volume 1 - issue 11 noember 2006 living as masons

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Volume 1 - Issue 11Noember 2006

Living As MasonsLiving As Masons

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www.lodgeroomus.com www.lodgeroomuk.comFreemasonry: Its not about me changing them, Its about me changing me.

The LodgeroomInternational Magazine

Cover:George Washington Masonic Temple

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Published by:Willam McElligott, P.M.

R. Theron Dunn

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Volume 1 - Issue 10 - November 2006

Living As MasonsFeatured ArticlesLegend of Hiram by Wr. Bill McElligott ....................... 3Philosophy of Masonry by Johann Gottlieb Fichte ..... 3Freemasonry: A Tradition From The Past, A

Relevance For Today by Stephen J. Trachtenberg ... 6Did You Know?? By Galen R. Dean ............................... 6He Found Out By M.W. Carl Claudy, PGM .................. 7Freemasonry 101 by Wr. Jarrod Morales ...................... 7Manner of Masonic Dress

By Wr. Giovanni Lombardo, P.M. ............................ 8

Regular FeaturesBetween The Pillars ................................................. 2Wordsearch Puzzle by Lance Ten Eyck ...................... 29Masonic Humor ..................................................... 32Valuable Links to Masonic Works ........................ 33The Last Word ....................................................... 34

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Between The PillarsAn Editorial

Bullying in Lodge?

By Bil l McEll igot t , P.M.ei ther of them again.

Why would I want to be excluded fromthis? I t ’s been my exper ience that theSecretary can use of the knowledge of hisposit ion to influence many things withinthe Lodge — appointments, promotions,who does what job, etc.

Likewise, a Treasurer with his paws onall the financial matters will know whoh a s f i n a n c i a l p r o b l e m s a n d w h o j u s tp l a i n ‘ a i n ’ t g o n n a ’ p a y h i s d u e s . ABrother with less then perfect morals canle t s l ip l i t t l e gems of goss ip tha t caninfluence a Brother to stay or leave theLodge. Having been at both ends of thefinancial schism, there were t imes thatI was pe t r i f i ed tha t my wel l meaningTreasurer might let my fr iends know Iwas “financially challenged.”

When considering posit ions, there’s alsothe power of the elder statesmen — thatwell entrenched group that wil l say inunison ‘we never did i t that way in myday.’ They can stif le a new Mason andmake him t remble a t there ‘ tut - tut ’ or‘that’s not r ight’ , even though they havethe best interests of the Lodge at heart .It’s intimidating and is one of the guisesto consider when looking for bullying.

There is also the power of withholdingthat some use to bully. Not gett ing thatpromotion or not being appointed to aparticular posit ion can have tremendousinfluence on a Brother. No one can beopen and honest i f he’s worr ied aboutbeing turned down or passed over.

Of course, one doesn’t have to play thatgame. I made up my mind on this when If i r s t became ac t ive on the In te rne t . Irealized early on that the only way I wasg o i n g t o b e a b l e t o s a y w h a t I t r u l ythought was to give up all possibil i ty ofb e i n g p r o m o t e d o r a p p o i n t e d t o a n yprestigious Masonic position. I’d love tobe the center of attention. I’m a big hamlike that, but integrity is something thathas a p r i ce . Some say the g rea t havegreatness thrust upon them. I have felt

I was pos t ing on anI n t e r n e t f o r u mrecent ly and anotherposter remarked thatI d i d n ’ t u n d e r s t a n db u l l y i n g . I h a v e t o

admit this made me stop and think, “doI?” At 17.5 S tone and 6 feet , I ’ve heldmany a physical ly demanding job mostof my 40 years in the work place. I haveto be honest I don’ t suf fer from physicalabuse — unless you count my wife .

But bul lying takes on many guises . I t ’sn o t r e s t r i c t e d t o p u s h i n g s h o v i n g o rindeed a swif t smack in the mouth. Thisi s w h a t m a d e m e s t o p a n d t h i n k .Bullying has to be the most un-Masonico f a l l t he s in s . I f I were to have myB r o t h e r s h o l d o n e t h o u g h t o n t h i ssubject i t ’s that bul lying is jus t that —u n - M a s o n i c — a n d t h a t o u r c o n d u c tshould never inc lude or endorse i t inourselves or others .

I encourage you to become more awareof the many guises . One such guise ist he many sub t l e ways peop l e de l i ve r“put downs .” I have met some peoplew h o h a v e m a s t e r e d t h e a r t o fhumil ia t ion. With one l ine or a coupleof wel l chosen words, they use a wel lhoned “put down” and their “mark” ish i t ha rd . No b lood i s sp i l l ed bu t t hevict im gets the message. The bul ly hasgot ten his way.

Bullying can take place due to the abuseof power posi t ions – conscious or not .I n F r e e m a s o n L o d g e s , t h e r e a r e t w oOf f i c e r s w h o h a v e t h e a b i l i t y t o u s ebullying tact ics with the ful lest force —the Secretary and the Treasurer. I don’ tcount the Master because by the t imehe’s f igured out what on ear th is goingon, he’s most l ikely preparing to instal lh i s s u c c e s s o r . B e c a u s e t h e t w oexecutive posts are so empowered by theLodge, i t ’s my bel ief that they shouldb o t h b e f i l l e d w i t h M a s o n s o f t h eh ighes t s tandard . I ’ve done bo th jobsand can honest ly say I’d not l ike to do

no thrusting but I do feel greater for myintegri ty.

T h e r e i s o f c o u r s e t h e q u e s t i o n o fsens i t i v i ty. In o the r words , a r e someBrothers more sensit ive to a remark orc o m m e n t t h a n w e m i g h t e x p e c t ? Isuppose that is probably the case, but arewe not better than that? Can we not seeif a person is sensit ive? Can we not armourselves with respect? When all is saidand done, a good measure to use if thequestion of over sensit ivity is raised isasking, “is what we are doing here fair,respectful and considerate to all that arei n v o l v e d ? ” C a n w e a s k m o r e o fourselves? While over sensitive Brothersm u s t u l t i m a t e l y b e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y t ot h e m s e l v e s , w e c a n b a l a n c e t h i s b yconsidering our words and actions in arespectful l ight.

Case in point: The Regimental Preceptorscared the ‘beejeebers’ out of me when

Continued on Page 31 - Bullying



The Legend of HiramBy Wr. Bill McElligott, P.M.

The First T.B. opens withthe statement that “theusages and customs amongFreemasons have ever bornea near affinity to those of the

Ancient Egyptians; The Philosophers of Egypt,unwilling to expose their mysteries to vulgareyes, concealed their systems of learningand polity under heiroglyphicalfigures, which were communicatedonly to their chief priests and wisemen, who were bound by solemnoath never to reveal them. Thesystem of Pythagoras wasfounded upon similarprinciples and maintainedunder the same conditions.”We might, therefore,reasonably expect that a studyof the system originated, oradopted, by the great teacher,Pythagoras, would tend tothrow some light upon thisMasonic Craft of ours. There arefour questions which we mightput to ourselves in this connection:-

The Widow’s Son

In 1997, Evidence was discovered, that the truesymbolic origin of the Drama of Hiram Abiff, mayhave been a real life actual event. The murderedKing, or ‘King that was Lost’ may have beenSeqenenre Tao II of Egypt, 1554 BC.Egyptologists have now dated Seqenenre’s ruleto 1558 - 1554 BC. King Seqenenre was killedby at least two separate, distinctively differentweapons. An Axe, a pointed iron rod or possiblya stone maul. The placement and shapes of theskull shattering marks on the mummy’s head areonly part of the proof.

“Some of these seventeenth-century manuscripts[preserving the ‘Old Charges’] do not refer toHiram Abif, which has led some to believe thatthe character was an invention of this relativelyrecent period. However, the name Hiram Abif wasonly one designation for this central figure; he isalso referred to as Aymon, Aymen, Amnon, A Manor Amen and sometimes Bennaim. It is said thatAmen is said to be the Hebrew word for ‘thetrusted one’ or ‘the faithful one’, which fits therole of Hiram Abif perfectly. But we also knowthat Amon or Amen is the name of the ancientcreator god of Thebes, the city of Sequenere TaoII. Could there be an ancient linkage here?”

A Connection with the Mystery Religions

“To the initiated Builder the name Hiram Abiffsignifies ‘My Father, the Universal Spirit, one inessence, three in aspect.’ Thus the murdered

Master is a type of the Cosmic Martyr - thecrucified Spirit of Good, the dying god - whoseMystery is celebrated throughout the world.”

