$ening may be a $ersonal -ork for the individual Mason or a collective -ork in an assembly of ,ello-'crafts and su$erior Masons to $ass an #$$rentice to ,ello-'craft rank. The title admitting the Aualified #$$rentice to a ,ello-'craft Lodge is one of great significance -hich ordinarily $asses -ithout any observation or understanding of its Page H+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $ro$riety. .t is said to denote Cin $lentyC and to be illustrated by an Cear of corn near to a fall of -aterC 8-hich t-o ob@ects are literally the meaning of the 2ebre- -ord in Auestion=. .t is desirable to observe that this is meant to be descri$tive of the candidate himself and of his o-n s$iritual condition. .t is he -ho is as an ear of corn $lanted near and nourished by a fall of -ater. 2is o-n s$iritual gro-th as achieved in the #$$rentice stage is ty$ified by the ri$ening cornB the fertili>ing cause of its gro-th being the do-n' $ouring u$on his inner nature of the vivifying de- of heaven as the result of his as$iration to-ards the light. The -ork a$$ro$riated to the #$$rentice 1egree is that of gaining $urity and control of his grosser nature its a$$etites and affections. .t is symboli>ed by -orking the rough ashlar as dug from the Auarry into due sha$e for building $ur$oses. The CAuarryC is the undifferentiated ra- material or grou$'soul of humanity from -hich he has issued into individuated e%istence in this -orld -here his function is to convert himself into a true die or sAuare meet for the fabric of the Tem$le designed by the Great #rchitect to be built in the 6erusalem above out of $erfected human souls. The a$$rentice'-ork -hich relates to the subdual of the sense'nature and its $ro$ensities being achieved the ne%t stage is the develo$ment and control of the intellectual natureB the investigation of the Chidden $aths of nature 8i.e. the human $sychological nature= and scienceC 8the gnosis of self'kno-ledge -hich $ushed to its limit the candidate is told Cleads to the throne of God 2imselfC and reveals the ultimate secrets of his o-n nature and the basic $rinci$les of intellectual as distinct from moral truth=. .t should be noted that the candidate is told that he is no- C$ermitted to e%tend his researchesC into these hidden $aths. There is $eril to the mentality of the candidate if this -ork is undertaken before the $urifications of the #$$rentice stage have been accom$lished. 2ence the $ermission is not accorded until that $reliminary task has been done and duly tested. The -ork of the 3econd 1egree is accordingly a $urely $hiloso$hical -ork involving dee$ $sychological self'analysis e%$erience of unusual $henomena as the $sychic faculties of the soul begin to unfold themselves and the a$$rehension of abstract Truth 8formerly described as mathematics=. This -ork is altogether beyond both the mental hori>on and the ca$acity of the average modern Mason though in the Mysteries of antiAuity the Mathesis 8or mental disci$line= -as an outstanding feature and $roduced the intellectual giants of Greek $hiloso$hy. 2ence it is that to'day the 1egree is found dull un$icturesAue and unattractive since $sychic e%$erience and intellectual $rinci$les cannot be made s$ectacular and dramatic. The Ritual runs that our ancient brethren of this 1egree met in the $orch-ay of Iing 3olomon4s Tem$le. This is a -ay of saying that natural $hiloso$hy is the $orch-ay to the attainment of 1ivine WisdomB that the study of man leads to kno-ledge of God by revealing to man the ultimate divinity at the base of human nature. This study or self' analysis of human nature Plato called GeometryB earth'measuringB the $robing sounding and determining the limits $ro$ortions and $otentialities of our $ersonal organism in its $hysical and $sychical as$ects. The ordinary natural consciousness is directed out-ardsB $erceives only out-ard ob@ectsB thinks only of an out-ard 1eity se$arate and a-ay from us. .t can accordingly cogni>e only shado-s images and illusions. The science of the Mysteries directs that that $rocess must be reversed. .t says7 C6ust as you have symbolically shut and close'tyled the door of your Lodge against all outsiders so you must shut out all $erce$tion of out-ard images all desire for e%ternal things and material -elfare and turn Page H( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst your consciousness and as$irations -holly in-ard. ,or the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le the Iingdom of 2eaven is -ithin youB it is not to be found outside you. Like the $rodigal son in the $arable you have -andered a-ay from it into a far country and lost all consciousness of it. You have come do-n and do-n as by a s$iral motion or a -inding staircase into this lo-er -orld and im$erfect form of e%istenceB coiling around you as you came increasingly thickening vestures culminating in your outermost dense body of fleshB -hilst your mentality has -oven about you veil after veil of illusory notions concerning your real nature and the nature of true Life. /o- the time and the im$ulse have at last come for you to turn back to that in-ard -orld. Therefore reverse your ste$s. Look no longer out-ards but in-ards. Go back u$ that same -inding staircase. .t -ill bring you to that &entre of Life and 3anctum 3anctorum from -hich you have -andered.C When the Psalmist -rites CWho -ill go u$ the hill of the LordG "ven he that hath clean hands and a $ure heart C the meaning is identical -ith -hat is im$lied in the ascent of the in-ardly C-inding staircaseC of the 3econd 1egree. Preliminary $urification of the mind is essential to its rising to $urer realms of being and loftier conscious states than it has been accustomed to. .f Cthe secrets of nature and the $rinci$les of intellectual truthC are to become revealed to its vie- as the 1egree intends and $romises the mentality must not be fettered by mundane interests or sub@ect to disturbance by carnal $assions. .f it is to Ccontem$late its o-n intellectual faculties and trace them from their develo$mentC until they are found to Clead to the throne of God 2imselfC and to be rooted in 1eity it must discard all its former thought'habits $re@udices and $reconce$tions and be $re$ared to receive humbly the illumination that -ill flood into it from the Light of 1ivine Wisdom. ,or the determined student of the mental disci$line im$lied by the 3econd 1egree there may be recommended t-o most instructive sources of information and e%am$les of $ersonal e%$erience. 0ne is the 1ialogues of Plato and the -ritings of Plotinus and other /eo'Platonists. The other is the records of the classical &hristian contem$latives such as "ckhart or Ruysbroeck or the C.nterior &astleC of 3t. Theresa. The PhDdrus of Plato in $articular is an im$ortant record by an initiate of the ancient Mysteries of the $sychological e%$eriences referred to in the ,ello-'&raft 1egree. The sub@ect is too lengthy for further e%$osition here beyond again indicating that it is in the illumined mental condition attained in this 1egree that the discovery is made of the 1ivine Princi$le at the centre of our organismB and that the sign of the 1egree is eAuivalent to a $rayer that the sunlight of that e%alted state may Cstand stillC and $ersist in us until -e have effected the overthro- of all our CenemiesC and eradicated all obstacles to our union -ith that Princi$le. The reference to our ancient brethren receiving their -ages at the $orch-ay of the Tem$le of Wisdom is an allusion to an e%$erience common to every one in the ,ello-'&raft stage of develo$ment. 2e learns that old scores due by him to his fello-men must be $aid off and old -rongs righted and receives the -ages of $ast sins recorded u$on his subconsciousness by that $encil that observes and there records all our thoughts -ords and actions. The candidate leading the $hiloso$hic life reali>es that he is @ustly entitled to those -ages and receives them -ithout scru$le or diffidence kno-ing himself to be @ustly entitled to them and only too glad to e%$iate and $urge himself of old offences. ,or -e are all debtors to some one or other for our $resent $osition in life and must re$ay -hat -e o-e to humanity $erha$s -ith tears or adversity before -e straighten our account -ith that eternal 6ustice -ith -hich -e as$ire to become allied. Page H* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

THIRD, OR MASTER-MASON'S DEGREE

?efore dealing -ith the o$ening and closing of the Third 1egree it should be observed that in the Lodge symbolism the teaching of the ,irst and 3econd 1egrees is carried for-ard into the Third. The traditional Tracing'?oard of the Third 1egree e%hibits in combination (. *. <. E. the cheAuered floor'-ork the t-o $illars at the $orch-ay of the Tem$le the -inding staircase and a dormer'-indo- above the $orch-ay.

The brief e%$lanation is given that the cheAuer'-ork is for the 2igh Priest to -alk u$on and the dormer'-indo- is that -hich gave light to it. The entire symbol is but one com$rehensive gly$h or $ictorial diagram of the condition of a candidate as$iring to Master Mason4s rank. #s high $riest of his o-n $ersonal tem$le he must have his bodily nature and its varied desires under foot. 2e must have develo$ed strength of -ill and character to C-alk u$onC this cheAuer'-ork and -ithstand its a$$eals. 2e must also be able to ascend the -inding staircase of his inner nature to educate and habituate his mentality to higher conscious states and so establish it there that he -ill be unaffected by seductive or affrighting $erce$tions that there may meet him. ?y the cultivation of this CstrengthC and the ability to CestablishC himself u$on the loftier conscious levels he co'ordinates the t-o $illars at the $orch-ay of his inmost sanctuary namely the $hysical and $sychical su$$orts of his organism and acAuires the CstabilityC involved in regeneration and reAuisite to him before $assing on to Cthat last and greatest trialC -hich a-aits him. C.n strength -ill . establish My house that it may stand firm.C Man4s $erfected organism is -hat is meant by CMy house.C .t -as the same organism and the same stability that the &hristian Master s$oke of in saying C!$on this rock -ill . build my church and the gates of the under-orld shall not $revail against it.C 1uring all the disci$line and labour involved in attaining this stability there has shone light on the $ath from the first moment that his #$$rentice4s vision -as o$ened to larger truthB light from the science and $hiloso$hy of the 0rder itself -hich is $roving his C$orch-ayC to the ultimate sanctuary -ithinB light from friendly hel$ers and instructorsB above all light from the sun in his o-n Cheavens C streaming through the Cdormer'-indo-C of his illumined intelligence and slo-ly but surely guiding his feet into the -ay of $eace. ?ut no- the last and greatest trial of his fortitude and fidelity one im$osing u$on him a still more serious obligation of endurance a-aits him in the total -ithdra-al of this kindly light. 2itherto although guided by that light he has $rogressed in virtue of his o-n natural $o-ers and efforts. /o- the time has come -hen those $ro$s have to be removed -hen all reliance u$on natural abilities self'-ill and the normal rational understanding must be surrendered and the as$irant must abandon himself utterly to the transformative action of his 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le alone $assively suffering it to com$lete the -ork in entire inde$endence of his lesser faculties. 2e must Close his life to save itCB he must surrender all that he has hitherto felt to be his life in order to find life of an altogether higher order. 2ence the Third 1egree is that of mystical death of -hich bodily death is taken as figurative @ust as bodily birth is taken in the ,irst 1egree as figurative of entrance u$on the $ath of regeneration. .n all the Mystery'systems of the $ast -ill be found this degree of Page H< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst mystical death as an outstanding and essential feature $rior to the final stage of $erfection or regeneration. #s an illustration one has only to refer to a sectional diagram of the Great Pyramid of "gy$t -hich -as so constructed as to be not merely a tem$le of initiation but to record in $ermanent form the $rinci$les u$on -hich regeneration is attainable. .ts entrance $assage e%tends for some distance into the building as a narro- ascending channel through -hich the $ostulant -ho desires to reach the centre must cree$ in no small discomfort and restrictedness. This -as to emblematise the disci$line and u$'hill labour of self'$urification reAuisite in the #$$rentice 1egree. #t a certain $oint this restricted $assage o$ens out into a long and lofty gallery still u$on a stee$ly rising gradient u$ -hich the $ostulant had to $ass but in a condition of ease and liberty. This -as to symboli>e the condition of illumination and e%$anded intellectual liberty associated -ith the ,ello-'craft 1egree. .t ended at a $lace -here the candidate once more had to force his -ay on hands and knees through the smallest a$erture of all one that led to the central chamber in -hich stood and still stands the great sarco$hagus in -hich he -as $laced and under-ent the last su$reme ordeal and -hence he -as raised from the dead initiated and $erfected. The title of admission communicated to the candidate for the Third 1egree is note-orthy as also the reason for it. .t is a 2ebre- name said to be that of the first artificer in metals and to mean Cin -orldly $ossessions.C /o- it -ill be obvious that the name of the first man -ho -orked at metal'making in the ordinary sense can be of no $ossible interest or concern to us to'day nor has the information the least bearing u$on the sub@ect of human regeneration. .t is obviously a veil of allegory concealing some relevant truth. 3uch it -ill be found to be u$on recogni>ing that 2ebre- ?iblical names re$resent not $ersons but $ersonifications of s$iritual $rinci$les and that ?iblical history is not ordinary history of tem$oral events but a record of eternally true s$iritual facts. The matter is therefore inter$retable as follo-s7 We kno- from the teaching of the "ntered #$$rentice 1egree -hat Cmoney and metalsC are in the Masonic sense and that they re$resent the attractive $o-er of tem$oral $ossessions and earthly belongings and affections of -hatever descri$tion. We kno- too that from the attraction and seductiveness of these things and even from the desire for them it is essential to be absolutely free if one desires to attain that Light and those riches of Wisdom for -hich the candidate $rofesses to long. /ot that it is necessary for him to become literally and $hysically dis$ossessed of -orldly $ossessions but it is essential that he should be so utterly detached from them that he cares not -hether he o-ns any or not and is content if need be to be divested of them entirely if they stand in the -ay of his finding Ctreasure in heavenCB for so long as he clings to them or they e%ercise control over him so long -ill his initiation into anything better be deferred. .t follo-s then that it is the $ersonal soul of the candidate himself -hich is the Cartificer in metalsC referred to and -hich during the -hole of its $hysical e%istence has been engaged in trafficking -ith Cmetals.C 1esire for -orldly $ossessions for sensation and e%$erience in this out-ard -orld of good and evil brought the soul into this -orld. There it has -oven around itself its $resent body of flesh every desire and thought being an CartificerC adding something to or modifying its natural encasement. The Greek $hiloso$hers used to teach that souls secrete their bodies as a snail secretes his shell and our o-n $oet 3$enser truly -rote7