“The efforts made to discover the origin of theHiramic legend show that, while the legend inits present form is comparatively modern, itsunderlying principles run back to remotest

antiquity. It is generally admitted bymodern

Masonic scholars that the storyof the martyred Hiram is

based upon the Egyptianrites of Osiris, whosedeath and resurrectionfiguratively portrayedthe spiritual death ofman and hisregeneration throughinitiation into theMysteries. Hiram isalso identified withHermes through the

inscription on theEmerald Tablet.”

The True King andMaster of Egypt - 1554

BC.

In this instance the word King

was exclusive. A word only used to describe whatthe Egyptians called their True King and SolarLord. ..The Right of the Egyptians to be ‘Sons ofGod’ and the ‘Caretakers’ of God’s Word wasgiven to them by the ‘Olai’, who were directdescendents of the ‘Star Regents of Atlantis’. Godwas called ‘ The Law of One’ by the Atlantians...from the readings of Edgar Cayce

“When these Star Regents left that land, they leftthe rulership on the hands of ‘’Caretakers’, whowere the ‘Children of the Nephilim’. The Nephilimare other world beings who were from the ‘fallenheaven’, having created these ‘children’ whomThoth calls the ‘Nomads’. They transferred thepower and mysteries to the ‘Umosejhe’, meaning‘caretakers’, with the understanding that in thefuture the Olai would return to put into motion thespiritual birth of the ‘Child’, who centuries laterwould incarnate in living flesh as the greatest ofthe ‘Shepherd Kings’.

History would know this ‘Child’ as “JesusChrist”. Taken from.. ‘New Age Bibleinterpretation Old Testament, Volume I’, byCorinne Heline but because God has only ‘onebegotten Son’, he has many other names andfaces. This site will include those ‘other’ Sons.

Sequenere Tao II?

“The only reasonable explanation that we had

Continued on Page 10 - Hiram

By Johann Gottlieb FichteTranslated byWr. Roscoe PoundPast Master of Lancaster Lodge, No. 54Lincoln, NebraskaPast Deputy Grand Master of Masonsin MassachusettsWith an introduction by the TranslatorSummarized in an Address before theSupreme Council 33°,Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite.Northern Masonic Jurisdiction, U.S.A.Buffalo, New York: September 29, 1943.

Introduction

Johann Gottlieb Fichte, one of the great idealistphilosophers of the end of the eighteenth and forepart of the nineteenth century, was born atRammenau in upper Lusatia (Ober Lausitz) May19, 1762. Lusatia, a district between the Elbe andthe Oder, was then a part of Saxony. In thesettlement after the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 itbecame part of Prussia. Fichte’s father was aribbon weaver and he seems to have had a strictbringing up under straitened circumstances. Buthe had the best of education at the famous school

Philosophy Of Masonry:Letters To Constant

at Pforta and at the Universities of Jena andLeipzig. From the beginning he showed the highand stern sense of duty which characterized himthroughout life. It is told of him that as a smallboy he had the task of tending a flock of geese.Some one had given him an illustrated book ofGreek mythology and hero stories which he tookwith him. Looking up from the book, in which hehad been absorbed, he saw that the geese werestraying and some were likely to get away. Hejumped up, brought his flock together again, andthen, shocked at his momentary neglect of hisduty, threw; away the book which had temptedhim to overlook it.

Faguet has said: “A philosopher, howevereminent, setting out his system, is only a manwho is explaining his own character and perhapshis temperament.” In Fichte we have a manprepared in his heart to be a Mason.

After leaving the university he acted for a timeas a private tutor in different families in Saxonyand a private teacher. Later, he went to Zurich,

Continued on Next Page - Letters



then back to Leipzig, and for a time was a privatetutor in Warsaw. After many ups and downs offortune, he visited Kant at Konigsberg. To attractKant’s attention, he wrote an essay entitledVersuch einer Kritik aller Offenbarung (EssayToward a Critique of all Revelation) in which heapplied the principles of Kant’s criticalphilosophy to investigation of the conditionsunder which religious belief was possible. Kantapproved the essay and helped find a publisher.It was published anonymously in 1792 and wasgenerally attributed to Kant. The latter correctedthe mistake, commended the essay, and thereputation of the author was established. In 1793,he became professor of philosophy at Jena and atonce proved an outstanding teacher. During thenext five years he published a succession of bookswhich make up his system of philosophy. In 1798,as editor of the Philosophical Journal, he receivedfrom a friend a paper on the “Development ofthe Idea of Religion” which he prefaced with apaper on “The Grounds of Our Belief in a DivineGovernment of the Universe” and printed in theJournal. Theological ideas were rigid at that time,and a bitter controversy arose as a result of whichSaxony and all the German states except Prussiasuppressed the Journal, and Fichte in 1799resigned his professorship and went to Berlin.He lived in Berlin until 1806, except that helectured at Erlangen in the summer of 1805.While in Berlin he wrote some of his mostimportant books. But in 1806, the Frenchoccupation drove him out, and he lectured for atime at Konigsberg and at Copenhagen. Hereturned to Berlin in 1807 and on the founding ofthe University of Berlin (for which he had drawnup the plan) he was its first rector (1810-1812).In one of the epidemics of typhus whichaccompanied the Napoleonic Wars, he was takenwith what was called hospital fever, and died onJanuary 27, 1814—at the age of fifty-two.

It is not easy to make an intelligible statement ofFichte’s metaphysics in short compass. Heconceives that the fundamental problem ofphilosophy arises from this, that along with theideas of individual consciousness, which comeand go voluntarily and contingently, there are incontrast ideas of another type which maintainthemselves and are characterized by a feeling ofnecessity. It is the task of philosophy to makethis necessity intelligible. The system of thoseideas which come forth with a feeling of necessityis called experience. Hence there is the problem:What is the basis of experience? Fichte holds thatthere are two ways of solving this problem. Sinceexperience is an activity of consciousness directedtoward objects, it must be derived, and derivedonly, either from things or from consciousness.The solution which begins with things he callsdogmatism. It regards consciousness as due tothings. The activities of intelligence are taken tobe due to mechanical necessities of causation.Hence, the dogmatic solution leads to fatalism

and materialism. The solution which begins withconsciousness is called idealism. It considersthings as products of consciousness andconsciousness a free function determined only byitself. The two solutions, as he sees it, areirreconcilable. As he sees it, if one does not wishto fall a victim to skeptical despair he must chooseone or the other. As each is a consistent system,which system one will choose depends on whatsort of a man he is. The ethical interest in Fichtenaturally inclined him toward idealism. This isthe metaphysical background of his Masonicphilosophy.

In his Theory of Right and Law (Rechtslehre) andTheory of Morals (Sittenlehre) he goes forwardupon the metaphysical basis. The conscious egobecomes aware of its own freedom, and theexistence of other egos and the existence of aworld in which they may act are conditions ofconsciousness of freedom. This follows from theego’s coming to consciousness. Hence theabsolute (i. e. the unconditioned) ego from whichall individual egos derive is not subject to theseconditions. It freely discovers itself to them. Thisabsolute ego he defines as the moral will of theuniverse. It is God from Whom all individual egoshave sprung and in Whom they are included. Godis the absolute Life, the absolute One, becomingconscious of Himself by self separation into theindividual egos. God, the infinite will, manifestsHimself in the individual; and contrasted withthe individual there is the non-ego or the thing.“Knowledge,” he says, “is not mere knowledgeof itself, but knowledge of being, and of the onebeing that truly exists, that is, God.” It will beseen that here we have the religious backgroundof his Masonic philosophy.

In his ethical system, Fichte sought a synthesisof the individualist ethics which Kant and theFrench Revolution gave to the nineteenth centuryand the social ethics which we are familiar withtoday. In his political theory he considered itwrong to identify the ideal moral whole with thestate. Society and the state were to bedistinguished. Society, he held, had specificpositive values above those represented by thestate. He had a universal, a cosmopolitan idealof humanity, which naturally inclined him towardMasonry.

Fichte was made a Mason in Zurich in 1793, theyear in which he went to Jena as professor. Butin Jena there had been no lodge since 1764, so heaffiliated with the Gunther Lodge of the StandingLion at Rudolstadt (in Thuringia, 18 miles fromJena) of which the reigning Prince was patron.When he went to Berlin in 1799 he met Fessler,the Deputy Grand Master of the Grand LodgeRoyal York of Friendship, in which he soonbecame active. This had begun in 1752 as ofFrench constitution. It did not work in Germantill 1778. In 1796 Fessler undertook a thoroughreform. In 1798 it became a Grand Lodge, withthree subordinate lodges, and through Fessler’sexertions by 1801 there were sixteen. Fessler also

undertook revision of the ritual, which had beenthat of the Rite of Perfection. At first he proposedthe English system of the three degrees ofsymbolic Masonry and no more. But the Masonsof the time were too much accustomed to thehigher degrees. He had to give up this idea and,instead, worked out a rite of nine degrees whereinthe first three—those universally recognized—had superposed upon them six called “the higherknowledge” in which there was a criticalexamination of the theories as to the origin ofMasonry, of the origin of different rites, systems,and mysteries, and a critical history of all thatwas comprehended in the Masonry of the time.Later this rite was abandoned and the right of theEnglish Ancient Grand Lodge was adoptedinstead. It was this rite of Fessler ’s, whichMasonic scholars agree was the most learned andphilosophical of all Masonic systems, for whichFichte for a time cooperated on its philosophicalside. Fessler gave up his office of Deputy GrandMaster in 1802. In the meantime, Fichte, atFessler’s instance, had written two lectures onthe philosophy of Masonry, the manuscript ofwhich he gave to Johann Karl Christian Fischer,the Master of the Inner Orient, who publishedthem as “Letters to Constant” in 1802-1803 in aperiodical in two volumes entitled Eleusiniansof the Nineteenth Century, or Results of UnitedThinkers on the Philosophy and History ofFreemasonry. The author of the “letters” was notnamed, but the publisher pointed him out clearlyenough. Yet in spite of his high esteem for theauthor, the publisher did not treat the manuscriptwith much respect. He changed the two lecturesinto fifteen letters to an imaginary non-Mason,and interpolated a complete letter (the second)in which he discussed at much length whatMasonry is not and inserted a bit of apologeticliterature which interrupts the strict logicalconstruction of Fichte’s lectures. He also addedshort prefatory statements at the head of many ofthe letters and sometimes conclusions inepistolatory style. He admitted that he hadinserted “certain illustrative additions and whatthe chosen dress [i.e. publication in the form ofletters] demanded.” These additions andinterpolations are easily detected, since Fichte’sstyle is characteristic and unmistakable. In thesecond of the two volumes (which contains letterssix to sixteen) the publisher professes to havebeen more restrained in his additions, “so thatthe brethren may receive the ideas of the greatman almost entirely in his own words.” But thereare not a few fairly long interpolations in someof the later letters. The preface to the secondvolume closes with a call to Fichte to continuehis deductions.

In the standard edition of Fichte’s completeworks, published by his son in 1845, the letterswere not included. They were reprinted byReitzenstein in the first volume of his MasonicClassics. But they seem generally to have escapedthe notice of Masonic scholars. I find no mention

LettersContinued from Previous Page




of Fichte in the Masonic encyclopedias nor in anyof the summaries of Masonic philosophy. Indeed,I had no suspicion that any such lectures or letterswere in existence until about twenty years ago Icame upon a little book of eighty-three pages inwhich they were newly published with a veryvaluable introduction by Wilhelm Flitner(Leipzig, 1923). I have used Flitner’s text anddrawn freely upon his introduction.

As the editor of the reprint in 1923 says, sincethe original manuscript is undoubtedly lost, wecannot be certain of reproducing Fichte’s originaltext. Not only were additions made but transitionsfrom one topic to another were stricken out andintroductions and conclusions in epistolatory stylewere substituted. All that can be done, therefore,is to follow the text of the Eleusinians. The editorin 1923 indicates by square brackets theinterpolations and additions and also indicatesthe second lecture as beginning with the eighthletter. He does this on internal evidence and hisconclusion seems eminently sound. It is clear thatthe eighth letter introduces a new proposition anda new chain of thought. Both lectures deduceFreemasonry. The first develops the idea of aseparate society for general human developmentand so comes to the setting up of a theory ofsociableness. The second lecture develops thepurpose and form of Masonic instruction throughmyth and ritual from the point of view of makingcultivated men. Thus there is a different themefor each.

I have followed the text of the 1923 reprint,leaving out the obvious interpolations andadditions. But I have kept the form of letters, asin the original publication, since we cannot saythat Fichte may not have wished or been contentto have it so. As Fessler’s rite did not maintainitself, the lectures, even if adapted to use in thelodge, could not be used as such permanently,and the form of letters was not inappropriate.

You will ask naturally, as I asked myself at once,why letters to “Constant”? One thinks naturallyof an important character in a Scottish Ritedegree, and for a number of reasons I am satisfiedthat it is he who was intended. It is true the editorof the 1923 reprint assumes the letters areaddressed to “an imaginary non-Mason,” and oneof the interpolations states expressly that theConstant addressed is not a Mason. Indeed, inthe third paragraph of the first letter Fichtesuggests as much. But the reason for this is notfar to seek. Six years later, when Krausepublished his lectures on higher spiritualizationof the genuine traditional symbols of Masonryand afterwards when he published his great workon the oldest professional records of Masonry,the limits of permissible public discussion ofMasonic matters were not clear, and the libertyof the individual Mason to interpret for himselfwas not generally conceded. It will be

remembered that the very rumor of Krause’s bookled to serious agitation. Great efforts were madeto prevent its publication, and Krause wassubjected to what amounted to persecution. It issmall wonder, therefore, that Fischer in 1803thought is wise that what he published seem tobe letters addressed to a non-Mason by one whoprofessed only to know what, on philosophicalprinciples, Masonry ought to be.

On the other hand, five points seem to medecisive.

1. Fessler undoubtedly used the ritual of the riteof perfection in working out his rite. Claveland Ragon say he used, among others, that ofthe Chapter of Clermont. Probably that meansthe ritual developed in France, independentlyof the Chapter of Clermont, under the Councilof Emperors of the East and West and itssuccessors. But the twenty-fifth degree of therite of perfection is the thirty-second of oursystem. The Royal York Lodge of Friendshipworked in French till 1778 and under theFrench ritual put into German till 1798 or1799. Thus Constant was a personage wellknown to continental Masonic scholars.

2. The letters regularly address Constant in thesecond person singular, appropriate to abrother, instead of in the second person plural,appropriate to a non-Mason. In German usagethis is clear enough. The second personsingular is now so unusual in English usagethat I have in the translation regularly used“you” instead.

3. Fichte himself addresses his lecture to someone in the second person singular and, in anumber of places in passages undoubtedlygenuine, addresses Constant by name.

4. The lectures were written for a lodge, andhence were addressed to Masons originally.

5. It can hardly be a mere coincidence that a namewas chosen for the addressee of the letterswhich is of real significance to the Mason andmeans nothing to the non-Mason. Nor can itbe that a Mason would choose that name asappropriate to a representative non-Mason.

For these reasons I have retained Fischer’s title,“Letters to Constant” in addition to what was nodoubt the original title, given to the manuscript byFichte, “Lectures on the Philosophy of Masonry.”

Fichte is far from easy to put into English. Evenphilosophers find his Wissenschaftslehre hard tounderstand. One reason is his characteristic useof words in unusual meanings. It is necessary toacquire a Fichte vocabulary, not merely oftechnical philosophical terms but of everydaywords which he uses frequently with meaningsof his own or shades of meaning not indictionaries and requiring to be drawn from thecontext. Again his mode of writing needs to be

learned. Often he debates with himself, and afterstating both sides he may leave the reader to drawthe conclusion for himself, as something whichhad become evident from the two statements orhe may sum up the discussion in a clearpronouncement. Hence, unless one reads carefullythere may seem to be contradictions andinconsistencies which in fact do not exist.Moreover, we have in English no term exactlycorresponding to the German word Bildung whichappears either itself or in some compound wordon almost every page of letters. Primarily in suchconnections it means the shaping or creating of acultivated man. But it may mean culture,civilization, education, training, or, incomposition, development. I have not pretendedto be consistent in rendering it, but have lookedto the context to suggest what will best bring outwhat seems to be the idea. For the rest, I havenot hesitated to break up the long and involvedsentences of the original and to resort toparaphrases so as to make what I take to be theidea of the text more easy of understanding bythe American Mason of today. As to what Masonicwritings Fichte may have used, all that I can besure of is Preston’s Illustrations of Masonry, 1772,second edition, revised and enlarged, 1775. By1802 there had been six other English editionsand a German edition, any of which Fichte couldhave seen. It seems clear that he is arguing againstPreston’s idea of knowledge and Preston’s theoryof education and that he presupposes, as onemight expect, Preston’s version of the history ofthe Craft and the story of its continuity fromantiquity. He does not consider these adequate topoint out a purpose for the order, much less tojustify its existence. Hence, he seeks to constructa philosophy of Masonry independently on thebasis of a metaphysically derived theory of societyand of man in society.