Page HE of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst C,or of the soul the body form doth take #nd soul is form and doth the body make.C .f then desire for $hysical e%$erience and material things brought the soul into material conditions 8as is also indicated in the great $arable of the Prodigal 3on= the relinAuishing of that desire is the first necessary ste$ to ensure its return to the condition -hence it first emanated. 3atiation -ith and conseAuent disgust at the ChusksC of things instigated the Prodigal 3on to as$ire to return home. 3imilar re$letion and revolt drives many a man to lose all desire for e%ternal things and to seek for $eace -ithin himself and there redirect his energies in Auest of $ossessions -hich are abiding and real. This is the moment of his true Cconversion C and the moment -hen he is ri$e for initiation into the hidden Mysteries of his o-n being. The ,irst and 3econd 1egrees of Masonry im$ly that the candidate has undergone lengthy disci$line in the renunciation of e%ternal things and the cultivation of desire for those that are -ithin. ?ut not-ithstanding that he has $assed through all the disci$line of those 1egrees he is re$resented at the end of them as being still not entirely $urified and to be still Cin -orldly $ossessionsC in the sense that a residue of attraction by them and reliance u$on himself lingers in his heartB and it is these last subtle close'clinging elements of Cbase metalC in him that need to be eradicated if $erfection is to be attained. The ingrained defects and tendencies of the soul as the result of all its $ast habits and e%$eriences are not suddenly eliminated or easily subdued. 3elf'-ill and $ride are very subtle in their nature and may continue to deceive their victim long after he has $urged himself of grosser faults. #s &ain -as the murderer of #bel so every taint of base metal in oneself debases the gold of the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le. .t must be renounced died to and transmuted in the crucial $rocess of the Third 1egree. 2ence it is that the candidate is entrusted -ith a name that designates himself at this stage and that indicates that he is still Cin -orldly $ossessionsBC that is that some residue of the s$irit of this -orld yet lingers in him -hich it is necessary to eliminate from his nature before he can be raised to the sublime degree of Master. "%amination of the te%t of the o$ening and closing of the Lodge in the Third 1egree discloses the -hole of the $hiloso$hy u$on -hich the Masonic system is reared. .t indicates that the human soul has originated in the eternal "ast that C"astC being referable to the -orld of 3$irit and not to any geogra$hical direction and that thence it has directed its course to-ards the CWestC the material -orld -hich is the anti$odes of the s$iritual and into -hich the soul has -andered. .ts $ur$ose in so @ourneying from s$iritual to $hysical conditions is declared to be the Auest and recovery of something it has lost but -hich by its o-n industry and suitable instruction it ho$es to find. ,rom this it follo-s that the loss itself occurred $rior to its descent into this -orld other-ise that descent -ould not have been necessary. What it is that has been lost is not e%$licitly declared but is im$lied and is stated to form Cthe genuine secrets of a Master Mason.C .t is the loss of a -ord or rather of The Word the 1ivine Logos or basic root and essence of our o-n being. .n other -ords the soul of man has ceased to be God'conscious and has degenerated into the limited terrestrial consciousness of the ordinary human being. .t is in the condition s$oken of in the cosmic $arable of #dam -hen e%truded from "den an e%ile from the 1ivine Presence and condemned to toil and trouble. The Auest after this lost Word is declared by the Wardens to have been so far abortive and to have resulted in the discovery not of that Reality but of substitutional images of it. #ll -hich im$lies that in the strength of merely his natural tem$oral intelligence man can find and kno- nothing more in this -orld than Page HH of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst shado-s images and $henomenal forms of realities -hich abide eternally and noumenally in the -orld of 3$irit to -hich his tem$oral faculties are at $resent closed. Yet there remains a -ay of regaining consciousness of that higher -orld and life. .t is by bringing into function a no- dormant and submerged faculty resident at the de$th and centre of his being. That dormant faculty is the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le -hich e%ists as the central $oint of the circle of his individuality. #s the out-ard !niverse is the e%ternali>ed $ro@ection of an ind-elling immanent 1eity so is the out-ard individual man the e%ternali>ation and diffusion of an inherent 1ivine germ albeit $erverted and distorted by $ersonal self'-ill and desire -hich have dislocated and shut off his consciousness from his root of being. Recover contact -ith that central 1ivine Princi$le by a voluntary renunciation of the intervening obstructions and inharmonious elements in oneself and man at once ceases to be merely the rationali>ed animal he no- is and becomes grafted u$on a ne- and 1ivine life'$rinci$le a sharer of 0mniscience and a co'o$erator -ith 1eity. 2e recovers the lost and genuine secrets of his o-n being and has for ever finished -ith substitutions shado-s and simulacra of Reality. 2e reaches a $oint and lives from a centre from -hich no Master Mason can ever err or -ill ever again desire to err for it is the end ob@ect and goal of his e%istence. Mean-hile until actual recovery of that lost secret man must $ut u$ -ith its substitutions and regard these as sacramental of concealed realities contact -ith -hich -ill be his great re-ard if he submits himself to the conditions u$on -hich alone he may discover them. The e%istence of those realities and the regimen essential to their en@oyment are inculcated by Masonry as they have been by every other initiatory 0rder of the $ast and it is for the fact that this kno-ledge is and al-ays has been conserved in the -orld so as to be ever available for earnest as$irants to-ards it that gratitude is e%$ressed to the Grand Master of all for having never left 2imself or the -ay of return to 2im -ithout -itness in this outer -orld. #s much has been said about the &eremony of the Third 1egree in other $a$ers it is unnecessary here to e%$ound it further. .t may be stated ho-ever that it alone constitutes the Masonic .nitiation. The ,irst and 3econd 1egrees are strictly but $re$aratory stages leading u$ to .nitiationB they are not the .nitiation itselfB they but $rescribe the $urification of the bodily and mental nature necessary to Aualify the candidate for the end -hich cro-ns the -hole -ork. To those unacAuainted -ith -hat is really involved in actual as distinct from merely ceremonial initiation and -ho have no notion of -hat initiation meant in the old schools of Wisdom and still means for those -ho understand the theory of Regenerative 3cience it is -ell nigh im$ossible to convey any idea of its $rocess or its results. The modern Mason ho-ever high in titular rank is as little Aualified to understand the sub@ect as the man -ho has never entered a Lodge. CTo become initiated 8or $erfected= C says an old authority Plutarch Cinvolves dyingCB not a $hysical death but a moral -ay of dying in -hich the soul is loosened from the body and the sensitive life and becoming tem$orarily detached therefrom is set free to enter the -orld of "ternal Light and .mmortal ?eing. This after most drastic $reliminary disci$lines -as achieved in a state of trance and under the su$ervision of duly Aualified Masters and #de$ts -ho intromitted the candidate4s liberated soul into its o-n interior $rinci$les until it at last reached the ?la>ing 3tar or Glory at its o-n &entre in the light of -hich it simultaneously kne- itself and God and reali>ed their unity and the C$oints of fello-shi$C bet-een them. Then it -as that from this at once a-ful and sublime e%$erience the initiated soul -as brought back to Page H: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst its bodily encasement again and Creunited to the com$anions of its former toils C to resume its tem$oral life but -ith conscious reali>ation of Life "ternal su$eradded to its kno-ledge and its $o-ers. Then only -as it entitled to the name of Master Mason. Then only could it e%claim in the -ords of another initiate 8"m$edocles= C,are-ell all earthly alliesB henceforth am . no mortal -ight but an immortal angel ascending u$ into 1ivinity and reflecting u$on that likeness of it -hich . have found in myself.C The CsecretsC of ,reemasonry and of initiation are largely connected -ith this $rocess of introversion of the soul to its o-n &entre and beyond this brief reference to the sub@ect it is ine%$edient here to say more. ?ut in confirmation of -hat has been indicated it may be useful to refer to the *<rd Psalm in -hich the 2ebre- .nitiates s$eak of both the su$reme e%$erience of being $assed through Cthe valley of the shado- of deathC and the $reliminary $hases of mental $re$aration for that ordeal. 3tri$$ing that familiar $salm of the gorgeous meta$hor given it in the beautiful ?iblical translation its real meaning may be $ara$hrased and e%$lained for Masonic students as follo-s7'' CThe 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le -ithin me is my .nitiatorB and is all'sufficient to lead me to God. .t has made me lie do-n 8in self'disci$line and humiliation= in Cgreen $asturesC of meditation and mental sustenance. .t has led me beside Cstill -atersC of contem$lation 8as distinct from the Crough sea of $assionC of my natural self=. .t is restoring my soul 8reintegrating it out of chaos and disorder=. "ven -hen . come to $ass through the valley of deadly gloom 8my o-n interior veils of darkness= . -ill fear no evilB for .t is -ith me 8as a guiding star=B .ts directions and disci$lines -ill safeguard me. .t $rovides me -ith the means of overcoming my inner enemies and -eaknessesB .t anoints my intelligence -ith the oil of -isdomB the cu$ of my mind brims over -ith ne- light and consciousness. The 1ivine Love and Truth -hich . shall find face to face at my centre -ill be a conscious $resence to me all the days of my tem$oral lifeB and thereafter . shall d-ell in a Chouse of the LordC 8a glorified s$iritual body= for ever.C The Third 1egree is com$leted in and can only be more fully e%$ounded by reference to the 2oly Royal #rch &eremony. # se$arate further $a$er -ill therefore be devoted to that &eremony.

THE MASONIC APRON

,rom -hat has been said in these $ages the full significance of the #$ron -ill no- be $erceived and may be summari>ed thus7'' (. The #$ron is the symbol of the cor$oreal vesture and condition of the soul 8not so much of the tem$oral $hysical body as of its $ermanent invisible cor$oreity -hich -ill survive the death of the mortal $art=. Page H; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst *. The soul fabricates its o-n body or Ca$ronC by its o-n desires and thoughts 8see Genesis ... ; Cthey made themselves a$ronsC= and as these are $ure or im$ure so -ill that body be corres$ondingly trans$arent and -hite or dense and o$aAue. <. The investiture of the candidate -ith the #$ron in each 1egree by the 3enior Warden as the Master4s delegate for that $ur$ose is meant to inculcate this truthB for the 3enior Warden re$resents the soul -hich in accordance -ith its o-n s$irituality automatically clothes itself -ith its o-n self'made vesture in a -ay that marks its o-n $rogress or regress. E. The unadorned -hite #$ron of the ,irst 1egree indicates the $urity of soul contem$lated as being attained in that 1egree. H. The $ale blue rosettes added to the #$ron in the 3econd 1egree indicate that $rogress is being made in the science of regeneration and that the candidate4s s$irituality is beginning to develo$ and bud through. ?lue the colour of the sky is traditionally associated -ith devotion to s$iritual concerns. :. .n the Third 1egree still further $rogress is emblemati>ed by the increased blue adornments of the #$ron as also by its silver tassels and the silver ser$ent used to fasten the a$ron'strings. .n the ,irst and 3econd 1egrees no metal has a$$eared u$on the #$ron. The candidate has been theoretically divesting himself of all base metals and transmuting them into s$iritual riches. With Mastershi$ he has attained an influ% of those riches under the emblem of the tassels of silver a colourless $recious metal al-ays associated -ith the soul as gold by reason of its su$reme value and -arm colour is associated -ith 3$irit. The silver ser$ent is the emblem of 1ivine Wisdom knitting the soul4s ne-'made vesture together. ;. The $ale blue and silver of the Master Mason4s #$ron become intensified in the dee$ blue and gold ornamentation -orn by the Grand Lodge 0fficers -ho in theory have evolved to still dee$er s$irituality and transmuted themselves from silver into fine gold. CThe king4s daughter 8the soul= is all glorious -ithinB her clothing is of -rought gold C i.e. -rought or fabricated by her o-n s$iritual energies.

A PRAYER AT LODGE CLOSING

0 3overeign and Most Worshi$ful of all Masters -ho in Thy infinite love and -isdom hast devised our 0rder as a means to dra- Thy children nearer Thee and hast so ordained its 0fficers that they are emblems of Thy sevenfold $o-erB ?e Thou unto us an 0uter Guard and defend us from the $erils that beset us -hen -e turn from that -hich is -ithout to that -hich is -ithinB ?e Thou unto us an .nner Guard and $reserve our souls that desire to $ass -ithin the $ortal of Thy holy mysteriesB ?e unto us the Younger 1eacon and teach our -ay-ard feet the true and certain ste$s u$on the $ath that leads to Thee7 ?e Thou also the "lder 1eacon and guide us u$ the stee$ and -inding stair-ay to Thy throneB

Page H9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst ?e unto us the Lesser Warden and in the meridian sunlight of our understanding s$eak to us in sacraments that shall declare the s$lendors of Thy unmanifested lightB ?e Thou also unto us the Greater Warden and in the a-ful hour of disa$$earing light -hen vision fails and thought has no more strength be -ith us still revealing to us as -e may bear them the hidden mysteries of Thy shado-B #nd so through light and darkness raise us Great Master till -e are made one -ith Thee in the uns$eakable glory of Thy $resence in the "ast. 3o mote it be.

Page H) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

%HA&TER I' THE HOLY ROYAL ARCH OF JERUSALEM.

,R""M#30/RY under the "nglish &onstitution reaches its clima% and conclusion in the 0rder of the 2oly Royal #rch. There e%ists a variety of other degrees ramifying from the main stem of the Masonic system -hich either elaborate side'$oints of its doctrine or re'e%$ress its teachings in alternative symbolism. These -hile of greater or less merit and interest are beyond our $resent consideration and indeed are su$erfluities tending rather to diffuse the student4s attention than to dee$en his insight into the central $ur$ose of the &raft. The taking of additional higher degrees may be indulged in almost indefinitely but to -hat $ur$ose if the initial ones -hich contain all that is necessary for the understanding of the sub@ect remain im$erfectly assimilatedG .t is a fallacy to su$$ose that the multi$lying of degrees -ill result in the discovery of im$ortant arcane secrets -hich one has failed to find in the rites of the &raft and the Royal #rch. The higher degrees indeed illustrate truths of much interest and often set forth -ith im$ressive ceremonial beauty the a$$reciation of -hich -ill be the greater after and not before the meaning of the $reliminary ones has been thoroughly absorbedB -hilst the $ursuit of CsecretsC is certain to $rove illusory for the only secrets -orth the name or the finding are those incommunicable ones -hich discover themselves -ithin the $ersonal consciousness of the seeker -ho is in earnest to translate ceremonial re$resentation into facts of s$iritual e%$erience. .t -as accordingly a sound instinct that $rom$ted those -ho settled the $resent constitution of the 0rder to e%clude these su$$lementary refinements and to declare that CMasonry consists of the three &raft 1egrees and the 2oly Royal #rch and no more C for -ithin that com$ass is e%hibited or at least outlined the entire $rocess of human regenerationB so that after the Royal #rch there really remains nothing more to be said although -hat has been said is of course ca$able of elaboration. The com$leteness of regeneration theoretically $ostulated in those four stages is marked it should be observed by the very significant e%$ression used in connection -ith a Royal #rch &ha$ter -hich is inter$reted as meaning CMy $eo$le having obtained mercy C -hich in its further analysis signifies that all the $arts and faculties 8C$eo$leC= of the candidate4s organism have at last and as the result of his $revious disci$line and ordeals become sublimated and integrated in a ne- Auality and higher order of life than that $reviously en@oyed in virtue of his merely tem$oral nature. .n a -ord he has become regenerated. 2e has achieved the miracle of CsAuaring the circleC a meta$horical e%$ression for regeneration as shall be e%$lained $resently. #lthough but an e%$ansion and com$letion of the Third 1egree of -hich at one time it formed $art there -ere good reasons for detaching the Royal #rch $ortion from -hat noforms the 1egree of Master Mason. The t-o $arts in combination made an inconveniently long rite -hilst a change in the symbolic a$$ointments and officers of the tem$le of initiation -as necessary as the ceremony $roceeded to give a$$ro$riate s$ectacular re$resentation to the further $oints calling for e%$ression. 1es$ite this re'arrangement the Royal #rch is the natural conclusion and fulfilment of the Third 1egree. The latter inculcates the necessity of mystical death and dramati>es the $rocess of such death and revival therefrom into ne-ness of life. The Royal #rch carries the $rocess a stage farther Page :+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst by sho-ing its fulfilment in the Ce%altationC or a$otheosis of him -ho has undergone it. The Master Mason4s 1egree might be said to be re$resented in the terms of &hristian theology by the formula C2e suffered and -as buried and rose again C -hilst the eAuivalent of the e%altation ceremony is C2e ascended into heaven.C The Royal #rch 1egree seeks to e%$ress that ne- and intensified life to -hich the candidate can be raised and the e%alted degree of consciousness that comes -ith it. ,rom being conscious merely as a natural man and in the natural restricted -ay common to every one born into this -orld he becomes e%alted 8-hilst still in his natural flesh= to consciousness in a su$ernatural and illimitable -ay. #s has been said in $revious $a$ers the $ur$ose of all initiation is to lift human consciousness from lo-er to higher levels by Auickening the latent s$iritual $otentialities in man to their full e%tent through a$$ro$riate disci$line. /o higher level of attainment is $ossible than that in -hich the human merges in the 1ivine consciousness and kno-s as God kno-s. #nd that being the level of -hich tit 0rder of the Royal #rch treats ceremonially it follo-s that Masonry as a sacramental system reaches its clima% and conclusion in that 0rder. #s has also been already sho-n to attain that level involves as its essential $rereAuisite the total abnegation renouncement and renovation of one4s original nature the surrender of one4s natural desires tendencies and $reconce$tions and the abandonment and nullifying of one4s natural self'-ill by such a habitual disci$line and self'denial and gradual but vigorous o$$osition to all these as -ill cause them gradually to atro$hy and die do-n. C2e that loveth his life shall lose it and he that hateth his life in this -orld shall kee$ it unto life eternal. "%ce$t a corn of -heat fall into the ground and die it abideth aloneB but if it die it bringeth forth much fruit.C #s -ith a seed of -heat so -ith man. .f he $ersists in clinging to the $resent natural life he kno-s if he refuses to recogni>e that a higher Auality of life is here and no- $ossible to him or is un-illing to make the necessary effort to attain it he Cabideth alone C gets no-here and only frustrates his o-n s$iritual evolution. ?ut if he is -illing to CdieC in the sense indicated if he -ill so re'orientate his -ill and silence his natural energies and desires as to give the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le -ithin him the chance to assert itself and su$ersede them then from the disintegrated material of his old nature that germ of true life -ill s$ring into gro-th in him and bear much fruit and by the ste$$ing'stones of initiation he -ill rise from his dead sell to higher things than he can other-ise e%$erience. This necessity of self'dying not -e re$eat the $hysical death of the body but a mystical death'in'life of everything e%ce$t the body is the first and fundamental fact to be gras$ed before one may ho$e to reali>e or even to understand the mystery of the Royal #rch 1egree. CMors @anua vitaeCB death to self is the $ortal to true life. There is no other -ay. .t is the unesca$able la- and condition of the soul4s $rogress. ?ut since it is a $rocess involving a Cmost serious trial of fortitude and fidelityC and a gra$$le -ith oneself from -hich the timorous and self'diffident may -ell shrink the Mystery'systems have al-ays e%hibited an e%am$le for the instruction encouragement and emulation of those $re$ared to make the attem$t and the necessary sacrifice. To hearten them to the task the .nitiatory &olleges have held u$ a $rototy$e in the $erson of some great soul -ho has already trodden the same $ath and emerged trium$hant therefrom. .t matters nothing -hether the $rototy$e be one -hose historic actuality and identity can be demonstrated or -hether he can be regarded only as legendary or mythicalB the $oint being not to teach a merely historical fact but to enforce a s$iritual $rinci$le. .n "gy$t the Page :( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $rototy$e -as 0siris -ho -as slain by his malignant brother Ty$hon but -hose mangled limbs -ere collected in a coffer from -hich he emerged reintegrated and divini>ed. .n Greece the $rototy$e -as ?acchus -ho -as torn to $ieces by the Titans. ?aldur in 3candinavia and Mithra in GrDco'Roman "uro$e -ere similar $rototy$es. .n Masonry the $rototy$e is 2iram #biff -ho met his death as the result of a cons$iracy by a cro-d of -orkmen of -hom there -ere three $rinci$al ruffians. .n the &hristian and chief of all systems since it com$rehends and re'e%$resses all the others the greatest of the "%em$lars died at the hands of the mob headed also by three chief ruffians 6udas &aia$has and Pilate. .f in Masonry the mystical death is dramati>ed more realistically than the resurrection that follo-s u$on it that resurrection is nevertheless sho-n in the CraisingC of the candidate to the rank of Master Mason and his Creunion -ith the com$anions of former toils C im$lying the reintegration and resum$tion of all his old faculties and $o-ers in a sublimated state @ust as the limbs of the risen 0siris -ere said to reunite into a ne- -hole and as the &hristian Master -ithdre- 2is mutilated body from the tomb and reassumed it transmuted into one of su$ernatural substance and s$lendour. We have therefore no- to consider ho- the Royal #rch 1egree e%hibits the attainment of a ne- order of life. ?ut it may be as -ell to say in advance that for those unhabituated to looking beyond surface'values and material meanings the e%$osition about to be given dealing as it -ill -ith the $rofound s$iritual truths and advanced $sychological e%$erience allegori>ed by the e%ternal ceremonial is likely to $resent some difficulty of com$rehension and acce$tance. The Royal #rch ho-ever -ould not be the 3u$reme 1egree it is did it not move u$on a su$remely high level of thought and instruction. .t -as not com$iled to accommodate the elementary intelligence theoretically characteri>ing the $hiloso$hically untrained neo$hyte. .t $resu$$oses that its candidate has $assed through a long strenuous $eriod of $urification and mental disci$line in the course of -hich his understanding has become very considerably -idened and dee$ened -hilst his fidelity to the high in-ard Light -hich has conducted him safely so far has induced in him a humility and docility fitting him for -hat still a-aits him the attainment of that Wisdom -hich is concealed from this -orld4s -ise and $rudent but is revealed unto babes. .t is a rite of initiation dealing less -ith his gross cor$oreal nature and his ordinary tem$oral mentality 8-hich have been the sub@ect of $urification in the earlier degrees= than -ith the higher reaches and $ossibilities of his understanding and consciousness. #s it is -hat can be said here can at best be but a $artial and incom$lete e%$osition of a theme calling rather for disci$lined imagination and reverent reflection than for reasoned argument. &ertain things must $erforce be omitted from e%$lanation entirely -hilst others are mentioned -ith diffidence and at the risk of their being misunderstood or re@ected by such as do not yet reali>e that in these matters Cthe letter killeth the s$irit vivifiethC and that Cs$iritual truths must be s$iritually discerned.C ?efore inter$reting the &eremony itself it is desirable first to indicate four note-orthy features connected -ith this 3u$reme 0rder and distinctifying it from the three grades leading to it. .n s$eaking even of these incidentals the before'mentioned difficulties of both e%$osition and a$$rehension -ill already make themselves felt. ,irst no one can be received into a &ha$ter -ithout first having attained Master Mason4s rank. 3econd the circular symbol of the Grand Geometrician -hich in the 3econd 1egree shone high above in the ceiling of the Tem$le and in the Third 1egree had moved do-n-ards Page :* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst and burned as a glimmering ray in the "ast to guide the candidate4s feet into the -ay of $eace has no- descended com$letely to the cheAuer'-ork floor -here it rests as the centre and cubical focus of the entire organism and bears the 3acred and .neffable /ame as also those of 3olomon and the t-o 2irams. Third the constitution of the #ssembly is no longer one of seven officers but of nine -ho are grou$ed in three triads about the &entral 3acred 3ymbol. ,ourth the #ssembly regarded as a unity is no longer designated a Lodge but a &ha$ter. The first of these $oints that none but a Master Mason can enter the Royal #rch has already been accounted for. .t is not feasible nor is it -ithin the la- governing the $rocess of s$iritual evolution for any -ho has not e%$erienced the stage of mystical death to have e%$erience of that -hich lies beyond that death. #s an unborn $hysical infant can knonothing of this -orld in -hich nevertheless it e%ists until actually initiated into it by birth so the embryonic s$iritual child cannot be born into conscious function u$on the $lane of the 3$irit until it has become entirely detached from the enfolding carnal matri% and tendencies to -hich it has been habituated. The second and third $oints can be considered together. The re'arrangement of the factors constituting the ceremonial tem$le are symbolic of a structural re'arrangement -hich has occurred in the candidate4s o-n $sychical organi>ation. This has undergone a re$olari>ation as the result of the descent into it of that high central Light -hich at first but shone as it -ere in his Cheavens C afar off and above him illumining the dormer'-indo- of his natural intelligence. &onsider dee$ly -hat this change im$lies. The 1ay'star from on high has no- visited himB the fontal source of all consciousness has descended into the very cheAuer'-ork material of his transient $hysical organism not merely $ermeating it tem$orarily -ith light but taking root and becoming grafted there substantially and $ermanently. .n theological language God has become man and man has become divini>ed in virtue of this descent and union. .n Masonic terms the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le resident in the candidate has at last su$erseded his tem$oral life'$rinci$le and established him u$on a ne- centre of incorru$tible life. /o- and $erha$s only no- becomes thoroughly a$$reciable the necessity for the earlier $urifications disci$line self'crucifi%ion and death of all the lo-er nature. 2o- could the $urity of the 1ivine "ssence tabernacle in the coarse body of the sensualistG 2o- could the "ternal Wisdom unfold its treasures in a mind benighted or caring for nothing but base metals and material $ursuitsG 2o- could the !niversal Will co' o$erate -ith and function through the man -hose $etty $ersonal -ill blocks its channel antagoni>ing it at every turn -ith his selfish $references and disordered desiresG # Master Mason then in the full sense of the term is no longer an ordinary man but a divini>ed manB one in -hom the !niversal and the $ersonal consciousness have come into union. 0bviously the Auality of life and consciousness of such an one must differ vastly from that of other men. 2is -hole being is differently Aualitated and geared u$on another centre. That ne- centre is described as the Grand Geometrician of man4s $ersonal universe inasmuch as its action u$on the organism of -hoever surrenders himself to its influence causes a redis$osition of functional and conscious faculty. The kno-ledge of this fact -as -ith the -ise ancients the true and original science of Geometry 8literally Cearth' measuringCB determining the occult $otentialities of the human earth or tem$oral organism under s$iritual stresses=. CGod geometri>esC -rote Plato -ith intimate kno-ledge of the sub@ect. Many of the "uclidean and Pythagorean theorems no- regarded merely as mathematical demonstrations -ere originally e%$ressions veiled in mathematical gly$hs Page :< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst of the esoteric science of soul'building or true Masonry. The -ell'kno-n E;th Pro$osition of the ,irst ?ook of "uclid is an e%am$le of this and in conseAuence has come 8though femodern Masons could e%$lain -hy= to be inscribed u$on the Past Master4s official @e-el. #gain the sAuaring of the circle that $roblem -hich has baffled so many modern mathematicians is an occult e%$ression signifying that 1eity symboli>ed by the all' containing circle has attained form and manifestation in a CsAuareC or human soul. .t e%$resses the mystery of the .ncarnation accom$lished -ithin the $ersonal soul. !nder the stress then of the Geometri>ing Princi$le no- found symbolically integrated -ithin the candidate4s tem$oral organism a re'distribution of his com$onent $o-ers has become effected. 2is re$olari>ed condition is symboli>ed by an eAuilateral triangle -ith a $oint at its centre and such a triangle -ill be found -orked in gold u$on the sash -orn by the &om$anions of the 0rder. The significance of this triangle is that the tri$artite as$ects of him -ho -ears it 8that is the s$iritual $sychical and $hysical $arts of him= no- stand eAuali>ed and eAuilibrated around their common Life'Princi$le at the centre fitted and eAui$$ed for .ts $ur$ose. Yet each of these three divisions though in itself unitary is $hiloso$hically triadic in com$osition -hen sub@ected to intellectual analysis. C"very monad is the $arent of a triadC is another ma%im of the #ncients -ho antici$ated the modern 2egelian $ro$osition of meta$hysics that thesis antithesis and synthesis are the essential ingredients of a given truth. 2ence it comes about that the three as$ects of each of the three sides of our eAuilateral triangle are ceremonially $ersonified by the nine officers of the &ha$ter three in the "ast re$resenting the s$iritual side three in the West figuring the soul or $sychical side and three subordinate links connecting these other t-o. 8These -ill be further and more conveniently treated of later -hen the symbolic nature of the officers is dealt -ith=. The fourth $oint to be noticed -as the change of designation from CLodgeC to C&ha$ter.C The -ord C&ha$terC derives from &a$ut head. The reason for the change of name lies ho-ever much dee$er than in the fact that the Royal #rch stands at the head or summit of the &raft. .t has reference in a t-ofold -ay to the ca$itular rank and consciousness of the #rch Mason himself. .n virtue of his headshi$ or su$remacy over his material nature he has $assed beyond mere &raft-ork and governing the Lodge of his lo-er nature -hich he has no- made the docile instrument and servant of his s$iritual self. 2enceforth his energies are em$loyed $rimarily u$on the s$iritual $lane. The CheadC of the material organism of man is the s$irit of man and this s$irit consciously con@oined -ith the !niversal 3$irit is 1eity4s su$reme instrument and vehicle in the tem$oral -orld. 3uch a man4s $hysical organism and brain have become sublimated and keyed u$ to a condition and an efficiency immensely in advance of average humanity. Physiological $rocesses are involved -hich cannot be discussed here beyond saying that in such a man the entire nervous system contributes to charge certain ganglia and light u$ certain brain'centres in a -ay of -hich the ordinary mind kno-s nothing. The nervous system $rovides the storage'batteries and conductive medium of the 3$irit4s energies @ust as telegra$h -ires are the media for transmitting electrical energy. ?ut the true Master Mason in virtue of his mastershi$ kno-s ho- to control and a$$ly those energies. They culminate and come to self' consciousness in his head in his intelligence. #nd in this res$ect -e may refer to a very heavily veiled 3cri$tural testimony the im$ort of -hich goes Auite un$erceived to the uninstructed reader. The Gos$els record that the Passion of the Great "%em$lar and Master concluded Cat the $lace called Golgotha in the 2ebre- tongueB that is the $lace of a skullCB Page :E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst that is to say it terminated in the head or seat of intelligence and in a mystery of the s$iritual consciousness. The same truth is also testified to though again under veils of symbolic $hrasing in the reference to the s$rig of acacia $lanted at the head of the grave of the Masonic Grand Master and $rototy$e 2iram #biff. The grave is the candidate4s soulB the s$rig of acacia ty$ifies the latent akasa 8to use an "astern term= or divine germ $lanted in that soil and -aiting to become Auickened into activity in his intelligence the CheadC of that $lane. When that s$rig of acacia blooms at the head of his soul4s se$ulchre he -ill understand at one and the same moment the mystery of Golgotha the mystery of the death of 2iram and the meaning of the Royal #rch ceremony of e%altation. .t is a mystery of s$iritual consciousness the efflorescence of the mind in God the o$ening u$ of the human intelligence in conscious association -ith the !niversal and 0mniscient Mind. .t is for this reason that the cranium or skull is given $rominence in the Master Mason4s 1egree. With this $remised -e $roceed to considering the &eremony of "%altation.