Three fundamental questions have been put byphilosophers of Masonry since Preston. They are:

(1) What is the purpose of Masonry as aninstitution? For what does it exist? What doesit seek to do? To Masonic philosophers thishas always presented itself as a question ofwhat ought to be the purpose—of whatMasonry ought to seek as its end.

(2) What is—and to the philosopher this meanswhat should be—the relation of Masonry toother human institutions? What is or oughtto be its place in a rational scheme of humanactivities? (3) How does Masonry go aboutand how ought it to go about attaining theend which it seeks? In seeing how Fichteanswers these questions we must not losesight of the social, political, and economicconditions of the time and place in which hewrote nor of the condition of Masonry in thattime and place.

(3) The purpose of masonry. Fichte assumes that

Continued on Page 12 - Letters




Continued on Page 30 - Tradition

Did youknow???

By Galen R. Dean

In Europe, Masons do notgenerally wear any MasonicJewelry, pins, insignias or anyother identifying markings. Infact, there is a law in England

that requires any public official or lawenforcement personnel to disclose theirmembership and/or affiliation with any Masonicorganization. There is a common belief that aMasonic Judge or Police Officer will let offanother Mason even if he is guilty.

I’m amazed that in this day and age ofenlightenment that a civilized society wouldopenly discriminate and persecute a group suchas the Masons. All it takes is one person ofsufficient persuasion to inflame others that areeven less informed and small-minded. Peopleseem to thrive on gossip, innuendoes and scandal.

We, however, do not suffer as our brothers do inEurope. We openly and proudly declare ourmembership and affiliation; we are in parades,we support youth organizations, belong to theChamber of Commerce and are an integral partof the community. What freedoms we enjoy!

Yet, remember, freedoms are earned, enjoyed andretained at a price. The price we must pay is toalways be cognizant of the forces that wish toslander and destroy us. We must always conductourselves to the dictates of our high standardsand morals. Never let the current and fleetingstandards of society be your guide to your behavioror values.

As we endeavor to raise the awareness in thecommunity of who we are and what we represent,we must be ever diligent to always display thebest side of Masonry. The general public mustbe able to look to a man and say, “you can trustthat person, he’s a Mason”. Don’t be the onethat our community points to and says, “Theregoes that scoundrel, Joe Smith, the Mason.”

Stand proud and strong; be an exemplaryMason.

Freemasonry: A Tradition From The Past, ARelevance For Today

Stephen J. Trachtenberg,33° Grand CrossPresident, The GeorgeWashington University

Masonry plays a specialrole for young Americanstoday.

In his famous bookDemocracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville, aFrenchman, summed up, among other things, theAmerican inclination to form all kinds ofvoluntary groups aimed at civic improvement andthe general betterment of society. Tocqueville waswriting at a time when most Americans lived insmall and self-contained communities. And hewas writing, as we all know, long before theinvention of the telephone, the automobile, andthe airplane.

Modern technology has turned the United Statesinto a far looser and more lonely society than thethinkers of the 19th century could envision. Evenin our largest cities, it is possible for the individualAmerican to feel very isolated. The sense ofcommunity—of mutual support and joint effort—is always in danger of simply dribbling away.

Against such a loss of the sense of mutualitystands the Masonic Fraternity. And it does so inways that cannot be matched by otherorganizations. Freemasonry embodies theawareness that Americans share a profoundobligation to each other and to their society.

Sometimes this sense of obligation takes the formof charitable endeavor. Sometimes it takes theform of shared thoughts, or our need to hear nobleprinciples eloquently enumerated. And sometimesit takes the form of shared ceremony, when weare lifted beyond our most selfish and pettyconcerns by the symbolism of the Fraternity,derived from a history that extends back forhundreds of years. What makes the Fraternity sounusual in American life is the fact that it neversurrenders its ideals. Its function is brotherhood.Its style is participation. And its goals are typicallyembodied in Lodges that are held together by asense of loyalty even as they loyally form part ofthe larger Masonic Order. Masonry serves toheighten a whole range of American values thatin turn are deeply tied to the progress of worldhistory and the global yearning for freedom anddignity.

Masons are often associated with patriotism, andthis is very important to young people today. The20th century has not always been an easy centuryfor the United States. Two world wars and a hostof other conflicts have made it clear thatdemocracy—the idea of individual freedom and

responsibility—has not always been a notiontradition-bound societies accept. WhatFreemasonry encourages is a vision ofindividuality without chaos and disorder.Patriotism, the Fraternity insists, can represent aunion between complete selfhood and completenational dedication—precisely because a fullydeveloped individual is also the kind of personwho treasures good civic order.

For young people today, the sense of a nationalset of values that doesn’t contradict individualstriving is especially urgent and important. Theyhave often been encouraged to regard theircountry and its government as oppressive forces.They are invited to join cults and conspiracieswhich oppose nearly everyone who isn’t aparticipating member. In contrast to theseunfortunate tendencies, Masonry values freedomwhile also valuing our national consensus as theworld’s oldest industrial democracy.

As President of a major university, The GeorgeWashington University (GWU) in Washington,D.C., I am necessarily deeply involved in the livesof young people. I watch them arrive on the GWUcampus in quest not only of academic degreesbut of a sense of personal completion. Those whograduate do so in two senses: they graduate fromthe University; they graduate into their adult lives.

What a profound resemblance there is betweenthe progress of our young people through higher

education and the progress of a Mason throughthe various Degrees of the Fraternity. Growth,development, striving for perfection—these aresome of the important values shared by mostyoung persons who enter college or post-collegiateeducation and by most members of the MasonicFraternity. For me as an academic administrator,there is not only no contradiction with my“Masonic side” but a profound sense of continuityand similarity.

Clearly, the values Masonry celebrates are crucialto our country. Let me illustrate with a historicexample. The year was 1961 when Ill. Allen E.Roberts first published his book HouseUndivided: The Story of Freemasonry and theCivil War. More than twenty years later, as heprepared for the second printing of his book, headded an “Author’s Post Script” in which hedescribed the historical event that first got himinterested in the Civil War.

During a church service sponsored by his Lodge,a retired Baptist minister told a story about JosephFort Newton. Newton’s father, Lee, had beenmade a Master Mason in a Confederate militarylodge during the American Civil War. Later, Leewas captured by Federal forces and taken to aprisoner-of-war camp at Rock Island, Illinois.There he became deathly ill. The commander ofthe camp learned the elder Newton was a Mason,took him into his home, and nursed him back to



He Found Outby M.W. Carl Claudy, PGM

“Old Tyler I can save yousome trouble!” announcedthe New Brother.

The Old Tyler leaned hissword up against the walland motioned the NewBrother to a seat. “I am

never adverse to anyone saving me trouble!”

“A petition was read in lodge tonight,” continuedthe New Brother. “Man by the name of NedBrinkley. I have known old Brinkley for years. Iheard your name on his committee. I can tell youanything you want to know.”

“Nice of you!” repeated the Old Tyler. “Why doesMr. Brinkley want to be a Mason?”

“Oh, I don’t know... same reason we all do, Iguess.”

“You speak of him as ‘Old Brinkley.’ How old ishe?”

“Must be all of 65, or maybe 68. Carpenter bytrade, he is; worked for me off and on for years.The wife never wants a shelf put up or a hingemended or a fence painted or the gutter spoutfixed that we don’t call on old Brinkley. He’s afine old chap, very religious too. I rather wonderedat the Master putting you on his petition.”

“Why?” asked the Old Tyler.

“I know your reputation as a committeeman!”smiled the New Brother. “You dig to the bottom.They don’t waste you on people everyone knowsabout. Brinkley is a dead open-and-shutproposition. Everyone in town knows him, I guess.I don’t see why they put an old ferret like you onhis trail. But I can tell you anything you want toknow about him.”