THE CEREMONY OF EXALTATION

#gain the candidate is in a state of darkness. ?ut the reason of this darkness differs entirely from that -hich e%isted at the "ntered #$$rentice stage. Then he -as but an ignorant beginner u$on the Auest making his first irregular benighted efforts to-ards the light. /o- he has long $assed beyond that stageB he comes -ith all the Aualifications and eAui$ment of a Master Mason. Long ago he found the light he first sought and for long he has been directing his ste$s and nourishing his gro-th by its rays. #nd moreB after all this intimacy -ith it he has kno-n it recede from him and disa$$ear in the great ordeal of dereliction of the Third 1egree -hen in the Cdark night of the soulC and utter hel$lessness of all his $o-ers he learned ho- strength could be $erfected out of -eakness by the $otent efficacy of the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le -ithin him in -hose $resence the darkness and the light are both alike. 2is $resent initial de$rivation of light is the darkness of the Third 1egree carried over into this further e%$erience. .t betokens rather a momentary failure to ad@ust his $erce$tion to the ne- Auality of life he is no- entering u$on @ust as a ne-'born child is unable at first to coordinate its sight to ob@ects before it. ,or a -hile but only for a brief -hile the candidate feels himself in darknessB but he is really blinded rather by e%cess of light than by lack of it. .n this condition he undertakes the o$ening out of a certain $lace -hich he $roceeds to enter and e%$lore kee$ing touch mean-hile -ith his com$anions by a cord or life'line. The symbolism of all this is singularly rich in allusion to certain interior $rocesses of intros$ection -ell defined in the e%$erience of the contem$lative mystics and -ell attested in their records. The $lace entered emblemati>es once again the material and $sychical organism a dense com$act of material $articles coating the more tenuous interior s$irit of man as a shell surrounds the contents of an egg. CRoll a-ay the stone C it -ill be recalled -as the first in@unction of the Master at the raising of La>arus. This obstruction removed the $sychical organism becomes detached from the $hysical and the mind is free to become introverted and -ork e%$loratively u$on its o-n ground to search the contents of its o-n un$lumbed de$ths to $robe dee$er and dee$er into itself eradicating defects and removing rubble $ushing in and in by the energy of a $ersistent -ill yet retaining contact the -hile -ith the outer $hysical nature by a subtle filament or life'line -hich $revents their entire se$aration. The $osition is the same as -hen the body slee$s -hilst the mind is dreaming Page :H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst and vividly active save that in dreams the -ill is not functioning as a consciously directive instrument as is hy$othetically the case -ith one -ho having attained Mastershi$ has all his faculties under volition and control. Yet all this interior -ork so ra$idly summari>ed and symbolically enacted in the &eremony is not the -ork of a day nor the casual task of a -eakling. The ancients referred to it as the t-elve labours of 2ercules -hilst its arduousness is further gra$hically described by the initiate $oet 5irgil in the si%th Pneid and by more recent illuminates. /or even -hen its nature is fully a$$rehended is it a -ork to be lightly undertaken. Throughout the &eremony the utmost humility is en@oined u$on the candidate as the essential Aualification for entering u$on this $rocess of self' e%$loration 2e is bidden to dra- nigh to the &entre but to halt and make obeisance at three several stages at each of -hich he is told he is a$$roaching more nearly to that central "ssence that holy ground of his being u$on -hich only the humble can -alk that CearthC -hich only the meek shall inherit. .t is in this state that the introverted mind gro$ing for its o-n foundation and centre reaches at length the bedrock of its being. #s the symbolic ceremony e%hibits the gras$ing of an emblem embodying the Word of Life so literally and in fact the Auesting mind in coming u$on the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le animating it Clays hold on "ternal Life.C .t discovers the Lost Word the divine root of its being from -hich it has hitherto been so long dissociated. .t fails to reali>e the fact at first for Cthe Light shineth in darkness and the darkness com$rehendeth it not.C Presently that darkness -ill disa$$earB -hen Cthe day 8the ne- consciousness= da-ns and the shado-s 8the old mentality= flee a-ay.C Therefore it is that this -ork of the introverted mind and the discovery it makes are e%hibited as taking $lace darkly and amid subterranean gloom. There remains therefore one concluding $sychological $rocess to e%trovert that kno-ledge and bring it for-ard into formali>ed brain'consciousness so that -hat the s$irit and the soul already knointeriorly the outer mind may also kno- e%teriorly. 3ub@ective a-areness does not become kno-ledge until it has been cerebrated and $assed through the alembic of the brain and the logical understanding. When it has so $assed through and become formali>ed a reci$rocal and refle% action bet-een the inner and outer natures is set u$ resulting in the illumination of the -hole. This e%troversion of sub@ective $erce$tions is symbolically achieved by the return of the candidate from the subterranean de$ths to the surface and there re@oining his former com$anion'so@ourners and effecting a unification of all his com$onent $arts. .t is then that the Mystery is consummated. The Great Light breaks. The 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le comes to self'consciousness in him. The Glory of the Lord is revealed to and in him and all his flesh sees it. 3o far as it is $ossible for symbolic ceremonial to $ortray it this consummation is re$resented by the restoration to light and the revelation that then meets the candidate4s ga>e. 2is condition differs no- from any that has $receded it. .t is not merely one of illumination by the 3u$ernal Light. .t is one of identification -ith .t. 2e and .t have become one as a -hite'hot iron is indistinguishable from the furnace'flame engulfing it. #t the outset of his Masonic Auest the $redominant -ish of his heart -as Light. The im$ulse -as not his o-nB it -as that of the Light .tself the $rimal Light of light the 1ivine 3ubstantial Word seeking self'develo$ment in him. &onsciousness is that Light become self'$erce$tive by $olari>ation -ithin an efficient $hysiological organism. Man $rovides the only organism ada$ted to the attainment of that self'$erce$tionB but only -hen Page :: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst that organism is $urified and $re$ared sufficiently for the achievement. .n the Royal #rch that achievement is hy$othetically effected. The condition attained by the illumined candidate is the eAuivalent of -hat in &hristian theology is kno-n as ?eatific 5ision and in the "ast as 3amadhi. .t is also s$oken of as universal or cosmic consciousness since the $erci$ient transcending all sense of $ersonal individuali>ation time and s$ace is co'conscious -ith all that is. 2e has entered the bliss and $eace sur$assing that tem$oral understanding -hich is limited to $erceiving the discords antinomies and contrasts characteri>ing finite e%istenceB he has risen to that e%alted state -here all these find their resolution in the blissful concord of the "ternal. 2e is in conscious sym$athy and identity of feeling -ith all that lives and feels in virtue of that universal charity and limitless love -hich is the corollary of $erceiving the unity of all in the ?eing of 1eity and -hich at the outset of his $rogress he -as told -as the summit of the Mason4s $rofession. 2e sees too that there is a universe -ithin as -ell as -ithout himB that he himself microcosmically sums u$ and contains all that manifested to his tem$oral intelligence as the vast s$acial universe around him. 2e is himself conscious of being the measure of the universeB he reali>es that the earth the heavens and all their contents are e%ternali>ations $ro@ected images of corres$onding realities $resent -ithin himself. #s the $erfected head of creation he beholds ho- he sums u$ in himself all the lo-er forms of life through -hich his organism has $assed to attain to that $erfection. The four symbolic standards e%hibiting the lion o% man and eagle are a very ancient gly$h declaring among other things the story of the soul4s evolution and its $rogress from the $assional -ild'beast stage to one -hich -hile still sensuous and animal is docile and disci$lined for service and thence to the stage of human rationality -hich at length culminates in u$-ard'soaring s$irituality. 3imilarly the dis$layed banners of the t-elve .sraelitish tribes are again but figures of their $rototy$es the t-elve >odiacal sections of those heavens -hich could not e%ist or be discernible to the out-ard eye -ere they not also the $henomenali>ed as$ect of a reality cogni>able by the in-ard eyeB -hilst gathered beneath these emblems are those -ho re$resent the tribes of no terrestrial nation but are the Ctribes of God C the heavenly hierarchies that constitute an archety$al cano$y or holy royal arch above the visible creation and that mediate to it the effluences of that all' embracing triune 3$irit of Po-er Wisdom and Love in -hich the entire com$osite structure lives moves and has its being. C.n the beginning God created the heavens and the earth and the earth -as -ithout form and void and darkness -as u$on the face of the dee$. #nd God said Let there be light and there -as light.C With these -ords begins the 3acred 3cri$t -hich is the sacramental token of that Living Word by -hom all things -ere made and are still in the making and -hose life is the light of men. The candidate -ho recovers that lost Word in the sense of regaining vital organic integration into it and -ho therefore is one -ith its Life and its Light is able to verify this old creation'story in its $ersonal a$$lication to himself. 2e stands in the $resence of his o-n CearthC the stone vault or dense matri% out of -hich his finer being has emerged and of his o-n CheavensC or ethereal body of substantiali>ed radiance -hich 8as the iridescent sash of the 0rder is meant to denote= no- covers him -ith light as -ith a garment. 2e is able to discern that it -as himself -ho at first -as C-ithout form and voidC and -ho in virtue of that ,iat Lu%J has at last become transformed from chaos and unconsciousness into a form so $erfect and lucid as to become a co' conscious vehicle of 1ivine Wisdom itself. Page :; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst With this symbolic attainment of ?eatific 5ision at the restoration to light the effective $art of the Royal #rch &eremony as an initiatory rite concludes. What follo-s u$on it is anti'clima% and allegorical e%$osition of a similar nature to the traditional history in the Master Mason4s 1egree. This takes the form of a mythos or dramatic narrative by the three so@ourners describing their release from ca$tivity in ?abylon their return to 6erusalem under an im$ulse to assist in rebuilding the destroyed national tem$le their -ork among its ruins and the discovery of an ancient and a$$arently im$ortant archive The $ers$icacious mind -ill not fail to $erceive in this historical or Auasi'historical narrative an allegory of the s$iritual $rocess -hich has been going on -ithin the candidate himself. .t is he as it is every human soul that has been in ?abylonian bondage in ca$tivity to the ?abel' confusion of mundane e%istence the tyranny of material interests and the chaos of his o-n disordered nature. .t is he -ho in revolt from these has in reflective moments Csat do-n and -e$t by the -aters of ?abylonC the transient flu% of tem$oral things and Cremembered Mion C in a yearning for in-ard freedom and $ermanent $eace of heart. .t is he -ho finds the tem$le of his old natural self -orthless and in ruins and reali>es that u$on its site he must rebuild another and -orthier one. ,rom -ithin himself comes the urge of the in-ard Lord 8Iurios= -hich 8under the mask of &yrus the king= bids him forth-ith de$art from his ca$tivity and go u$ to his true native'land and re'erect the Lord4s house. .t is himself -ho discovers among the rubble of his old self the $lans and the material for the ne- structure. #nd ultimately -hen that ne- structure is com$leted and -hen from natural man he has become reorgani>ed into s$iritual man it is he -ho is able to $erceive the -onders of his o-n constitution to behold his o-n CearthC and his o-n CheavensC no- fused into a unity to -hich both his material and his s$iritual nature -ere necessary contributors. The constitution of the &ha$ter as first revealed to the candidate is therefore a symbol of his $erfected organism. 2e sees that it is $olari>ed "ast and WestB the "ast occu$ied by the three Princi$als signifying his s$iritual $oleB the West occu$ied by the three 3o@ourners his $sychic and materiali>ed $oleB each triad being the refle% of the other yet each triad being an organic unity in itself. 3t. 6ohn testifies to this 8and the ceremonial rite is made conformable to the teaching of that great .nitiate= -hen he -rites7 CThere are three that bear record in heaven and these three are one. #nd there are three that bear -itness in earth and these three agree in one.C The meaning of this meta$hysical assertion is that @ust as a ray of -hite light s$lits u$ 8as in the rainbo-= into three $rimary colours -hich still remain organically united so both the self'kno-ing 3$irit in man and his $sychical nature although monadic essentially are $rismatically dissociable into a trinity. The 3$irit in man in its tri$le as$ects is therefore a$$ro$riately ty$ified by the three Princi$als. They re$resent the three high attributes of the 3$irit 2oliness Royal 3u$remacy ,unctional Po-er referred to in the title of the 0rderB 2oly'Royal'#rch. The middle and neutral term of these three must be considered as differentiating itself into a $assive and an active or a negative and a $ositive as$ectB although all three act con@ointly and as one 8as is in fact the case -ith the three Princi$als of a &ha$ter=. These three as$ects of monadic 3$irit are $ersonified as 2aggai 8$assive= 6oshua 8active= -ith Merubabel as the middle term from -hich the other t-o issue and into -hich they merge. ,or the central Ma@esty is in one of its as$ects silent and -ithdra-n and in the other functionally active and com$ulsive. 3o too -ith the triad of 3o@ourners at the other $ole. They re$resent the unitary human "go or $ersonality also in its threefold as$ects. They are the incarnated antity$e or Page :9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $hysicali>ed refle% of man4s archety$al unincarnated and overshado-ing 3$irit. 2ence they are designated 3o@ourners as being but transient consociated $ilgrims or -ayfarers u$on a $lane of im$ermanence in contrast -ith the enduring life of the deathless s$irit -hose $ro@ection u$on this lo-er -orld they are. Psychologically human $ersonality is distributed into a $assive negative subconsciousness and an active $ositive intelligence linked together by a central co'ordinating $rinci$le the combined three constituting man4s unitary individuality. My "go -ith its central and directive $o-er of -ill is my $rinci$al so@ournerB my subconsciousness -ith its $assive intuitional ca$acity and my $ractical intelligence -ith its active and connecting $o-ers of thought and understanding are my assistant so@ourners. Let me see to it that like their symbolic re$resentatives they are ke$t clothed in -hite and so able to reflect and react to their corres$ondences in the eastern or s$iritual $ole of my being. The ne%us or connecting medium bet-een man4s s$iritual and bodily $oles is re$resented by a third triad im$ersonated by the t-o 3cribes and the 6anitor. The more im$ortant of these scribes is attached to the "ast $ole and is as it -ere its emissary to-ards the WestB the other is associated -ith the Western $ole and his activities are directed "ast-ardsB -hilst the 1oor'kee$er is the $oint of contact -ith the -orld -ithout. .n one of their many significances they ty$ify the middle term bet-een 3$irit and Matter the astral medium or $sychic bridge in virtue of -hich contact bet-een them is $ossible. 2eavily veiled beneath the sacramentalism of a council of the 6e-ish 3anhedrim the Royal #rch &eremony therefore e%hibits in a most gra$hic manner the $sychologic rationale of the final stage of regeneration. To the literalist unacAuainted -ith the fact that in both 3acred Writ and the teaching of the Mysteries surface a$$earances are al-ays intended to be trans$osed into s$iritual values and that Auasi'historic characters are meant to be im$ersonations of $hiloso$hic facts or $rinci$les some difficulty may be felt on being asked to translate the Auasi'historicity of the ceremonial te%t into the s$irituali>ed inter$retation here offered. The education and enlightenment of the understanding is ho-ever one of the deliberate intentions of .nitiatory Rites and until the mind is able to rise above merely material facts and habituate itself to functioning in the truer realm of ideas -hich materiali>e into facts and make facts $ossible there is small chance of its $rofiting from Rites like those of Masonry -hich are of -holly negligible value but for the s$iritual force and vitali>ing energy of their inherent ideas. .t may therefore be both hel$ful and a corroboration of -hat has been said if -e scrutini>e the 2ebre- names of a &ha$ter4s officersB -hat they yield u$on analysis -ill demonstrate that those officers im$ersonate ideas rather than re$resent $ersons. (. CMerubabel $rince of the $eo$le.C The name literally means Ca s$routing forth from ?abel or from among the $eo$le.C C?abelC and C$eo$leC are t-o forms of e%$ressing the same idea and the "nglish -ord is almost identical -ith the 2ebre- one. 3ociety as a -hole the multitude Cthe $eo$leC 8Cbebeloi C as it is in Greek= at all times of the -orld4s history constitutes a ?abel of confused aims and interests. ?ut there are al-ays individuals intellectually or s$iritually in advance of the cro-d and -hose ideas teachings or e%am$le shoot ahead of it and to such leaders the name Merubabel -ould a$$ly. ?ut this illustration does not e%$ress the dee$er sense in -hich the -ord must be construed -hich is one of $ersonal a$$lication. The individual is himself a mob a chaos a multitude of confused desires thoughts $assions until these are brought into disci$line. ?ut $resent even amidst these and s$routing u$ from among them the ordinary man is conscious of a higher and Page :) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst s$iritual element in him -hich he may cultivate or disregard but -hich in his best moments flames u$ above his lo-er disordered nature convinces him of the errors of his -ays and entices him to live from that higher level. That loftier element is e%$ressed by the -ord CMerubabelCB it is the a$e% and focus $oint of his s$irituality as distinguished from his ordinary carnal intelligenceB the summit of all his faculties the C$rinceC of his C$eo$le.C Those same faculties or C$eo$leC are referred to in the -ord meaning CMy $eo$le having obtained mercyC 8or become regenerate= and in the te%t CThe $eo$le that sat in darkness have seen a great light.C *. C2aggai the Pro$het.C #s has been sho-n before the s$iritual $rinci$le differentiates into a $assive and an active as$ect. C2aggaiC re$resents the $assive as$ect and signifies at once the blissful and self'contem$lative nature of the s$irit. .t is called Cthe $ro$hetC because of the $o-er of insight and omniscience characteri>ing that -hich transcends the sense of time and abides eternally and because it $ro@ects into the lo-er intelligence intuitions foreglim$ses and intimations of a $ro$hetic nature. ,rom the same -ord is derived the Greek -ord Chagios C holy. <. C6oshua the son of 6osedek the high $riest C $ersonifies the active e%ecutive as$ect of s$irit. Literally 6oshua means the Cdivine saviour C and 6osedek Cdivine righteousness C -hilst the Chigh $riestC connotes a mediatorial factor bet-een man and 1eity. The title in its entirety therefore intimates that the human s$irit or divine $rinci$le in man functions intermediately bet-een 1eity and man4s lo-er nature to $romote the latter4s salvation and $erfection. We have $reviously sho-n ho- the Master Mason must be his o-n high $riest and C-alk u$onC the cheAuered floor'-ork of his elementary nature by learning to tram$le u$on it. Thus the Three Princi$als form a unity figuring man4s s$iritual $ole in its tri$le as$ectsB they re$resent the summit of his being as it lives on the $lane of the 3$irit holy royal su$reme blissful because in a state of holiness or -holenessB royal because a son of the Iing of allB $o-erful because of its $o-er to subdue transmute and redeem all that is belo- its o-n $urity and $erfection. E Q H. ">ra and /ehemiah. .n the great Mystery'system of "gy$t -hich long anteceded the 2ebre- system the regenerate candidate -ho had achieved the highest $ossible measure of self'transmutation of his lo-er nature -as accorded the title of 0siris. .t -as the eAuivalent of attaining &hristhood. The nature of the $erfectioning $rocess and the rituals in connection there-ith are thanks to certain modern scholars available to us and are recommended to the student -ho desires to kno- ho- arduous and real that $rocess -as and the e%tremely high degree of regeneration aimed at. .n 2ebre- the title 0siris became changed into #>arias 8and sometimes Meruiah= and still further corru$ted into "sdras and ">ra the name of the senior 3cribe of the Royal #rch. To understand the significance of the t-o 3cribes ">ra and /ehemiah it is necessary to recall that in the ?iblical account of the return from ?abylonian ca$tivity these t-o -ere leading men. Trans$osing this historici>ed narrative into its s$iritual im$lication ">ra and /ehemiah $ersonify t-o distinct stages of the mystical $rogress made by the candidate -ho essays to renounce the ?abel of his lo-er nature and by reorgani>ing himself regain his native s$iritual home and condition. C/ehemiahC 8-hose $lace in the &ha$ter is in the 3outh West= is a figure of a certain measure of that reorgani>ation and return. Like his ?iblical $rototy$e he symboli>es the candidate engaged in rebuilding the -all of 6erusalem and occu$ied in the great -ork of self'reconstruction from -hich he -ill not be beguiled into coming do-n by the a$$eals and blandishments of the outer -orld. C">raC 8-hose $osition Page ;+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst is in the /orth "ast= indicates a much more advanced measure of $rogress from West to "ast. The discerning student -ho -ill $eruse the ?iblical books of /ehemiah and ">ra 8including the #$ocry$hal books of "sdras= in this light and -ith this key to their true $ur$ort -ill not fail to $rofit by the instruction they -ill yield. 2ence too they are called CscribesCB both of them are recorders of and testifiers to distinct but re$resentative e%$eriences encountered in the inner man at different stages of the Cgreat -orkC of self' integration and @ourneying from a ?abylon condition to the s$iritual 6erusalem. 2ere -e bring to an end our e%amination of the true meaning and $ur$ose of the Royal #rch &eremony. 1ealing as it does -ith a su$reme human e%$erience -hich none can fully a$$reciate -ithout undergoing it it is the greatest and most momentous rite in Masonry and no one -ho studies it com$rehendingly and in its sacramental significance -ill -ithhold admiration either for the $rofound kno-ledge and insight of the nounidentifiable mystic and initiate -ho conceived it or for the skill -ith -hich he com$iled it and cast his kno-ledge into dramatic e%$ression. The $ity of it is that those -ho $ractise the rite make no effort to $enetrate its meaning and are content -ith the unenlightened $erfunctory $erformance of a ritual -hich even e%oterically is singularly striking beautiful and suggestive. The least reflection u$on it must suggest that Masonry is here dealing -ith the building'-ork of no out-ard structure but -ith the re'erection of the fallen disordered tem$le of the human soulB and that even assuming that it but memoriali>ed some long $ast historic events those events can have no vital bearing u$on the life character or conduct of anyone to'day and -ould not @ustify the e%istence of an elaborate secret 0rder to $er$etuate them. ?ut if those events and this rite be symbolic of something dee$er and something $ersonalB if they sacramentali>e truths $er$etually valid and ca$able of $resent reali>ation in those -ho ceremonially re'enact them then they call for fuller and more serious attention than is usually accorded. Moreover if the Royal #rch be the symbolic re$resentation of a su$reme e%$erience attained and attainable only in sanctity and by the regenerate it follo-s that the &raft 1egrees leading u$ to and Aualifying for it -ill take on a much dee$er sense than they commonly receive and must be regarded as solemn instructions in the reAuisite $re$aration for that regenerate condition. The &raft -ork is unfinished -ithout the attainment forthshado-ed in the Royal #rch. That attainment in turn is im$ossible -ithout the disci$line of the $reliminary labours the $urification of mind and desire and that crucifi%ion unto death of the self'-ill -hich constitute the tests of merit Aualifying for entrance to that 6erusalem -hich has no geogra$hical site and -hich is called the C&ity of PeaceC because it im$lies conscious rest of the soul in God. ,or many the suggestion that the attainment of such a condition is $ossible or thinkable -hilst -e are still here in the flesh may be sur$rising or even incredible. ?ut such doubt is un-arranted and the Masonic doctrine negates it. #s has been already sho-n to the contrary that doctrine $ostulates not the absence but the $ossession of the material organism as a necessary factor in advancing the evolution of the human s$iritB that organism is the vessel in -hich our base metal has to be transmuted into goldB it is the fulcrum furnishing the resistance reAuisite for the s$irit4s energi>ing into unfoldment and self'consciousness. Physical death is therefore not an advancement of but an interference -ith the -ork of regeneration. CThe night cometh -hen no man can -ork C and -hen the soul merely $asses from labour to refreshment until recalled to labour once more at the task of self'conAuest. .t is but figurative of that necessary dying to self -hich im$lies the voluntary decreasing assertiveness of our tem$oral nature to $ermit of a corres$onding ascendancy of the s$iritual. Page ;( of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst ?ut if in the hands of its $resent e%$onents Masonry is no- rather a dead letter than a living effectual .nitiatory Rite ca$able of Auickening the s$irituality of its candidates it still remains for the earnest and $ers$icuous as$irant to the dee$er verities an instructive economy of the science of self'gnosis and regeneration. ,or such these $a$ers are -ritten that they may both learn something of the original design of the 0rder and educate their imagination in the $rinci$les of that science. #nd to such in conclusion may be commended that Tem$le'hymn of the 2ebre- .nitiates -hich of all the Psalms of 1avid refers -ith most $ointed reference to the sub@ect'matter of the su$reme 0rder of the 2oly Royal #rch of 6erusalem and the $ersonal attainment of the blessed and $erfected condition -hich that title im$lies7 C. -as glad -hen they said unto me let us go u$ into the house of the LordB 0ur feet shall stand -ithin thy gates 0 6erusalem. 6erusalem is builded as a city that is com$act togetherB Thither the tribes go u$ the tribes of the Lord. . . . ,or there are set thrones of @udgment the thrones of the house of 1avid. Pray for the $eace of 6erusalemJ they shall $ros$er that love it. $. (:9 Peace is -ithin her -alls and $lenteousness -ithin her $alaces. ,or my brethren and com$anionsK sake . -ill say Peace be -ithin thee. 8Psalm &RR...= .n those fe- lines is sketched all that is im$lied in the symbolic s$ectacle that greets the eyes of the Royal #rch Mason at the su$reme moment of his restoration to light. "%alted into and become identified -ith the su$reme bliss $eace and self'consciousness of the #ll' Pervasive and 0mniscient 3$irit he sees ho- he has Cgone u$C out of the ?abylon of his old com$le% and disordered nature and u$on its ruins has built for himself an ethereal body of glory a Chouse of the Lord.C 2e sees ho- this ecstatic condition and this ne-'made celestial body are the sublimated $roducts of his former self and its tem$oral organism. 2e sees ho- each se$arate $art and faculty of that old nature or as it -ere each of the >odiacal divisions of his o-n microcosm has contributed its $urified essence to form a neorganism Ca ne- heaven and a ne- earthCB and ho- these essences like t-elve diversified tribes have assembled convergently and finally coalesced and become fused into a unity or ne- -hole Ca city that is com$act together.C #nd it is this Ccity C this blessed condition -hich mystically is called C6erusalem C -ithin -hose -alls is the $eace -hich $asseth understanding and -hose $alaces reveal to the enfranchised soul the unfailing $lenteousness and fecundity of the indissoluble trinity of Wisdom and Love and Po-er from -hich man and the universe have issued and into -hich they are destined to return. The antithesis of this Cheavenly cityC is the confused ?abylon city of this -orld of -hich it is -ritten to all ca$tives therein C&ome out of her My $eo$le that ye be not $artakers of her sins and that ye receive not of her $laguesJC 8Rev. %viii. E=. #nd in a -ord the Royal #rch &eremony sacramentally $ortrays the last $hase of the mystical @ourney of the e%iled soul from ?abylon to 6erusalem as it esca$es from its ca$tivity to this lo-er -orld and C$assing the veilsC of matter and form breaks through the bondage of corru$tion into the -orld of the formless 3$irit and reali>es the glorious liberty of the children of God.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst

%HA&TER '( FREEMASONRY IN RELATION TO THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.

"5"RY Mason is naturally desirous to kno- something of the origin and history of the &raft. The available literature on the sub@ect is diffuse and unsatisfying. .t offers a mass of disconnected details of archDology and com$arative religion -ithout unifying them into any hel$ful light and deals rather -ith matters of minor and tem$oral history than -ith -hat alone is of real moment the s$iritual lineage of the &raft. .n this $a$er therefore it is $ro$osed to trace a rough outline and in the s$ace available only a very rough one is $ossible of a movement -hich is as old as humanity itself and the $ur$ose and doctrine of -hich are still faithfully if very rudimentarily $reserved in the Masonic system. ?ut such a sketch by $roviding a general outline for the enAuirer to contem$late and the details of -hich he may fill in for himself by subseAuent study of his o-n may $erha$s $rove more serviceable than a mass of fragmentary facts over -hich one may $ore indefinitely and -ith much interest yet -ithout $erceiving their inter'relation or coordinating them into one com$rehensive im$ressive scheme. /o really serviceable -ork u$on Masonry e%ists that treats of its history and $ur$ose in the only -ay that matters vitally. The student is a$t to -aste much time to little $rofit by turning for information to $ublications the titles of -hich seem to $romise full enlightenment but that leave him unsatisfied and unconvinced. 1esultory collections of information u$on $oints of symbolism archDology and anthro$ology the tracing of connections bet-een modern Masonry and mediDval building'guilds and other communities may be all very interesting but these are but as the dry bones of a sub@ect of -hich one desires to kno- the living s$irit. They fail to ans-er the main Auestions one asks from the heart and is an%ious to have ans-eredB such as What -as the nature of the #ncient Mysteries of -hich modern Masonry $ur$orts to be the $er$etuationG To -hat end and $ur$ose did they e%istG What need is there to $er$etuate them to'dayG ,or -hat $ur$ose -as .nitiation institutedG 1id it at any time serve any real $ur$ose or can it no-G Was it ever more than it is to'day a mere $erfunctory ceremonial leading to nothing of essential value and em$hasi>ing only a fe- moral $rinci$les and elementary truths -hich -e kno- alreadyG .t is to ans-ering such Auestions as these that the $resent $a$er is directed. /o- one of the first things to strike any student of Masonic literature and com$arative religion is the remarkable $resence of common factors common beliefs doctrines $ractices and symbols in the religions of all races alike -hether ancient or modern eastern or -estern civili>ed or barbarian &hristian or $agan. 2o-ever se$arated from others by time or distance ho-ever intellectuali>ed or $rimitive ho-ever elaborated or sim$le their religion or morals and ho-ever -ide their differences in im$ortant res$ects each $eo$le is found to have em$loyed and still to be em$loying certain ideas symbols and $ractices in common -ith every otherB $erha$s -ith or -ithout some slight modification of form. Masonic treatises abound -ith demonstrations of this uniformity in the use of various symbols $rominent in every Lodge. #uthors delight in su$$lying evidence of the close corres$ondences in various unrelated systems and in demonstrating ho- ancient and universal such and such ideas symbols and $ractices have been. ?ut they do not go so far Page ;< of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst as to e%$lain the reason for this antiAuity and universality and it is this $oint -hich it -ill be -ell to clear u$ at the outset since it furnishes the clue to the entire $roblem of the genesis the history and the reason for the e%istence of Masonry. .f research and reflection be $ushed far enough it becomes clear that the universality and uniformity referred to are due to the fact that at one time long back in the -orld4s $ast there e%isted or -as im$lanted in the minds of the -hole human family -hich -as doubtless much smaller and more concentrated then than no- a Proto'"vangelium or Root'1octrine in regard to the nature and destiny of the soul of man and its relation to the 1eity. We of to'day $ride ourselves u$on being -iser and more advanced than $rimitive humanity. We assume that our ancestors lived in moral benightedness out of -hich -e have since gradually emerged into com$arative light. #ll the evidence ho-ever negatives these su$$ositions. .t indicates that $rimitive man ho-ever childish and intellectually undevelo$ed according to modern standards -as s$iritually conscious and $sychically $erce$tive to a degree undreamed of by the modern mind and that it is ourselves -ho for all our cleverness and intellectual develo$ment in tem$oral matters are nevertheless $lunged in darkness and ignorance about our o-n nature the invisible -orld around us and the eternal s$iritual verities. .n all 3cri$tures and cosmologies the tradition is universal of a CGolden #ge C an age of com$arative innocence -isdom and s$irituality in -hich racial unity and individual ha$$iness and enlightenment $revailedB in -hich there -as that o$en vision for -ant of -hich a $eo$le $erisheth but in virtue of -hich men -ere once in conscious conversation -ith the unseen -orld and -ere she$herded taught and guided by the CgodsC or discarnate su$erintendents of the infant race -ho im$arted to them the sure and indefeasible $rinci$les u$on -hich their s$iritual -elfare and evolution de$ended. The tradition is also universal of the collective soul of the human race having sustained a Cfall C a moral declension from its true $ath of life and evolution -hich has severed it almost entirely from its creative source and -hich as the ages advanced has involved its sinking more and more dee$ly into $hysical conditions its s$litting u$ from a unity em$loying a single language into a diversity of conflicting races of different s$eeches and degrees of moral advancement accom$anied by a $rogressive densification of the material body and a corres$onding darkening of the mind and atro$hy of the s$iritual consciousness. To some -ho read this the statement -ill $robably be re@ected as fabulous and incredible. The su$$osition of a Cfall of manC is no-adays an un$o$ular doctrine re@ected by many -ho contend that everything $oints rather to a rise of man yet -ho fail to reflect that logically a rise necessarily involves an antecedent fall from -hich a rise becomes $ossible. This $oint ho-ever -e cannot sto$ to discuss and must be content merely -ith indicating -hat in both the 3cri$tures of all races and the Wisdom'tradition of the sages of antiAuity is unanimously recorded to be the fact. ,rom that Cfall C -hich -as not due to the transgression of an individual but to some -eakness or defect in the collective or grou$'soul of the #damic race and -hich -as not the matter of a moment but a $rocess covering vast time'cycles it -as necessary and -ithin the 1ivine counsels and $rovidence that humanity should be redeemed and restored to its $ristine stateB that it should be brought back once more into vital association -ith the 1ivine Princi$le from -hich by its secession it became increasingly detached as its materialistic tendencies over$o-ered and Auenched its native s$irituality. This restoration in turn reAuired vast time'cycles for its achievement. #nd it reAuired something further. .t reAuired the a$$lication of an orderly and scientific method to effect the restoration of each Page ;E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst fallen soul'fragment and bring it back to its $rimitive $ure and $erfect condition. . em$hasi>e that the method -as necessarily to be not a ha$ha>ard but a scientific one. #nyone may fall from a houseto$ and break his bonesB skilled surgery and intelligent effort by some friendly hand are reAuired to heal the $atient and get him back to the $lace he fell from. 3o -ith humanity. .t fell out of "den as our 3cri$tures describe the la$se from su$er'$hysical to $hysical conditions -hy and ho- again -e must not stay to enAuire. .t fell through inherent -eakness and lack of -isdom. !nable to effect its o-n recovery it reAuired skilled scientific assistance from other sources to bring about its restoration. Whence could come that skill and scientific kno-ledge if not from the 1ivine and noinvisible -orld from those CgodsC and angelic guardians of the erring race of -hom all the ancient traditions and sacred -ritings tellG Would not that regenerative method be $ro$erly described if it -ere called as in Masonry it is called a Cheavenly science C and -elcomed in the -ords that Masons in fact use C2ail Royal #rtJCG Thus then -as the origin and birth of Religion. #nd Religion is a -ord im$lying a Cbinding backC 8re'ligare=. #s -ith the setting and bandaging a broken limb so the collective soul of humanity fractured and comminuted by its fall into countless individuations and their subseAuent res$ective $rogenies each se$arately damaged and im$erfect needed to be restored to the condition from -hich it had become dislocated and once more built u$ into a $erfect harmonious -hole. To the s$iritual guardians of $rimitive man then one must attribute the communication of that universal science of rebuilding the fallen tem$le of humanity of -hich science -e no- sur$risedly find traces in every race and religion of the -orld. To this source -e must credit the distribution in every land and among every $eo$le of the same or eAuivalent symbols $ractices and doctrines modified only locally and in accordance -ith the intelligence of $articular $eo$les yet all manifesting a common root and $ur$ose. This -as the one 2oly &atholic 8or universal= Religion Cthroughout all the -orldCB at once a theoretic doctrine and a $ractical science intended to reunite man to his Maker. That religion could only be one as it could not be other-ise than catholic and for all men eAually and alikeB though o-ing to the $erverse distortive tendencies of humanity itself it -as susce$tible of becoming 8as has so ha$$ened= debased and sectariani>ed into as many forms as there are $eo$les. Moreover its main $rinci$les could never be susce$tible of alteration though they might be 8as they have been= e%oterically understood by some and esoterically by others and their full im$ort -ould not all at once be a$$arent but develo$ -ith increasing fidelity to and understanding of them. .t $rovided the unalterable ClandmarksC of kno-ledge concerning human nature human $otentialities and human destiny. .t laid do-n the ancient and established Cusages and customsC to be follo-ed at all times by everyone content to acce$t its disci$line and -hich none might deviate from or add innovations to save at his o-n $eril. .t -as the C3acred La-C for the guidance of the fallen soul a la- valid from the da-n of time till its sunset and of -hich it is -ritten C#s it -as in the beginning is no- and ever shall be -orld -ithout end.C .t -as the science of life of tem$oral limited life lived -ith the intention of its conversion and sublimation into eternal universal lifeB and therefore it called for a scientific or $hiloso$hic method of living every moment and action of -hich should be directed to that great goalB a method very different from the modern method -hich is entirely utilitarian in its outlook and totally unscientific in its conduct.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst This Proto'Religion is related to have originated in the "ast from -hich $roverbially all light comes and as humanity itself became diffused and distributed over the globe to have gradually s$read to-ards the West in a $er$etual -atchfulness of humanity4s s$iritual interests and an unfailing $ur$ose to retrieve Cthat -hich -as lostC the fallen human soul. We have already said that in early times the humanity then under its influence -as far less materiali>ed and far more s$iritually sensitive and $erce$tive than it subseAuently became or is no-B and accordingly it follo-s that -ith the increasing age and density of the race the influence of the Proto'Religion itself became corres$ondingly diminished though its $rinci$les remained as valid and effective as beforeB for the self'-illed vagaries and s$eculative conce$tions of man cannot alter the $rinci$les of static Truth and Wisdom. To follo- in any detail the course of its history is not no- necessary and -ould reAuire a long treatise. #nd to do so -ould also be like follo-ing the course of a river back-ards from its broad mouth to a $oint -here it becomes an insignificant and scarcely traceable channel. ,or the race itself has -andered back-ards farther and farther from the original Wisdom' teaching so that the once broad and bright flood of light u$on cosmic $rinci$les and the evolution of the human soul has no- become contracted into minute $oints. ?ut that light like that of a Master Mason has never been -holly e%tinguished ho-ever dark the age and by the tradition this of ours is s$iritually the darkest of the dark ages. CGod has never left 2imself -ithout a -itness among the children of men C and among the -itnesses to the #ncient Wisdom and Mysteries is the system of MasonryB a faint and feeble flicker $erha$s but nevertheless a true light and in the true line of succession of the $rimitive doctrine and one still able to guide our feet into the -ay of $eace and $erfection. The earliest teaching of the Mysteries traceable -ithin historic time -as in the 0rient and in the language kno-n as 3anscrit a name itself significant and a$$ro$riate for it means 2oly Writ or C3anctum 3cri$tumCB and for very great lights u$on the ancient 3ecret 1octrine one must still refer to the religious and $hiloso$hical scri$tures of .ndia -hich -as in its s$iritual and tem$oral $rime -hen modern "uro$e -as fro>en beneath an ice' ca$. ?ut races like men have their infancy manhood and old ageB they are but units u$on a larger scale than the individual for furthering the general life'$ur$ose. When a given race has served or failed in that $ur$ose the ste-ardshi$ of the Mysteries $asses on to other and more effectual hands. The ne%t great torch'bearer of the Light of the -orld -as "gy$t -hich after many centuries of s$iritual su$remacy in turn became the arid desert it no- is both s$iritually and materially leaving nevertheless a mass of structural and -ritten relics still testifying to its $ossession of the 1octrine in the days of its glory. ,rom "gy$t as civili>ations develo$ed in ad@oining countries a great irradiation of them took $lace by the diffusion of its kno-ledge and the institution of minor centres for the im$arting of the 1ivine 3cience in &haldea Persia Greece and #sia Minor. C0ut of "gy$t have . called My sonC is in one of its many senses a biblical allusion to this $assing on of the catholic Mysteries from "gy$t to ne- and virgin regions for their enlightenment. 0f these various translations those that concern us chiefly are t-oB the one to Greece the other to Palestine. We kno- from the ?ible that Moses -as an initiate of the "gy$tian mysteries and became learned in all its -isdom -hile Philo tells us that Moses there became Cskilled in music geometry arithmetic hierogly$hics and the -hole circle of arts and sciences.C .n other -ords he became in a real sense a Master Mason and as such Aualified himself for his subseAuent great task of leadershi$ of the 2ebre- $eo$le and the Page ;: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst formulating of their religious system and rule of life as laid do-n in the Pentateuch. The Mosaic system continued as -e kno- along the channel indicated in the books of the 0ld Testament and then after many centuries and vicissitudes effloresced in the greatest of all e%$ressions of the Mysteries as disclosed in the Gos$els of the /e- Testament 8or /eWitness= involving the su$ersession of all $revious systems under the 3u$reme Grand Mastershi$ of 2im -ho is called the Light of the World and its 3aviour. &oncurrently -ith the e%istence of the 2ebre- Mysteries under the Mosiac dis$ensation the great Greek school of the Mysteries -as develo$ing -hich originating in the 0r$hic religion culminated and came to a focus at 1el$hi and generated the $hiloso$hic -isdom and the Dsthetic glories associated -ith #thens and the Periclean age. Greece -as the s$iritual descendant and infant $rodigy of both .ndia and "gy$t though develo$ing along Auite different lines. We kno- that Pythagoras like Moses after absorbing all his native teachers could im$art @ourneyed to "gy$t to take his final initiation $rior to returning and founding the great school at &rotona associated -ith his name. We kno- too from the TimDus of Plato ho- as$irants for mystical -isdom visited "gy$t for initiation and -ere told by the $riests of 3ais that Cyou Greeks are but childrenC in the 3ecret 1octrine but -ere admitted to information enabling them to $romote their o-n s$iritual advancement. We kno- from the corres$ondence recorded by .amblichus bet-een #nebo and Por$hyry the fraternal relations e%isting bet-een the various schools or lodges of instruction in different landsB ho- their members visited greeted and assisted one another in the secret science the more advanced being obliged as every initiate still is -hen called u$on to Cafford assistance and instruction to his brethren in the inferior degrees.C #nd -e kno- that at the /ativity or shall -e say the installation in this -orld of the Great Master there came to 2im from afar Magi or initiate'visitors -ho kne- of 2is im$ending advent and had seen 2is star in the "ast and desired to ackno-ledge and $ay 2im reverence. .n all these -orld'moving incidents in times -hen initiation -as a real event and not a mere ceremonial form as no- it is of interest to notice the $ractice u$on a grand scale of the same customs and courtesies as are still observed though alas unintelligently by the &raft of to'day. We must no- s$eak more fully of the Mysteries and the CRoyal #rtC as $ursued by the Greek school. With the Greeks it took the form of a Auest of $hiloso$hyB i.e. for -isdom for the 3o$hia @ust as in the 2ebre- and &hristian schools it took the form of a Auest for the Lost Word. The end -as of course the same in both cases but the a$$roach to it -as by different means and as -e shall see the t-o methods coalesced into one at a later date. The Greek a$$roach -as $rimarily an intellectual one and by -hat 3$ino>a has termed #mor intellectualis 1ei. The &hristian a$$roach -as $rimarily through the affections and the adoration of the heart. ?oth strained after Cthat -hich -as lost C but one sought after the lost ideal by intellectual and the other by devotional energy. 2umanity is but slo-ly educatedB Cline u$on lineB $rece$t u$on $rece$tB here a little and there a little C one faculty after another being develo$ed and trained unto the refashioning of the $erfect organism. #nd if $hiloso$hic Wisdom and the sense of ?eauty stood forth as they did stand forth most $rominently as the main $illars of the Greek system the Greeks had yet to learn of a third and middle $illar that synthesi>ed and com$rised them both that of the 3trength of the su$reme virtue of Love -hen to-ards the ob@ect of all desire it $ours from a $ure and $erfect heart.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst The Greek4s Auest of -isdom -as something much more than a mere desire for larger information and maturer @udgment about one4s $lace in the universe. Merely to knocertain facts about the hidden side of life $rofits nothing unless the kno-ledge is allo-ed to influence and ada$t our method of living to the truths disclosed. Then the kno-ledge becomes transmuted into -isdomB one becomes the truth one seesB and a man4s life becomes truth made substantial and dynamic. ?ut to bring this about one must first be informed about or initiated into certain elements of the truth and be $ersuaded that it is truth before setting about to become it. The Greek method therefore began by initiating the mind into certain truths about the soul4s o-n nature history destiny and $otentialities and then left the individual to follo- u$ the information by a course of conduct in -hich the teaching im$arted -ould become converted into assured conviction and living $o-er -hilst his increasing $rogress in the science -ould itself result in a-akening him to still dee$er truths. .t cannot be too strongly em$hasi>ed that no one can learn s$iritual science -hether as taught by Masonry or any other system inculcating it -ithout submitting himself to its $rocesses and living them out in $ractical e%$erience. .n this su$reme study kno-ing de$ends entirely u$on doingB com$rehension is conditional u$on and the corollary of action. C2e that -ill do the -ill shall kno- of the doctrine.C 2ence it is that in Masonry an installed Master is still called a CMaster of #rts and 3ciences C for he is su$$osed to have mastered the art of living in accordance -ith the theoretic gnosis or science im$arted to him in the course of his $rogress. Real Masonic kno-ledge -ill never be achieved merely by oral e%$lanation hearing lectures and studying books. These may be useful in giving a $reliminary start to earnest seekers needing but a little guidance to set them on that $ath of $ersonal $ractice and e%$erience -here they -ill soon develo$ an automatic understanding of the doctrine for themselvesB for those -ith but a casual dilletante interest the doctrine -ill continue veiled and secret. ,or e%am$le it is one thing to hear e%$lained -hat is meant by being divested of money and metals in the $hiloso$hic senseB it is Auite another to have become insusce$tible to all attraction by material interests and sense'allurements and to be consciously $ossessed of the -isdom accruing from that e%$erience. .t may interest to be told -hy at a certain stage of $rogress the candidate is likened to an ear of corn by a fall of -aterB but the e%$lanation -ill be forgotten to'morro- unless as the result of his o-n effort the hearer has become $ersonally a-are of an in-ard substantial gro-th ri$ening to harvest -ithin him from the ground of his o-n being and fertili>ed by su$ersensual nourishment falling like the gentle rain from heaven u$on his ardent and as$iring soul. #gain it may seem instructive to knothat the great ritual of the Third 1egree signifies a death unto sin and self and a ne- birth unto righteousness but ho- -ill the information $rofit those -ho nevertheless mean to go on living the old manner of life -hich at every moment negates all that that ritual im$liesG The #ncient Mysteries then involved much more than a merely notional $hiloso$hy. They reAuired also a $hiloso$hic method of living or rather of dying. ,or as 3ocrates said 8in Plato4s PhDdo from -hich much Masonic teaching is directly dra-n and -hich every Masonic student should study dee$ly= Cthe -hole study of the $hiloso$her 8or -isdom' seeker= is nothing else than to die and be deadCB an assertion re$eated by Plutarch Cto be initiated is to dieCB and by the &hristian a$ostle C. die daily.C Their method -as divided into t-o $arts the Lesser and the Greater Mysteries. The Lesser -ere those in -hich the more elementary instruction -as im$arted so that candidates might forth-ith set about to Page ;9 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $urify and ada$t their lives to the truths disclosed. The Greater Mysteries related to the develo$ments of consciousness -ithin the soul itself as the result of fidelity to the $rescribed rule of life. To dra- a faint analogy the Lesser Mysteries bore the same relation to the Greater as the $resent &raft 1egrees do to the 2oly Royal #rch. To deal adeAuately -ith the Mystery'systems -ould involve a lengthy study in itself. We -ill refer to but one of the most famous of them the "leusinian -hich e%isted in Greece and for several centuries -as the focus'$oint of religion and $hiloso$hy for the then civili>ed $ortion of "uro$e. C"leusisC means light and initiation into the Mysteries of "leusis therefore meant a Auest of the as$irant for light in $recisely the same but a far more real sense as the modern Mason declares light to be the $redominant -ish of his heart. .t meant as it ought to mean to'day but does not not merely light in the sense of being given some secret information not obtainable else-here or about any matter of -orldly interest but the o$ening u$ of the candidate4s -hole intellectual and s$iritual nature in the su$er'sensual light of the 1ivine -orld and raising him to God' consciousness. The ordinary and uninitiated man kno-s nothing of that su$er'sensual light by his merely natural reasonB he is conscious only of the outer -orld and things $erce$tible by his natural faculties. .n the -ords of 3t. Paul Cthe natural man receiveth not the things of the 3$irit of God for they are foolishness unto himB neither can he kno- them because they are s$iritually discerned.C .nitiation therefore meant a $rocess -hereby natural man became transformed into s$iritual or ultra'natural man and to effect this it -as necessary to change his consciousness to gear it to a ne- and higher $rinci$le and so as it -ere make of him a ne- man in the sense of attaining a ne- method of life and a ne- outlook u$on the universe. C?e ye transformed by the rene-ing of your minds C says the #$ostle referring to this $rocess. #s has $reviously been sho-n in these $a$ers the transference of the symbol of the 1ivine Presence from the ceiling to the floor of the Masonic Lodge is to indicate ho- the 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le in man can be brought do-n from his remoter $sychological region into his $hysical organism and function there through his body and brain thus as it -ere dislocating and su$erseding his natural mentality and regenerating him. This truth is still further re$roduced in Masonry by the name CLe-is C traditionally associated -ith the &raft. CLe-isC is a modern corru$tion of "leusis and of other Greek and Latin names associated -ith Light. .n our instruction Lectures it is said to designate Cthe son of a Mason.C This ho-ever has no reference to human $arentage and sonshi$. .t refers to the mystical birth of the 1ivine Light in oneselfB as a familiar 3cri$tural te%t has it C!nto us a child is born unto us a son is given.C .t is the 1ivine Princi$le the 1ivine Wisdom brought to birth and function -ithin the organism of the natural man -ho virtually becomes its $arent. .t is further described in our Lectures as something C-hich -hen $ro$erly dovetailed into a stone forms a clam$ enabling Masons to lift great -eights -ith little inconvenience -hilst fi%ing them on their $ro$er bases.C #ll -hich is a concealed -ay of e%$ressing the fact that -hen the 1ivine Light is brought for-ard from man4s submerged de$ths and firmly grafted or dovetailed into his natural organism he then becomes able easily to gra$$le -ith difficulties $roblems and C-eightsC of all kinds -hich to the unregenerate are insu$erable and to $erceive all things sub s$ecie Dternitatis and in their true relations as is not $ossible to other men -ho behold them only sub s$ecie tem$oris and are conseAuently unable to @udge their real values and Cfi% them on their $ro$er bases.C