“Except why he wants to be a Mason!” answeredthe Old Tyler, dryly.

“Well, that isn’t important in this case. He is avery religious man, and I suppose wants thereligious part of lodge work.”

“You suppose! Suppositions are not good enoughfor me. How does friend Brinkley know there isanything religious about a lodge or Masonry? Whydoes a very religious man find his churchinsufficient to supply his religion? Why does hewait until he is 65 years old to want to be aMason? Those are questions I want answered.You know Brinkley as a workman, an obligingtinkerer with shelves and gutter spouts. Butapparently you know nothing else about himexcept that he is religious. Suppose you tell me

how you know that much.”

“How do I know he is religious? Why, he goes tochurch every Sunday and he talks a great dealabout it... I don’t know!”

“I’ll say you don’t know! You don’t really knowanything about Brinkley, do you? Your attitude istoo sadly common for the good of Masonry. Youare familiar with Brinkley’s name and hisappearance and his looks; he has worked for youas an odd job man for years. Because he neverstole your silver or beat your dog you think he isa good man. Because he talks religion and goesto church you term him religious. He is a part... asmall part, but yet a part... of your life, andtherefore he is all right for your lodge! Oh,conceited man! As if you couldn’t be fooled andtaken in and hornswoggled and deceived likeanyone else!

“I happen to know considerable about Brinkley. Iheard he was going to petition this lodge and Imade it my business to find out. Listen, and seehow much damage you might have done if I hadbeen less well informed and had taken yourestimate of Brinkley for truth!

“Brinkley owes a lot of money. His credit isexhausted. There is nothing bad about the man;he is a well-meaning but shiftless person, whohas never either the ambition or the ability to riseabove sporadic day wages and occasional jobs.He is weak, so he borrows right and left and runsaccounts which he seldom pays, not that he isn’t

honest, but that he is careless.

“A few years ago he got into difficulties, andseeing no other way out, attempted to become aCatholic. But the good fathers of the church turnedhim inside out in no time and found out that hehad been, at various times, a member of at leastfour other churches, all for the work he could getand the charity he could receive from theirorganizations. He has been a member of the OddFellows, the Pythians, the Red Men and a fewothers, in all of which organizations he has beendropped for N.P.D.

“At 65 or more years of age he suddenly conceivesa great regard for the Masonic fraternity and wantsto join our lodge. Why, I don’t know, but I stronglysuspect! And my suspicions are well founded inevidence that Mr. Brinkley wants to become aMason for what he can get out of Masonry in amaterial way that I shall register a loud, round,and emphatic negative on my report, and I verymuch suspect that both other committeemen willdo the same thing!”

“Oh, well, of course!” answered the New Brother.“I didn’t know!”

“Of course you didn’t! And because you onlyguessed and hoped and believed and had no realknowledge, you would have done this lodge agreat injury if all the committeemen had dependedsolely on your report!”

“But I know now... and I won’t do it anymore!”pleaded the New Brother.

The Old Tyler grunted.

Freemasonry101.

By Wr. Jarrod MoralesMasterInland Empire Lodge

Freemasonry is differentthings to different individualmembers. To some we are abig benevolent charity. Toothers we are a convivial

diners’ club, whose membership benefits includejovial fellowship and social networkingopportunities. To still others Freemasonry is thelargest remnant of bygone ‘mystery’ schools andsimilar ‘occult’ societies.

Yes, you read that right. I did mentionFreemasonry, ‘mystery’ schools, and the ‘occult,’all within one paragraph, and in a positive context.Get over it.

The truth is that Freemasonry is a strange

amalgam of all the above. There is, however, a‘textbook’ definition of Masonry and its character,one that many Masons know, but few bother todissect and understand. That textbook definitionis one enigmatic sentence:

A peculiar system of morality,veiled in allegory,

and illustrated by symbols

It sounds impressive, does it not? It also soundscryptic and mysterious, which is (of course) thepoint. We Masons get too taken with ourselvesand our secrets, our titles and honors, the numberof degrees we have under our belt. Why else arenew Masons so eager to seek further light in theScottish Rite, if for no reason than to wear thedouble eagle lapel with 32° graven upon it?

It’s not like it’s hard to achieve the hallowed‘level’ of 32°; in most places, all it takes is ahundred dollars and two days of sitting (morelikely snoozing) in a mouldy amphitheater.

Oh, my apologies, that was rather impolitic.Moving on…

Continued on Page 30 - 101



By Wr. Giovanni Lombardo,P.M.Lemmi Lodge #300Grande Oriente d’Italia

The Masonic dress of brothersin lodge essentially consists of

the plain white lambskin apron, and white gloves.Both of these items have ritual and symbolicsignificance to a Mason. In addition, officers wearcollars with declare their station. From these collarsdepend what we refer to as Jewels; the Square ofthe Master, the Level of the Senior Warden, thePlumb of the Junior Warden, the Crossed Quillsof the Secretary, the Crossed Keys of the Treasurer,the Harp of the Organist, the Square and Compasssurrounding the shining sun of the Senior Deacon,the square and compass surrounding the CrescentMood of the Junior Deacon, the Cornucopia of theStewards and the Sword of the Tyler.

Each of these jewels has ritual and symbolicsignificance of their own, in addition to declaringwhich officer is which. And on one brother, themaster of the lodge, is the hat, usually a top hat,though in some jurisdictions it can be a cowboyhat, a beret, or a hat chosen by the master. Ofcourse, in some jurisdictions, the master does notwear a hat at all.

We are taught in ritual that in ancient times,stonecutters wore a lambskin apron, longer thanthe ones in use today. These aprons were strongenough to protect the wearer from splinters, scrapesand keep their clothing from being soiled whileworking in stone. This danger no longer exists aswe are speculative, not operative masons, so theapron today is symbolic. It represents the purity ofconduct so essentially necessary to gain admissioninto the great lodge above. As with everything inMasonry, the apron also has a deeper and moreesoteric meaning.

The apron is most often made of lambskin (or areasonable facsimile) though there are also apronsavailable in many lodges that are cloth or evensilk. Many believe that the lambskin apron shouldstill bear the wool, this being an animal fibre, inan esoteric sense, it can then act as insulator.

The apron’s shape is that of a square, with atriangular flap on it. The square symbolizes thematter while the triangle, the vertex of which isup, reminds us of the alchemic symbol of fire, thussymbolizing the zeal that pushes Freemasonstoward heaven, the siege of the Supreme Being.

The apron also represents a Broached Thurnel,when the flap is turned up. This is particularlysymbolic of several things in most United StatesRituals. The Broached Thurnel is a symbol thathas been dropped from the ritual, while it isretained in the way an Entered Apprentice is taughtto wear his apron.

The apron covers the genitalia’s region, thusisolating it from the rest of the body. In order towork properly to the glory of the Grand Architect,as we are taught, all freemasons must learn tosubdue his passions within proper bounds.

Entered Apprentices wear their apron keeping theflap up: this further precaution is to protect theepigastrium, the part of human body which isimmediately over the stomach. This is where themanipura chakra is located. The passions’ chakracorresponds to the solar plexus. The EnteredApprentice’s job is to learn to subdue his passions,for like the youth the degree symbolizes, theEntered Apprentice is considered unable to controlincoming energies satisfactorily. Therefore, it isexpedient that they protect themselves and thebrethren adequately.

We have already noticed that the apron of theEntered Apprentice recalls the Broached Thurnel.This is a symbol which pertains to masters: thematter – the square – is turned into the spiritual:the triangle. The entered apprentice wears theapron with the top turned up to act as a ‘reminder’,showing to him the task which he must carry out.Conversely, Fellow Crafts and Master Masonskeep the flap down: this means that the mentaland the spiritual, respectively, closely interact withmatter, as it happens in the symbolism of David’sstar.

White gloves are the other item of the Masonicdress. In Italy, it is compulsory to wear them ineach lodge’s meeting, as long as the meeting lasts.The only exception, is, when the brethren formthe union’s chain at the close of lodge. In that case,hands must be bare so that the subtle energies ofthe Brethren can circulate more easily.

Gloves are symbol of purity: being hands symbolof human actions. Wearing the gloves reminds usof that purity and innocence with which we mustwork, performing only pure acts. Gloves, however,are also a tool: in the Temple everything is sacred,so nothing can be touched, but by pure hands.

It is worth noting that in old catholic liturgy, onlypopes and bishops could wear white gloves, thusevoking the hands of Jacob, that were covered with“the skins of the kids of the goats”. We know thatthe name “Jacob” means “the substitute”, hencethe idea of regeneration, of a new man that takesthe place of the old one, like light which drivesdarkness away.

According the ritual of Grande Oriente d’Italia,the Entered Apprentice receives two pairs ofgloves: one for himself and the other one for his“perfect lunar polarity”. He should give that otherpair to the woman in whom he bears the utmostesteem. It is difficult to determine when thispractice started, though there is a small hint in

Pérau in 1742, though it is thought this use is farolder. Masonic history informs us that Bro. Goethegifted his second pair of gloves to Mrs. Von Stein,remarking that “even if the gift was seemingly poor,nonetheless it had a particular feature, that is, itcan be given by a Freemason “only once in hislife”.

Master Masons should cover their head when theywork in the third degree. The reason of this uselies in the esoteric feature of hair. Henry Allaixwrote that hair works like a receiving set, whilebeard and moustache are thought to emit energy.In ancient times, Christian monks received atonsure, which removed the hair on their heads,but they did not shave. So the master covers hishead thus showing he refuses any externalinfluences...

Other interpretations are however possible. Fromthe ritual we are learned that the Lodge begins towork when it is properly tiled. On the other side,every human body is the “temple of the HolyGhost” , so the Master Mason who covers his headactually tiles his own temple. Still today, in theirtemples where they are appearing before G-D,observant Jews wear the kippah, and in Italy manyMaster Masons do the same.

Last, but not the least, few words about the tunic.(fig. 1) In Italy, during the two world wars,Freemasons wore it. The tunic is black, and itscolor reminds us of the importance of the hermeticwork’s phase which is called Crow’s head, ornigredo. There is a deep esoteric meaning inwearing the tunic, for it teaches the brethren to

give up vanity and any outer difference. In wearingthe tunic, they are really meeting on the level.

As is taught in the first degree, when the candidateis neither naked nor clad, it is not the outerqualifications that make a man a mason, but theinner. The tunic makes all equal. The tunic alsoresembles the symbol of death, the grim reaper. In

Continued on Page 31 - Wear

Manner of Masonic Dress



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come across regarding the actual name of theMasonic hero was that Hiram meant ‘noble’ or‘kingly’ in Hebrew, while Abif has been identifiedas old French for ‘lost one’, giving a literaldescription of ‘the king that was lost’.” “Masonicritual refers to Hiram Abif as the ‘Son of theWidow’... In Egyptian legend the first Horus wasuniquely conceived after his father’s death andtherefore his mother was a widow evenbefore his conception. It seemed logical thereforethat all those who thereafter became Horus, i.e.the kings of Egypt, would also describethemselves as ‘Son of the Widow’.”

The newly installed King became the God-Man,Horus, only after he was “raised from the dead”in a living resurrection ceremony. The words tothis ritual were never written on any scroll, butthey were handed down, learned and rememberedword for word. “Although there is evidence for ageneric connection between the Craft and theAncient Mysteries, there is no explanation of howthe material might have been transmitted or howthe tradition could remain hidden through therigors of the Dark Ages and the probing of theInquisition.”

The King that had ‘died’ and had post-presentlybeen the God Horus, would become the GodOsiris at death providing ‘the secret ritual wordswere spoken’ and he was ‘resurrected’ to theultimate position of being the ‘God of the Dead’andthe ‘King of the Underworld’. Osiris, becomingimmortal, could return to the earth and ‘incarnate’into a mortal man. In this state he could ‘teach’the people, be a ‘civilizer’ and ‘legislator’ andthen return from whence he came. If the King-God Osiris had lived a righteous life, if he wasfree of sin, he achieved the status of being ‘AMASTER in Heaven’. This consists of his soulbeing weighed against the ‘Feather of Maat’. Ifhis soul is lighter than the feather, Osiris becomesa Master. As Osiris departs, Horus becomes theNew God-King.. The Book of the Dead (fromabout 1800 BC), reads very much like an oratorio.Although there is no evidence that it was actuallyperformed, the ritual is full of theatrical elements.It describes the journey of the soul, brought afterdeath by the jackal-headed god Anubis into theHall of Truth, where the dead man’s heart isweighed against a feather. If the heart, made lightby goodness, does not outweigh the feather, thenthe soul is brought before Osiris and grantedimmortality. ..here Anubis checks the accuracyof the balance, Thoth records the results andAmmit prepares to gobble down hearts laden withsin.

The Ceremony was not only secret, but preformedand known only by the two Senior Priests of theTemple of Amen-Re, the Sun God. The Egyptiansbelieved in Eternal Life and they went to greatextremes to insure that the King achieved this.

Only the One True Living God could have taughtthem this. In these pages you will see why Godchose the Egyptians to be the ‘Keepers of theWord’ and the ‘Caretakers’ of the ‘Knowledge’.The Masonic Third Degree ceremony explainswhat happened that day over 3500 years ago inthe Temple at Thebes, which is now Luxor, whenthe True King and Master, Seqenenre Tao II wasmurdered. We concur with Knight and Lomas,that this legend becomes the story and drama ofthe Master Builder, Hiram Abiff.

“The king-making ritual is known to have beenperformed in the pyramid of Unas. As in aMasonic temple, the ceiling of the main chamberrepresents the sky with stars in place. Thecommonly accepted view is that the ceremony wascelebrated on the last night of the waning moon,beginning at sunset and continuing all night untilsunrise, the purpose being a ‘living resurrectionritual’ which identified the dead king with Osirisas an ascended “Master”. The picture is theformer Temple at Thebes. The real secrets of theEgyptian king-making ceremony, which includedthe ‘raising’ of Osiris, died with Seqenenre, theman Masons symbolically refer to as Hiram Abiff,...”the King that was lost”. ‘The Grand Master’.The ‘one’ who knew the ‘ALL’. This has alsobeen referred to as the reason for the ‘Lost Nameof God’ and the ‘Lost Word’. After these wordswere lost, no king could journey to the afterlifeto be one with Osiris.

The Egyptian hieroglyphic for the morning starhas the literal meaning ‘divine knowledge’. Thisseems to support our thesis that the candidate forkingship was raised to the status of the new god/king Horus by sharing the secrets of the gods inthe land of the dead, where he learned the greatsecrets before returning to Earth as the morningstar broke the horizon just before sunrise.” “Atthe coronation/funeral ritual, the old king wasresurrected as the new one, and proved himself asuitable candidate by traveling around theperimeter of the entire country. This was really asymbolic act as the new king was conductedaround the temple room to show himself a worthycandidate to those present, which included thegod Re and his main assistant.”

God’s people and Israel. Bible references do notexplain that there were two ruling factors in Egyptat the same time. However this is confirmed byEgyptian records and history. Consult ‘TheSecond Intermediate Period of Egypt’ for thedating of this important factor. Seqenenre Tao IIis placed in the XVII dynasty of Thebes ( 1558 -1554 ) which directly corresponds with Apepi I(Archlês) of Avaris, (Heliopolis) 1581-1541 inthe XV dynasty. XIII Dynasty see at the top ofthe page. However, in the XIV Dynasty of Xoisor Avaris, we see an (Aphôphis I )with no date.This is a Greek interpretation by Manetho . Apepiis also called Aphôphis so he must be AphophisI. We feel this is the correct Hyksos ruler whosends Insults to Seqenenre. The man who becameknown as ‘Israel’, Abraham, was a Hyksos

himself, and a priest from the land of Sumer. Allevidence is that Abraham was a high-born manfrom Ur, in the land of Sumer. In the KJ bible,God told the father of Abram to go to Canaan andhe gave the land of Jordan to Abram. The King ofSalem was Melchizedek and he was also a HighPriest of God’s word and a ‘chosen son’. Abrahambecomes a High Priest following the order namedafter the King. In this priesthood, he is also‘initiated’ into the mysteries. This ‘initiation’supports the theory that two separate groups ofpeople had God’s ‘knowledge’ at the same time.