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst .n the time that the Mysteries flourished every educated man entered them in the same -ay that men enter a !niversity in modern times. They -ere the recogni>ed source of instruction in the only things that really matter those affecting the culture of the human soul and its education in the science of itself and its divine nature. &andidates -ere graded according to their moral efficiency and their intellectual or s$iritual stature. ,or years they under-ent disci$linary intellectual e%ercises and bodily asceticism $unctuated at intervals by a$$ro$riate tests and ordeals to determine their fitness to $roceed to the more serious solemn and a-ful $rocesses of actual initiation administered only to the duly Aualified and -hich -ere of a secret and closely guarded character. Their education differing greatly from the scholastic methods of a utilitarian age like our o-n -as directed solely to the cultivation of the Cfour cardinal virtuesC and the Cseven liberal arts and sciencesC as Aualifications $rereAuisite to $artici$ation in the higher order of life to -hich initiation -ould eventually admit the -orthy and $ro$erly $re$ared candidate. The construction $ut u$on these virtues and sciences -as a much more advanced one than the modern mind considers adeAuate. 5irtues -ith them -ere more than abstractions and ethical sentimentsB as the -ord itself im$lies they involved $ositive valours and virility of soul. Tem$erance involved com$lete control of the $assional nature under every circumstanceB ,ortitude the courage that no adversity -ill dismay or deflect from the goal in vie-B Prudence the dee$ insight that begets the $ro$hetic or for-ard'seeing faculty of seer'shi$ 8$rovidentia=B 6ustice uns-erving righteousness of thought and action. N(O The Carts and sciencesC -ere called CliberalC because they tended to liberate the soul from defects and illusions normally enslaving it thus totally differing from science in the modern sense the tendency of -hich is as -e kno- materialistic and soul'benumbing. Grammar Logic and Rhetoric -ith the #ncients -ere disci$lines of the moral nature by -hich the irrational tendencies of a human being -ere $urged a-ay and he -as trained to become a living -itness of the universal Logos and a living mouth'$iece of the 1ivine Word. Geometry and #rithmetic -ere sciences of transcendental s$ace and numeration 8seeing that as in the -ords of our o-n 3cri$tures God has Cmade everything by measure number and -eightC= the com$rehension of -hich $rovides the key not only to the $roblems of one4s being but to those $hysical ones -hich are found so baffling by the inductive methods of to'day. #stronomy for them reAuired no telesco$esB it dealt not -ith the stars of the sky but -as the science of meta$hysics and the understanding of the distribution of the forces latent in and determining the destiny of individuals nations and the race. ,inally Music 8or 2armony= -as for them not of the vocal or instrumental kindB it meant the living $ractice of $hiloso$hy the ad@ustment of human life into harmony -ith God until the $ersonal soul became unified -ith 2im and consciously heard because it no- $artici$ated in the music of the s$heres. #s Milton $uts it7 C2o- lovely is 1ivine Philoso$hy /ot harsh and crabbSd as dull fools su$$ose ?ut musical as is #$ollo4s lute #nd a $er$etual feast of nectarKd s-eets Where no crude surfeit reigns.C "very $ossible device -as em$loyed and $ractised to train the mind to acAuire dominion over the $assions and to loosen and detach it from the im$ressions and attractions of the
( The four cardinal virtues are referred to in both Plato4s PhDdo and the ?ook of Wisdom ch. viii H'; indicating community of teaching bet-een the Greek and 2ebre- schools.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst senses to destroy the illusions and false imaginations under -hich it labours -hen using no higher light than its o-n and to Aualify it for a higher method of cognition and for the rece$tion of su$ersensual truth and the light of the 1ivine -orld. The idealism of Greek architecture and scul$ture -as entirely due to the same motive and -ith a vie- to elevating the imagination beyond the visible level and fitting the mind for the a$$rehension of ultra' $hysical form and beauty. "ven athletic e%ercises -ere made to subserve the same $ur$oseB -restling and racing -ere not vulgar s$ortsB they -ere regarded sacramentally as the ty$e of combats the soul must engage in against the com$etition of the fleshly desiresB and the victor4s cro-n of laurel or olive -as the emblem of -isdom and illumination resulting to him in -hom the s$irit conAuers the flesh. Thus every intellectual and $hysical interest -as made subservient to the one idea of se$arating the soul from material bondage and -as $ur$osely of a $urifying or CcatharticC nature that should cleanse the thoughts and desires of the as$irant and make him -hite -ithin and -ithout even as the modern candidate for the &raft is clothed in -hite. This in-ard $urity of heart and mind cou$led -ith the $ossession of the four cardinal virtues -as and still is an absolute essential to the ordeals of actual initiation -hich other-ise rendered the candidate liable to insanity and obsessions of -hich the modern mind in its ignorance of -hat initiation involves can form no o$inion. Those -ho became $roficient and $ro$erly $re$ared in this curriculum of the Lesser Mysteries -ere eventually admitted to initiation in the Greater Mysteries. Those -ho failed to Aualify -ere restrained from advancement. #s no- the numbers of really earnest and Aualified as$irants -ere only a $ercentage of the total of those -ho entered the Mysteries for in the s$iritual life as in the -orld of nature the biological $henomenon $revails that the available ra- material greatly e%ceeds the $erfected $roduct. "very year far more seeds are borne far more eggs are laid or s$a-ned than reach maturity although every seed and egg is $otentially ca$able of gro-th and fruition. Plato s$eaking of the Mysteries in his o-n day Auotes a still older authority that Cthe thyrsus'bearers N*O 8or candidates for initiation= are numerous but the ?acchuses 8or $erfected initiates= are fe-.C The same truth is restated in the -ords in the Gos$els CMany are called but fe- are chosen.C 0ne Aualification above all -as essential to the as$irant as it is still to'day humility. The -isdom into -hich the Mysteries and initiation admit a man is foolishness to the -orldB it is a reversal and revolution of all orthodo% and academic standards. To attain it a man must be $re$ared for that com$lete and voluntary self'denial -hich may involve his finding negated everything he has $reviously held to be true or -hich those among -hom he ordinarily mingles believe to be true. 2e must be content to Cbecome a fool for the kingdom of heaven4s sakeC and to suffer adversity ridicule and obloAuy for it if needs be. This -as one of the $rime reasons for secrecy and one though not the only one of the origins of the Masonic in@unction as to secrecy. The -orld4s -isdom and that to -hich initiation admits are so anti$odal in their nature that any intrusion of the latter -ill infallibly $rovoke resentment from the former. 2ence it is -ritten C&ast not your $earls before s-ine neither give that -hich is holy unto dogs lest they turn and rend you.C 3ilence and secrecy are therefore desirable if only in self'defence though there are other reasonsB but humility is indis$ensable. .n the $ublic $rocessions of the Lesser Mysteries
* The thyrsus 8or &aduceus= -as an elaborate -and borne by the candidate to the symbolism of -hich dee$ meaning attached. .ts $resent form is the -and carried by the deacon accom$anying the candidate.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst for the $ublic -ere $ermitted at certain festivals to $artici$ate to a small e%tent in some of the more e%oteric kno-ledge the sacred emblems and eucharistic vessels used in the rites -ere carried -ith great reverence u$on the back of an ass. With the same intention it is said that one of the great Greek $hiloso$hers al-ays had an ass by his side in his lecture' room -hen instructing his students. The e%$lanation is given in the -ords of one of the old authorities u$on initiation as follo-s7 CThere is no creature so able to receive divinity as an ass into -hom if ye be not turned ye shall in no -ise be able to carry the divine mysteries.C .n the light of this one -ill at once discern the symbolical significance of the &hristian Master riding into 6erusalem u$on an ass. #nother and a greatly educative means em$loyed in the Mysteries -as that of instructing enlarging and $urifying the imagination by means of myths e%$ressing either in doctrinal form or by s$ectacular re$resentation truths of the 1ivine -orld and of the soul4s history. The modern mind in its $assion for actual concrete facts is little sym$athetic to a method of teaching -hich dis$enses -ith demonstrable facts and $refers to enunciate the eternal $rinci$les underlying such facts and of -hich those facts are but the manifested resultant conseAuence. ,acts of history or science tend ho-ever to congest the mind and $aralyse the imagination as 1ar-in lamented in his o-n case. Princi$les stimulate and illumine the imagination and enable the mind to inter$ret facts and ad@ust them to their $ro$er relation. The Greek mythologists -ere ade$ts at e%$ressing cosmic and $hiloso$hic truths in the guise of fables -hich at once e%$ressed theoso$hic teaching to the discerning and veiled it from the careless and ignorant. Myth'making -as a science not an indulgence in irres$onsible fiction and by e%hibiting some of these myths in dramatic form candidates -ere instructed in various fundamental verities of life. 0ne of the chief and best kno-n of the numerous myths -as that of 1emeter and her daughter Perse$hone annually $erformed -ith great ceremony and elaboration at the "leusinia and of -hich it may be useful to s$eak briefly. .t told ho- the maiden Perse$hone strayed a-ay from #rcadia 8heaven= and her mother 1emeter to $luck flo-ers in the meads of "nna and ho- the soil there o$ened and caused her to fall through into the lo-er dark -orld of 2ades ruled over by Pluto. The des$air of her mother at the loss reached Meus the chief of the Gods -ith the result that he relieved the $osition by ordaining that if the girl had not eaten of the fruit of 2ades she should forth-ith be restored to her mother for ever but that if she had so eaten she must abide a third of each year -ith Pluto and return to 1emeter for the other t-o thirds. .t $roved that Perse$hone had unfortunately eaten a $omegranate in the lo-er -orld so that her restoration to her mother could not be $ermanent but only $eriodic. This myth and the im$ortance once attached to it -ill be a$$reciated only u$on understanding its inter$retation. .t is the story of the soul and is of the same nature as the Mosaic myth of #dam and "ve and the a$$le and as the cosmic $arable of the Prodigal 3on neither of these being meant to be regarded as historically true but as a fiction s$iritually true of cosmic facts. Perse$hone is the human soul generated out of that $rimordial incorru$tible mother'earth -hich the Greeks $ersonified as 1emeter @ust as the Mosaic narrative s$eaks of God forming man out of the dust of the ground. 2er straying from her #rcadian home and heavenly mother in Auest of flo-ers 8or fresh e%$eriences on her o-n account= in the fields of "nna corres$onds -ith the same $rom$tings of desire that led to #dam4s disobedience in "den and his fall thence to this outer -orld. #ll unruly desires end in dissatisfaction and bitterness and C"nnaC 8signifying darkness and Page 9* of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst bitterness= is the same -ord as still meets us in Gehenna. 0ne may ho-ever $rofit by one4s mistakes. .t is they -hich breed -isdom and it is the riches of -isdom and e%$erience that are signified by Pluto the god of riches into -hose kingdom Perse$hone falls. 3he might have returned thence to her mother for ever Meus decreed had she not still further in@ured herself by eating of the fruit of the lo-er -orld but having done so her restoration can only be $artial and tem$orary. This alludes to the soul4s still further self' soilure and degradation by lusting after the inferior $leasures of this lo-er $lane -hich as the $omegranate symboli>es is many'seeded -ith illusions and vanities. !ntil these false tendencies are eradicated until the desires of the heart are utterly -eaned from e%ternal delights there can be no $ermanent restoration of the soul to its source but merely the $eriodic res$ite and refreshment that death brings -hen it -ithdra-s the soul from Pluto4s realm to the heaven'-orld to be follo-ed again and again by $eriodic descents into material limitations and reascents into discarnate conditions until it becomes finally $urged and $erfected. ?y this great myth therefore instruction -as im$arted as to the history of the soul its destiny and $ros$ects and the doctrine of reincarnation N<O -as em$hasi>ed. /o- Masonry follo-s this traditional method of instruction by myths. .ts canon of teaching in the &raft degrees contains t-o myths. 0ne is that of the building of Iing 3olomon4s Tem$le. The other is that of the death and burial of 2iram #biff narrated in the traditional history. The Royal #rch contains a third myth in the story of the return from ca$tivity after the destruction of the first tem$le the commencement to build the second and the discovery then made. This third myth has already been e%$ounded in our $a$er on the Royal #rch degree so that -e need no- s$eak only of the &raft Myths. To the literal'minded the building of 3olomon4s tem$le at 6erusalem 8-hich is of course largely but not entirely based u$on the 2ebre- 3cri$tures= a$$ears to be the history of an actual stone and mortar structure erected by three #siatic notables one of -hom conceived the idea another su$$lying the building material -hilst the third -as the $ractical architect and chief of -orks. The t-o former are said to have been kings of ad@acent small nationsB the third -as not a royalty but a$$arently a $erson of no social dignity and a C-ido-4s son.C #s has $reviously been said in these $a$ers these details of an enter$rise undertaken more than t-o thousand years ago can have no $ossible value to anyone to'day and if they related merely to historic fact modern Masonry might as -ell close its doors and cease to e%ist for any benefit that fact could im$art to serious or reflective minds. ?ut if the narrative -ere never intended as a record of tem$oral historic fact but be a myth enshrining $hiloso$hic truths concerning eternal $rinci$les then it must be inter$reted -ith s$iritual discernment and its analysis -ill reveal matters of real im$ortance. The story of the building of the tem$le then is a $hiloso$hical instruction garbed in Auasi'historical form concerning the structure of the human soul. That tem$le is not one of common brick and stone but of the Cunhe-n stoneC or incorru$tible ra- material of -hich the &reator fashioned the human organism. The 6erusalem in -hich it -as built -as not the geogra$hical one in Palestine but the eternal Ccity of $eaceC in the heavensB not as 3t.
< #s this doctrine is not $o$ularly inculcated in the West as it is in the "ast and -ill be novel and $robably unacce$table to some readers its acce$tance is not $ressed here. We are merely recording -hat the secret doctrine teaches.