The legend says; After the destruction of theworld, these two pillars were discovered byHermes, the son of Shem. Then the craft ofmasonry began to flourish, and Nimrod was oneof the earliest patrons of the art. “Abraham, theson of Jerah, was skilled in the seven sciencesand taught the Egyptians the science of grammar.Euclid was his pupil, and instructed them in theart of making mighty walls and ditches to preservetheir houses from the inundations ofthe Nile, and by geometry measured out the land,and divided it into partitions so that each manmight ascertain his own property. And he it waswho gave masonry the name of geometry”. Onestory proclaims that Abraham is to return to theland of ‘his fathers’ and regain from them thesecrets God left with the ‘Caretakers’. It is saidAbraham became friends with the ‘Pharaoh’, butthis alludes to the Hyksos Ruler, not SeqenenreTao or the ‘other’ Thebian Royal House.. Thefamily of Abraham traveled to Egypt in 1780 BC.Hence the name “Shepherd Kings”. TheUmosejhe (Egyptians ) were bound to the Hyksosin ways of Spirit beyond the personal will becausetheir ancestors came from the same place.. These‘usurpers’ rewrote the history of Olai / Hyksos,making them enemies and conquerors of Egypt.The full explanation of this is on the ShepherdKings page.

Appendix

— In Rabbinical Literature:

2. Artificer sent by Hiram, King of Tyre, toSolomon. He was apparently of a mixed race; hisfather being a Tyrian, and his mother of the tribeof Naphtali (I Kings vii. 13, 14) or of the tribe ofDan (II Chron. ii. 12 [A. V. 14]). The words“Huram abi,” which terminate II Chron. ii. 11(A. V. 13), generally translated “Huram myfather’s” (see No. 1), are taken by some to be thename of the artificer; with this name compare“Hammurabi,” of which “Hiram Abi” may be alocal variant or misreading. The name is curiouslyused in Freemasonry.

There is an essential difference, as regards thenature of Hiram’s technical specialty, between IKings and II Chronicles. According to the former,Hiram was an artificer only in brass; and the

HiramContinued from Page 3

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pieces which he executed for the Temple werethe two pillars Jachin and Boaz,

Bible text:

Chron. ii. 13 [14] it is said that Hiram was“skilful to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, iniron, in stone, and in timber, in purple, in blue,and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to graveany manner of graving.” Thus he seems to havesuperintended all the work of the Temple.Josephus says (“Ant.” viii. 3, § 4) that Hiram’sfather was Ur of the stock of the Israelites, thathe was skilful in all sorts of work, but that hischief skill lay in working in gold, silver, and brass.Josephus apparently interprets the words “ish?ori” to mean a man who lived in Tyre, and thename of “Ur” probably originated in the confusionbetween “Hiram” and “Bezaleel.” In I Kings vii.40 (A. V. margin) the form “Hirom” occurs.E.

1 Kings 7

The Temple’s Furnishings

13 King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram,[7] 14 whose mother was a widow from the tribe ofNaphtali and whose father was a man of Tyreand a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highlyskilled and experienced in all kinds of bronzework. He came to King Solomon and did all thework assigned to him.15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubitshigh and twelve cubits around, [8] by line. 16 Healso made two capitals of cast bronze to set onthe tops of the pillars; each capital was five cubits[9 ] high. 17 A network of interwoven chainsfestooned the capitals on top of the pillars, sevenfor each capital. 18 He made pomegranates in tworows [10] encircling each network to decorate thecapitals on top of the pillars. [11] He did the samefor each capital. 19 The capitals on top of the pillarsin the portico were in the shape of lilies, fourcubits [12] high. 20 On the capitals of both pillars,above the bowl-shaped part next to the network,were the two hundred pomegranates in rows allaround. 21 He erected the pillars at the portico ofthe temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin[13] and the one to the north Boaz. [14] 22 The capitalson top were in the shape of lilies. And so thework on the pillars was completed. All these objects that Huram made for KingSolomon for the temple of the LORD were ofburnished bronze. 46 The king had them cast inclay molds in the plain of the Jordan betweenSuccoth and Zarethan. 47 Solomon left all thesethings unweighed, because there were so many;the weight of the bronze was not determined.48 Solomon also made all the furnishings that werein the LORD’s temple: 1 Kings 8

The Ark Brought to the Temple

17 “My father David had it in his heart to build atemple for the Name of the LORD , the God ofIsrael. 18 But the LORD said to my father David,‘Because it was in your heart to build a templefor my Name, you did well to have this in yourheart. 19 Nevertheless, you are not the one to buildthe temple, but your son, who is your own fleshand blood-he is the one who will build the templefor my Name.’

Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? Theheavens, even the highest heaven, cannot containyou. How much less this temple I have built! 28

Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer andhis plea for mercy, O LORD my God. Hear thecry and the prayer that your servant is praying inyour presence this day. 29 May your eyes be opentoward this temple night and day, this place ofwhich you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ sothat you will hear the prayer your servant praystoward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of yourservant and of your people Israel when they praytoward this place. Hear from heaven, yourdwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

41 “As for the foreigner who does not belong toyour people Israel but has come from a distantland because of your name- 42 for men will hearof your great name and your mighty hand andyour outstretched arm-when he comes and praystoward this temple, 43 then hear from heaven, yourdwelling place, and do whatever the foreignerasks of you, so that all the peoples of the earthmay know your name and fear you, as do yourown people Israel, and may know that this houseI have built bears your Name.

1 Kings 9

The LORD Appears to Solomon

3 The LORD said to him: ”I have heard the prayerand plea you have made before me; I haveconsecrated this temple, which you have built,by putting my Name there forever. My eyes andmy heart will always be there.

1 Corinthians 3

8 The man who plants and the man who watershave one purpose, and each will be rewardedaccording to his own labor. 9 For we are God’sfellow workers; you are God’s field, God’sbuilding.

10 By the grace God has given me, I laid afoundation as an expert builder, and someone elseis building on it. But each one should be carefulhow he builds. 11 For no one can lay anyfoundation other than the one already laid, whichis Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on thisfoundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood,hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what

it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It willbe revealed with fire, and the fire will test thequality of each man’s work. 14 If what he has builtsurvives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it isburned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will besaved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

16 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’stemple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 17 Ifanyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him;for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.

Huram is a name used by the Chronicler forHiram, king of Tyre. 2 Chronicles 2.3-16

Huram-abi is a name used by the Chronicler for thecraftsman, Hiram. 2 Chronicles 2.13, 14; 4.11-16

2 Chronicles 2:

2:7 “Now send me a man who is skilled inworking with gold, silver, bronze, and iron, aswell as purple, crimson, and violet colored fabrics,and who knows how to engrave. He will workwith my skilled craftsmen here in Jerusalem andJudah, whom my father David provided.

2:13 Now I am sending you Huram Abi,22 a skilledand capable man, 2:14 whose mother is a Daniteand whose father is a Tyrian.23 He knows how towork with gold, silver, bronze, iron, stones, andwood, as well as purple, violet, white, andcrimson fabrics. He knows how to do all kinds ofengraving and understands any design given tohim. He will work with your skilled craftsmenand the skilled craftsmen of my lord David yourfather.

It would seem a reasonable conclusion. That if,we are inclined to hold the Egyptian foundationup as the origins of Masonic structure. Then aswith most stories, like the size of fish they changewith the proportions of time between the tellingof the tale. We must recognize that the art ofreading and writing was far from easily availableto the general populous at this time frame. Therewould have been a great reliance on remembranceand we all know as I said the tale changes fromtelling to telling. But, most often carries with itthe basics of the original story.

We then blend into this tale the fundamentals ofbeing able to move around the then known worldin safety and in an organized manner. If there wasalready a pattern laid down, that was proven tobe safe and efficient, then it would be a realisticproposition to follow that pattern.

Are these the foundation stones of the Masonicstructure? The fact, that this system of safe travelfrom one ‘Lodge’ to another. The safe movementof funds. I would point out that the Israeli Bankingsystem of the Middle Ages was drawn on suchtrust. The Knights Templer appear to haveadopted many of these practices.


Continued on Next Page - Hiram



Is it a simple as that? If an Idea works, steal it.

We can speculate on the Egyptian origin, I amnot sure that it is that important to conclude thispoint. Other than, there was a great upheaval inthis part of the world with the Upper and Lowerempires of Egypt, fighting over the Deity. Oneand only True God or many Gods. There arescholars that support the Exodus as the Israelitesbringing out of Egypt the concept of the True andLiving God. The one and only God. Omnipotent.

We just do not have available to us definingevidence to support any of these hypothesis.

We are left with the preponderance of theevidence. All you can due is ask of yourself howwould you have decided in those circumstances.