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The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst Paul says Cthe 6erusalem -hich no- is but the 6erusalem above -hich is the mother of us all C like the Greek 1emeter. .ts builders -ere not three human $ersonages resident in the Levant but the 1ivine energy considered in its three constituent $rinci$les s$oken of in our .nstruction Lectures as Wisdom 3trength and ?eauty -hich as C$illars of 2is -orkC run through and form the meta$hysical -ar$ and basis of all created things. These three meta$hysical $rinci$les may be defined in modern terms as Life'"ssence 8or the substantial s$irit of Wisdom=B incorru$tible Matter serving as the mould matri% or vehicle of that Life'"ssence to give it fi%ity form and ob@ectiveness 83trength=B and lastly the fabricative intellectual $rinci$le or Logos binding these t-o together and constituting the -hole an intelligent and functionally effective instrument 8?eauty=. 0f these three $rinci$les or u$on these three $illars -as the human soul originally and divinely built in the heaven'-orld and our Lectures therefore rightly say that those three $illars Calso allude to 3olomon Iing of .sraelB 2iram Iing of TyreB and 2iram #biff C because those names $ersonify the indissociable triadic constituents of the 1ivine !nity. 8They are also sho-n inscribed u$on the central symbolic altar in the Royal #rch 1egree as further evidence of this divine construction of the human soul=. The tem$le of the soul has ho-ever no- been destroyed and thro-n do-n from its $rimitive eminence and grandeur. 2umanity instead of being a collective united organic -hole has become shattered into innumerable fragmentary se$arated $arts not one stone standing u$on another of its ruined building. .t has lost consciousness of the genuine secrets of its o-n origin and nature and has no- to be content -ith the s$urious substituted kno-ledge it $icks u$ from sense' im$ressions in this outer -orld. Like Perse$hone it has eaten the $omegranates of Pluto4s dark realm in $reference to the ambrosia of #rcady and until that $oison is eliminated from its system it cannot $ermanently reattain its unfallen state but at best must endure a rhythm of deaths and rebirths and of intermittent $eriods of labour in this -orld and refreshment beyond it. ?ut it may become cleansedB the tem$le can be rebuilt and each Mason4s soul that is -rought into a true die or sAuare by his -ork u$on himself here becomes one more ne- stone of the restored tem$le in the heavens. # further -ord is necessary as to the concealed significance of 3olomon and the t-o 2irams. 3olomon $ersonifies the $rimordial Life'"ssence or substantiali>ed 1ivine Wisdom -hich is the basis of our being. .t is defined in the ?ook of Wisdom 8cha$. vii. *H'*;= as Ca $ure influence flo-ing from the glory of the #lmightyB the brightness of the everlasting light the uns$otted mirror of the $o-er of God and the image of 2is goodness.C .t is described as a CkingC because it must needs transcend and over'rule -hatever is inferior to itself and as Cking of .sraelC because C.sraelC itself means Cco' o$erating or ruling -ith GodC as distinct from being associated -ith beings or affairs of a sub'divine order. To con@oin this transcendental Life'"ssence to a vehicle -hich should give it fi%ity and form reAuired the assistance of another dominant or CkinglyC $rinci$le $ersonified as 2iram Iing of Tyre -ho su$$lied the Cbuilding material.C /o- inasmuch as -e are dealing -ith $urely meta$hysical ideas it -ill be obvious that the Tyre in Auestion has no relation to the Levantine sea'$ort of that name. The name Tyre in 2ebremeans CrockC and the strength com$actness and durability -hich -e associate -ith rock -hilst the same -ord recurs in Greek as Turos and in Latin as Terra earth and as 1urus im$lying form hardness consistency and durability. CIing of Tyre C therefore is inter$retable as the cosmic $rinci$le -hich gives solidity and form to the s$iritual fluidic and formless Life'"ssence and -hich is com$arable to a cu$ intended to hold liAuid. 3olomon and 2iram of Tyre therefore contribute their res$ective $ro$erties of Life' Page 9E of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst "ssence and durable form and Cbuilding materialC as the ground-ork of the soul -hich then is made functionally effective by the addition of the third $rinci$le described as 2iram #biff the -ido-4s son and $ersonifying the active intellectual $rinci$le or Logos. .n a -ord 2iram #biff is the &hrist'$rinci$le immanent in every soulB crucified dead and buried in all -ho are not alive to its $resence but resident in all as a saving force C&hrist in you the ho$e of glory.C &onsistently -ith &hrist'like humility 2iram #biff 8literally Cthe teacher from the ,atherC= is not described as a CkingC as are 3olomon and 2iram of Tyre but as one Cof no re$utation C a C-ido-4s sonCB a beautiful touch of Gnostic symbolism referable to the derelict or -ido-ed nature of the 1ivine Motherhood or 3o$hia o-ing to the errancy and defection from -isdom of her frail children. 3uch of those children as have re@oined or are striving to re@oin their mother are alone -orthy to be called the C-ido-4s sons C and it is to the cry to those -ho have re@oined her from those still labouring at that task in the flesh and $erha$s -i$ing from their bro- the bloody s-eat of their Gethsemane anguish in the struggle that the traditional $etition a$$lies C&ome to my hel$ ye sons of the Wido- for . am the Wido-4s sonJC The tem$le of the human soul $rimordially constituted of the three $rinci$les @ust s$oken of in due balance and $ro$ortion and divinely $ronounced to be Cvery good C has deflected from that state. .ts fall has been effected by the dis$ro$ortioned unbalanced and therefore disorderly abuse of its inherent $o-ers. 6ust as a man in a tem$er becomes tem$orarily unbalanced and liable to do -hat he -ould not in serene moments so the soul has disorgani>ed its o-n nature utterly. 0f the three $illars that should su$$ort it Wisdom 8Gnosis= has fallen and become re$laced by a fle%ible and shifting $ro$ of s$eculative o$inion7 3trength 8divine dynamic energy= has become e%changed for the frailty of the $erishing flesh7 ?eauty the god'like radiant form that should adorn and liken man to his 1ivine &reator has become su$erseded by every ugliness of im$erfection. Man is no- a ruined tem$le over -hich is -ritten C.chabodJ .chabodJ the glory is de$artedJC 3evered from conscious intercourse -ith his 5ital and .mmortal Princi$le he is a $risoner in ca$tivity to himself and his lo-er tem$oral nature. .t remains for him to retrace his ste$s and rebuild his tem$leB to continue no longer a bondslave to his self'made illusions and the attractions of C-orldly $ossessions C but become a free man and mason engaged in sha$ing himself into a living and $recious stone for the cosmic tem$le of a regenerate 2umanity unto -hich -hen com$leted and dedicated 1eity -ill again enter and abide. To be Cinstalled in the chair of Iing 3olomon C therefore means in its true sense the reattainment of a Wisdom -e have lost and the revival in ourselves of the 1ivine Life' "ssence -hich is the basis of our being. With the reattainment of that Wisdom all that is com$rised in the terms 3trength and ?eauty -ill be reattained also for the three $illars stand in eternal association and balance. /ot to reattain it not to revive the 1ivine Life' "ssence during our so@ourn in this -orld is to miss the o$$ortunity -hich life in $hysical conditions $rovides since the after'death state is one not of labour at this -ork but of refreshment and rest -here no real $rogress is $ossible. .nitiation therefore -as instituted to im$art the science of its reattainment and so lift the individual soul to a ne- life'basis from -hich it could $roceed to -ork out its o-n salvation and develo$ its inherent $o-ers along the true line of its destiny and evolution. ?ut as the #ncient Mysteries taught the soul that never even begins this -ork in this -orld -ill not be able to begin it hereafter but -ill remain sus$ended in the more tenuous $lanes of this $lanet until such time as it is once again indra-n into the vorte% of generation by the ever'turning -heel of life. To Auote Page 9H of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst Plato again Cthose -ho instituted the Mysteries for us taught us that -hosoever descended into 2ades 8the after'death state= uninitiated and -ithout being a $artaker in the Mysteries -ill be $lunged into mire and darkness but -hoever arrived there $urified and initiated -ill d-ell -ith the Gods.C This teaching is re$roduced in Masonry in the reference to the Master'Mason being Cadmitted to the assembly of the @ust made $erfectC7 the im$lication being that those -ho have not reached that $roficiency and are neither C@ustC 8i.e. rectified= nor $erfected -ill abide u$on a lo-er level of $ost'mortem e%istence. ,or the levels of su$er$hysical life are numerous Cin my ,ather4s house are many mansions C or literally resting $laces and they and their occu$ants are graduated in hierarchical order according to their degree of fitness and s$iritual eminence. The disordered modern -orld -ith its $erverse democratic ideals of eAuality and uniformity has lost all sense of the hierarchic $rinci$le -hich since it obtains in the higher -orld ought to be reflected in this. C0rder is 2eaven4s first la- and that confessed 3ome are and must be greater than the rest.C ?ut Masonry $reserves the -itness to this graduation and to the e%istence of se$arate tiers of life in the heaven'$laces in the symbolic distribution of its more advanced members. #bove the &raft Lodges there $resides the Provincial Grand LodgeB beyond that rules the Grand Lodge of the nation. Theoretically higher than any of these is the Royal #rch &ha$ter -ith the Provincial and Grand &ha$ters to-ering beyond that. .n the symbolic clothing -orn by the members of each of these ranks the observant student -ill $erceive the intention to give a$$ro$riate e%$ression to the truth thereby signified. The Masonic a$ron has been e%$lained in an earlier $a$er as a figure of the soul4s cor$oreality the body 8not to be confused -ith the gross $hysical body= -hich it -ears and -ill dis$lay -hen it $asses from this life. .ts $ure -hite is fringed in the case of @unior brethren -ith a $ale shade of that blue -hich even in $hysical nature is the colour of the heavens. With seniors in the Provincial and Grand Lodges this has intensified to the dee$est degree of that hue in corres$ondence -ith their theoretical s$iritual develo$ment -hilst the gold lace adornments of the clothing emblemati>e -hat is referred to in the Psalmist4s -ords CThe Iing4s daughter 8the soul= is all glorious -ithinB her clothing is of -rought goldC7 for as the Life'"ssence or Wisdom becomes increasingly C-roughtC or substantiali>ed in us it becomes the ob@ectified cor$oreality of the soul. .n the Royal #rch the &raft devotional blue is intershot -ith red the colour of fire or s$iritual ardour the blend resulting in that $ur$le -hich both in earth and heaven is the $rerogative of royalty. Thus by their clothing in the various grades the members of Masonry emblemati>e on earth the angels and archangels and all the com$any of 2eaven. 3ome of them are clothed -ith light as -ith a garmentB others are ministers of flaming fire. .n a short $a$er such as this our reference to the #ncient Mysteries is necessarily brief and has been restricted to the Greek "leusinian system. Many others of course e%isted and an e%tensive though scattered literature is available for those -ho -ould $ursue the sub@ect further in the direction of the "gy$tian 3amothracian &haldean Mithraic Gnostic and other systems. .n their res$ective days and localities they formed the authoritative centres of religion and $hiloso$hy using those terms as but $hases of an indivisible sub@ect -hich no-adays has become s$lit u$ into many brands of theology and s$eculative $hiloso$hy having little and often no $ossible connection -ith each other. What the old -riters made $ublic about the Mysteries of course discreetly avoids descri$tions of the dee$er truths they im$arted or of the actual $rocesses of initiation. These must al-ays remain a sub@ect Page 9: of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst of secrecy but by the $ers$icuous reader enough can be found in their $ur$osely obscure and meta$horical accounts to indicate -hat occurred and -ith -hat effect u$on the candidate. .nitiation -e have already said is something -hich but fe- are fit to receive even after long and rigorous $re$aration and fe-er still are com$etent to im$art. .t -as an e%$erience of -hich a -riter has said in regard to the candidate 5el invenit sanctum vel facit it either finds him holy or makes him so. 5irgil4s account in the si%th Pneid of the initiation of Pneas into "lysium 8or the su$ernatural light= or that of Lucius 8again a name signifying enlightenment= in the CGolden #ssC of #$uleius -hen he -as $ermitted to Csee the sun at midnight C are instructive instances. 3o also the e%clamation of &lement of #le%andria -ho had been received into the Gnostic school7 C0 truly sacred MysteriesJ 0 $ure LightJ . am led by the light of the torch to the vie- of heaven and of God. . become holy by initiation. The Lord 2imself is the hiero$hant -ho leading the candidate for initiation to the Light seals him and $resents him to the ,ather to be $reserved for ever. These are the orgies of my Mysteries. .f thou -ilt come and be thou also initiated and thou shalt @oin in the dance -ith the angels around the uncreated im$erishable and only true God the Word of God @oining in the strainJC The Mysteries came to an end as $ublic institutions in the si%th century -hen from $olitical considerations they and the teaching of the secret doctrine and $hiloso$hy became $rohibited by the Roman Government under 6ustinian -ho aimed at inaugurating an official uniform state'religion throughout its "m$ire. 3ubseAuently as the Roman "m$ire declined and broke u$ the Roman &atholic &hurch emerged from it -hich as -e kno- has resolutely discountenanced any authority in religion and $hiloso$hy as a rival to her o-n and at the same time claimed su$remacy and an over'riding @urisdiction in tem$oral matters also. ,or the ,reemason the result of that &hurch4s conduct is instructive. ,or -hen an authority u$on matters -holly s$iritual and belonging to a kingdom -hich is not of this -orld lays claim to tem$oral $o-er and secular $ossessions as the Roman &hurch has done and still does it at once vitiates and neutrali>es its o-n s$iritual Aualifications. .t becomes infected -ith the virus of C-orldly $ossessions.C .t loads itself -ith the Cmoney and metalsC from -hich it is essential to kee$ divested. The result has been that -hat might have been and -as designed to be the greatest s$iritually educative force in the -orld4s history has become a materiali>ed institution e%ercising an intellectual tyranny -hich has estranged the minds of millions from religion altogether. #s Lot4s -ife is meta$horically said to have crystalli>ed into a $illar of salt through turning back in desire to -hat she ought to have renounced altogether so in trying to serve Mammon and God at the same time the Roman &hurch has failed in both and as the result of the false ste$s and abuses of centuries the -orld is to'day a chaos of disunited sects and $o$ular religious teaching is as materialistic as Masonry. .t is a $ity for in its original design and $ractice &hristianity -as intended to serve as a system of initiation u$on a catholic or universal scale and to take over su$ersede and am$lify all that $reviously -as taught in a less efficacious -ay and to a more restricted $ublic in the #ncient Mysteries. .t is not $ossible here to enter u$on the e%tremely interesting Auestions involved in the transition from $re'&hristian to &hristian religion or to e%$lain -hy and ho- the &hristian Mysteries are the efflorescence of the earlier ones and transcend them. .n their central teachings as in the $hiloso$hic method of life they demand the t-o methods are identical. The differences bet-een them are only such as are due to am$lification and formal e%$ression. &hristianity came not to destroy but to fulfil and e%$and. That fulfilment and e%$ansion -ere conseAuent u$on an event of cosmic im$ortance -hich -e s$eak of as The .ncarnation. ?y that event something had ha$$ened Page 9; of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst affecting the very fabric of our $lanet and every item of the human family. What that something -as and the nature of the change it -rought is too great and dee$ a theme to develo$ no- but to illustrate it by Masonic symbolism it -as an event -hich is the eAuivalent of and is re$resented by the transference of the 3acred 3ymbol of the Grand Geometrician of the !niverse from the ceiling of the Lodge -here it is located in the elementary grades of the &raft to the floor -here it is found in the Royal #rch 1egree surrounded -ith flaming lights and every circumstance of reverence and sanctity. 2omany Masons are there in the 0rder to'day -ho recogni>e that in this $iece of symbolism Masonry is giving affirmation and ocular testimony to $recisely the same fact as the churchman affirms -hen he recites in his &reed the -ords C2e came do-n from heaven and -as incarnate and -as made manGC ?y a tacit and Auite un-arranted convention the members of the &raft avoid mention in their Lodges of the &hristian Master and confine their scri$tural readings and references almost e%clusively to the 0ld Testament the motive being no doubt due to a desire to observe the in@unction as to refraining from religious discussion and to $revent offence on the $art of brethren -ho may not be of the &hristian faith. The motive is an entirely misguided one and is negated by the fact that the Cgreater lightC u$on -hich every member is obligated and to -hich his earnest attention is recommended from the moment of his admission to the 0rder is not only the 0ld Testament but the volume of the 3acred La- in its entirety. The /e- Testament is as essential to his instruction as the 0ld not merely because of its moral teaching but in virtue of its constituting the record of the Mysteries in their su$reme form and historic culmination. The Gos$els themselves like the Masonic degrees are a record of $re$aration and illumination leading u$ to the ordeal of death follo-ed by a raising from the dead and the attainment of Mastershi$ and they e%hibit the $rocess of initiation carried to the highest conceivable degree of attainment. The /eTestament is full of $assages in Masonic terminology and there is not a little irony in the failure by modern Masons to recogni>e its su$reme im$ortance and relevancy to their Lodge $roceedings and in the fact that in so doing they may be likening themselves to those builders of -hom it is -ritten that they re@ected the chief &orner 3tone. They -ould learn further that the Grand Master and "%em$lar of Masonry 2iram #biff is but a figure of the Great Master and "%em$lar and 3aviour of the -orld the 1ivine #rchitect by -hom all things -ere made -ithout -hom is nothing that hath been made and -hose life is the light of men. .f in the -ords of the Masonic hymn7 C2iram the architect 1id all the &raft direct 2o- they should build C it is eAually true that the $rotagonist of the &hristian 3cri$tures also taught universal humanity Cho- they should buildC and reconstruct their o-n fallen nature and that the method of such building is one -hich involves the cross as its -orking tool and one -hich culminates in a death and a raising from the dead. #nd of those -ho attain their initiation and mastershi$ by that method is it not further -ritten there that they become of the household of God and built into a s$iritual tem$le not made -ith hands but eternal and in the heavens and of -hich C6esus &hrist is the chief corner stone in -hom all the building fitly framed together gro-eth unto an holy tem$le builded for an habitation of GodGC /either the #ncient Mysteries nor Modern Masonry their descendant therefore can be rightly vie-ed -ithout reference to their relation to the &hristian evangel into -hich the Page 99 of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $re'&hristian schools became assumed. The line of succession and evolution from the former to the latter is direct and organic. #llo-ing for differences of time $lace and form of e%$ression both taught e%actly the same truths and inculcated the necessity for regeneration. .n such a matter there cannot be a diversity of doctrine. The truth concerning it must be static and uniform at all $eriods of the -orld4s history. 2ence -e find 3t. #ugustine affirming that there has never e%isted but one religion in the -orld since the beginning of time 8meaning by religion the science of rebinding the dislocated soul to its source= and that that religion began to be called &hristian in a$ostolic times. #nd hence too it is that both the Roman &hurch and Masonry although so -idely divergent in outlook and method have this feature in common that each declares and insists that no alteration or innovation in its central doctrine is $ermissible and that it is unla-ful to remove or deviate from its ancient landmarks. "ach is right in its insistence for in the system of each is enshrined the age'old doctrine of regeneration and divini>ation of the human soul obscured in the one case by theological and other accretions foreign to the main $ur$ose of religion and un$erceived in the other because its symbolism remains uninter$reted. To clear vision &hristian and Masonic doctrine are identical in intention though different in method. The one says C5ia &rucisCB the other C5ia LucisCB yet the t-o -ays are but one -ay. The former teaches through the earB the latter through the eye and by identifying the as$irant -ith the doctrine by $assing him $ersonally and dramatically through symbolic rites -hich he is e%$ected to translate from ceremonial form into sub@ective e%$erience. #s Patristic literature sho-s the $rimitive method of the &hristian &hurch -as not that -hich no- obtains under -hich the religious offices and teaching are administered to the -hole $ublic alike and in a -ay im$lying a common level of doctrine for all and uniform $o-er of com$rehension by every member of the congregation. .t -as on the other hand a graduated method of instruction and identical -ith the Masonic system of degrees conferred by reason of advancing merit and ability. To cite one of the most instructive of early &hristian treatises 81ionysius7 0n the "cclesiastical 2ierarchy= -ith -hich every Masonic student should familiari>e himself it -ill be found that admission to the early &hurch -as by three ceremonial degrees e%actly corres$onding in intention -ith those of Masonry. CThe most holy initiation of the Mystic Rites has as its first Godly $ur$ose the holy cleansing of the initiatedB and as second the enlightening instruction of the $urifiedB and finally and as the com$letion of the former the $erfecting of those instructed in the science of their a$$ro$riate instructions. The order of the Ministers in the first class cleanses the initiated through the Mystic RitesB in the second conducts the $urified to lightB and in the last and highest makes $erfect those -ho have $artici$ated in the 1ivine Light by the scientific contem$lations of the illuminations contem$lated.C This brief $assage alone suffices to sho- that originally membershi$ of the &hristian &hurch involved a seAuence of three initiatory rites identical in intention -ith those of the &raft to' day. The names given to those -ho had Aualified in those Rites -ere res$ectively &atechumens Leiturgoi and Priests or PresbytersB -hich in turn are identifiable -ith our "ntered #$$rentices ,ello- &rafts and Master Masons. Their first degree -as that of a rebirth and $urification of the heartB their second related to the illumination of the intelligenceB and their third to a total death unto sin and a ne- birth unto righteousness in -hich the candidate died -ith &hrist on the cross as -ith us he is made to imitate the death of 2iram and -as raised to that higher order of life -hich is Mastershi$. When &hristianity became a state'religion and the &hurch a -orld'$o-er the materiali>ation of its doctrine $roceeded a$ace and has only increased -ith the centuries. Page 9) of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst .nstead of becoming the unifying force its leaders meant it to be its association -ith C-orldly $ossessionsC has resulted in making it a disintegrative one. #buses led to schisms and sectarianism and -hilst the $arent'body in the form of the Greek and Roman &hurches still $ossesses and @ealously conserves all the original credentials traditions and symbols in their su$erb liturgies and rites more im$ortance is attached to the outer husk of its heritage than to its kernel and s$irit -hilst the Protestant communities and so'called CfreeC churches have unha$$ily become self'severed altogether from the original tradition and their imagined liberty and inde$endence are in fact but a ca$tivity to ideas of their o-n having no relation to the $rimitive gnosis and no understanding of those Mysteries -hich must al-ays lie dee$er than the e%oteric $o$ular religion of a given $eriod. Regeneration as a science has long been and still is entirely outside the $urvie- of orthodo% religion. The &hristian Master4s affirmation CYe must be born againC is regarded as but a $ious counsel to-ards an indefinite im$rovement of conduct and character not as a reference to a drastic scientific revolution and reformation of the individual in the -ay contem$lated by the rites of initiation $rescribed in the Mysteries. Po$ular religion may indeed $roduce CgoodC men as the -orld4s standard of goodness goes. .t does not and cannot $roduce divini>ed men endued -ith the Aualities of Mastershi$ for it is ignorant of the traditional -isdom and methods by -hich that end is to be attained. That -isdom and those traditional methods of the Mysteries have ho-ever never been -ithout living -itness in the -orld des$ite the @ealousy and inhibitions of official orthodo%y. 3ince the su$$ression of the Mysteries in the si%th century their tradition and teaching have been continued in secret and under various concealments and to that continuation our $resent Masonic system is due. #s $reviously intimated in these $a$ers it -as com$iled and $ro@ected bet-een t-o and three centuries ago as an elementary e%$ression of the ancient doctrine and initiatory method by a grou$ of minds -hich -ere far more dee$ly instructed in the old tradition and secret science than are those -ho avail themselves of their -ork to'day or even than the te%t of the Masonic rites indicates. .f they remained obscure and anonymous so that the modern student4s research is unable to identify them it is only -hat is to be e%$ected for the true initiate is one -ho never $roclaims himself as such and is content ever to remain im$ersonal and out of sight and notoriety $lanting his seed for the -elfare of his fello- men indifferently and leaving others to -ater it and God to give it increase. ?ut -ithin the limits they allo-ed themselves they achieved their -ork -ell and truly and as has been sought to demonstrate in these $ages made it a rescri$t faithful at least in outline and main $rinci$les of the ancient teaching and $erfecting rites of the $hiloso$hic Mysteries. .t has been -ell said by a -riter of authority on the sub@ect that they $ut for-ard the system of s$eculative Masonry as Can e%$eriment u$on the mind of the age C and -ith a vie- to e%hibiting to at least a small section of a $ublic living in a time of gross darkness and materialism an evidence of the doctrine of regeneration -hich might serve as a light to such as could $rofit therefrom. .f this theory be true their intention may at first sight a$$ear to have become falsified by subseAuent develo$ments in the course of -hich there has s$rung u$ an organi>ation of -orld'-ide dimensions and vast membershi$ animated undoubtedly in the main -ith -orthy ideals and accom$lishing a certain measure of benevolent -ork but nevertheless failing entirely in $erceiving its true and original $ur$ose as an 0rder for $romoting the science of human regeneration and unconscious that by this default its achievements in other directions are of small or no account. ?ut a broader and -iser vieof the situation -ould be one that -hilst recogni>ing a great diffusion of energy to little Page )+ of )(

The Meaning of Masonry by W.L. Wilmshurst $resent $ur$ose sees also that in the long run and in the am$litude of time that energy is not -asted but conserved and that besides benefiting individuals here and there -ho are ca$able of truly $rofiting from the 0rder it $reserves the -itness and kee$s burning the light of the $er$etual Mysteries in a dark age. Like the light of a Master Mason -hich never becomes -holly e%tinguished so in the -orld4s darkest days the light of the Mysteries never goes out entirely and God and the -ay to 2im are not left -ithout -itness. .f in com$arison -ith other -itnesses Masonry is but a glimmering ray rather than a $o-erful beam of light it is none the less a true rayB a kindly light lit from the -orld4s central altar'flame and sufficing to lead at least some of us on amid the encircling gloom until the night is gone. Light is granted in $ro$ortion to the desire of our hearts but for the ma@ority of Masons their 0rder sheds no light at all because light is not their desire nor is initiation in its true sense understood or -ished for. They move among the symbols simulacra and substituted secrets of the Mysteries -ithout com$rehending them -ithout -ishing to translate them into reality. The &raft is made to subserve social and $hilanthro$ic ends foreign to its $ur$ose and even to gratify the desire for out-ard $ersonal distinctionB but as an instrument of regeneration it remains -holly ineffective. .s this nescience this im$erviousness and failure to com$rehend ho-ever to no $ur$oseG Perha$s not. "ach of us lives in the $resence of natural mysteries he fails to discern or understand and even -hen the desire for -isdom is at last a-akened the education of the understanding is a long $rocess. /ature in all her kingdoms builds slo-ly $erfecting her aims through endless re$etitions and a$$arently -anton -aste of material. #nd in the things of the Iingdom -hich transcends /ature the same method $revails. 3ouls are dra-n but slo-ly to the Light and their $erfecting and transmutation into that Light is often very gradual. ,or long before it is able to distinguish shado- from substance 2umanity must try its $rentice'hand u$on illusory toys and substitutions for the genuine secrets of Reality. ,or long before it is -orthy of actual initiation u$on the $ath that leads to God it must be $ermitted to indulge in $reliminary unintelligent rehearsals of the $rocesses therein involved. The a$$roaches to the ancient tem$les of the Mysteries -ere lined -ith statues of the Gods having no value of themselves but intended to habituate the minds of neo$hytes to the s$iritual conce$ts and divine attributes to -hich those statues -ere meant to give ob@ective form and semblance. ?ut -ithin the tem$le itself all graven images all formal figures symbols and ceremonial ty$es ceasedB for the mind had then finally to learn to dis$ense -ith their hel$ and in the strength of its o-n $urity and understanding alone to rise into unclouded $erce$tion of their formless $rototy$es and Csee the /ameless of the hundred names.C CGet kno-ledge get -isdomB but -ith all thy gettings get understanding C e%claims the old Teacher in a counsel that may -ell be commended to the Masonic ,raternity to'day -hich so little understands its o-n system. ?ut understanding de$ends u$on the gift of the 3u$ernal Light -hich gift in turn de$ends u$on the ardour of our desire for it. .f Wisdom to'day is -ido-ed all Masons are actually or $otentially the -ido-4s sons and she -ill be @ustified of her children -ho seek her out and -ho labour for her as for hid treasure. .t remains -ith the &raft itself -hether it shall enter u$on its o-n heritage as a lineal successor of the #ncient Mysteries and Wisdom'teaching or -hether by failing so to do it -ill undergo the inevitable fate of everything that is but a form from -hich its native s$irit has de$arted. End of T ! M!"n#n$ of M"%on&' ( )' W.L. W#*+% ,&%Page )( of )(