Hiram Key

Hiram Abif (Seqenenre Tao II) -Hebrewtranslation, Hiram-’noble’or ‘kingly’ and Abifidentified as old French for ‘lost one’ is literallytranslated as “the king that was lost.” Hiram isalso believed to be the last true heir and king ofEgypt (not a “Pharaoh”) at the end of the SecondIntermediate Period (1782-1570 BC), who wasmurdered (the only Egyptian King found to bemurdered) presumably by followers of the HyksosKing Apophis. This “murder” ushered out theHyksos Kings and the expulsion of over 200,000households from Northern Egypt by the murderedKings’ sons Kamose and Ahmose. There is a lotof confusion as to the reference of Hiram, Kingof Tyre who was recorded in the Bible (1 Kings5:1-18) as providing the materials and skilledlaborers to help build Solomon’s Temple, somebelieve the two share only a name in common

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tao_II_the_Brave

Tao II’s mummy was discovered in the Deir el-Bahri cache, revealed in 1881. He was interredalong with those of other, later 18th and 19thdynasty leaders Ahmose I (likely his son),Amenhotep I, Thutmose I, Thutmose II, ThutmoseIII, Ramesses I, Seti I, Ramesses II, and RamessesIX, as well as the 21st dynasty pharaohsPsusennes I, Psusennes II, and Siamun.

The mummy was unwrapped by Gaston Masperoon June 9, 1886. A vivid description by GastonMaspero provides an account of the damage thatwas done to the pharaoh at his death:

...it is not known whether he fell upon the fieldof battle or was the victim of some plot; theappearance of his mummy proves that he died aviolent death when about forty years of age. Twoor three men, whether assassins or soldiers, musthave surrounded and despatched him before helpwas available. A blow from an axe must have



severed part of his left cheek, exposed the teeth,fractured the jaw, and sent him senseless to theground; another blow must have seriously injuredthe skull, and a dagger or javelin has cut openthe forehead on the right side, a little above theeye. His body must have remained lying where itfell for some time: when found, decompositionhad set in, and the embalming had to be hastilyperformed as best it might. The hair is thick,rough, and matted; the face had been shaved onthe morning of his death, but by touching thecheek we can ascertain how harsh and abundantthe hair must have been. The mummy is that of afine, vigorous man, who might have lived to ahundred years, and he must have defendedhimself resolutely against his assailants; hisfeatures bear even now an expression of fury. Aflattened patch of exuded brain appears aboveone eye, the forehead is wrinkled, and the lips,which are drawn back in a circle about the gums,reveal the teeth still biting into the tongue

It has been convincingly argued that SeqenenraTaa’s wound across the forehead was caused byan axe, similar to examples that have been foundin Tell el-Dab’a. Egyptian axes of the same periodare distinctly different in shape and would nothave caused a similar wound. Given the angle ofthe neck wound, possibly caused by a dagger, itis most likely that the pharaoh was prone or lyingdown when the fatal blows were struck.[5] Inaddition, the absence of wounds to the arms orhands (which would be expected if the victimwere actively defending himself) indicates thatthe first blow must have incapacitated SeqenenraTaa. The popular theory is that he died in a battleagainst the Hyksos, though the wounds would alsobe consistent with someone who was killed whilehe slept.

Constant knows nothing of this. The Masonicliterature of the time, for which thephilosopher had a not unnatural contempt,did not discuss the question. Mostly derivedfrom or elaborated on the basis of the OldCharges, it had to do with a largely mythicalstory of the transmission of civilization fromthe biblical patriarchs and by the Hebrews,the Phoenicians, the Greeks, and the Romansto the Middle Ages. Fessler’s rite was takenup with a historical critique of systems andrites and degrees and was well adapted toproduce Masonic scholars in the sense of mendeeply grounded in rites and rituals. But itdid not touch upon the three questions ofMasonic philosophy except incidentally andinferentially. What was to be had fromPreston’s Illustrations, from Frenchdiscussions of the symbols, and from somepious discourses which had begun to appear,could not satisfy a philosopher. In short,Constant knew no more of the philosophy ofthe Craft than did the uninitiate. For the

LettersContinued from Page 5

purposes of philosophy he must begin at thebeginning.

Philosophical systems grow out of attempts tosolve concrete problems of a time and place. Thephilosopher finds a satisfying solution and putsit in abstract, universal terms. Then he or hisdisciples make it or seek to make it a universalsolvent, equal to all problems everywhere and inall times. Accordingly, Fichte starts with theurgent concrete problem of Masonry in his time.It appeared to be hopelessly divided into systemsand sects and rites. In England, the schism of theself-styled Ancients had produced two GrandLodges, each claiming to be the true successor ofthe Masonry which had come down from antiquitythrough the Middle Ages. On the Continent, thepulling and hauling of rival sovereign bodies, theclaims of self-constituted leaders to property inthe high degrees and the downright peddling ofthem, had produced an even worse condition. InGermany, the charlatanry of the Strict Observancehad led to scandals which inflicted serious injuryon the order. Hence it was necessary to go backto first principles and determine what Masonrycould be and what it ought to be.

Where was one to begin such an inquiry? Fichtesaw that he could get no satisfactory starting pointfrom the literature of Masonry as it then was.The Old Charges and the mythical history of thetransmission of civilization did not help. It wasnecessary to resort to reason. What in reason wasthere to be done which an immemorial universalbrotherhood could do and should be doing? Inanswering this question Fichte had before himalso the social, political, and economic conditionof Europe, and in particular of Germany, in histime, and the problem thus presented to thephilosopher possessed of an ideal of humanperfection or, if you will, civilization.

What impressed him as a child of the people whohad come up through adversity (his brother is saidto have died an agricultural laborer) was the gulfbetween the cultivated, professional man, the lesscultivated practical man of business, and theuncultivated man in the humbler walks of life,each, however wise in his calling and howevervirtuous, suspicious of the others, unappreciativeof the others’ purposes, and very likely intolerantof the others’ plans and proposals. Thus there wasin society the same unhappy cleavage which hesaw in the Masonry of the time. He saw the samephenomenon also in the political order of the time.

The medieval academic ideal of political unityof Christendom in “the empire” had broken downin the sixteenth century and had been supersededby nationalism. Since that time Christendom hadbeen torn by successive wars between nationsseeking political hegemony, and, when Fichtewrote, the wars of the French Revolution andempire were still waging. Society in westernEurope seemed hopelessly divided into states



unable to work together except in fluctuatingalliances and then not toward any common goalof humanity or of civilization but only towardpolitical self-aggrandizement. In Germany, not yetunified politically, but divided into more than twodozen states, in more or less constant strife witheach other, the political condition of Europe wasreflected in aggravated form.

A like phenomenon was appearing in the economicorder. The relationally organized society of theMiddle Ages had broken down. The FrenchRevolution had put an end to feudal society inFrance and it was passing in central Europe.Economic freedom of the middle class had givenit increasingly complete political control. But theproletariat was emerging to class consciousnessand was making continually increasing demands.Thus there was growing up a class-organizedsociety which has been a conspicuous feature ofthe economic order with the progressiveindustrialization which has gone on everywheresince the end of the eighteenth century. States,classes, professions, and walks of life alike weresuspicious of each other, prejudiced against eachother, intolerant of each other. Society in Europe,which was culturally a unit and had inherited auniversal tradition from the Middle Ages, wasinternally chaotic, and in a condition of internalstrife and conflict which stood in the way of theprogress of civilization. Even the unity of thechurch, which had held men together to someextent during the Middle Ages, had disappearedat the Reformation, and sects and denominationswere suspicious, prejudiced and intolerant amongthemselves.

Thus Fichte looked at the problem presented bythe condition of Masonry in his time and placesub specie æternitatis as part of a problem of allhumanity, along with one of social, political,economic, and religious organization of mankind,and sought a solution that would enable Masonryto meet or help meet a great need of mankind.Indeed, his Masonic philosophy is in a sense a partof a larger social and political philosophy in whichit is now considered that he laid the foundation ofmuch of the social philosophical thinking of today.But that is too large a subject to go into here.

What was demanded, as Fichte saw it, was anallaround development of the individual manwhich would enable him to cast off or preventhis acquiring the suspicions andmisunderstandings and prejudices which standin the way of cooperation with others towarddeveloping human powers to their highestpossibilities. As it was, each man was trained ortrained himself for some profession or vocationor walk of life and as he perfected himself for thepurposes of that profession or vocation or walkof life he narrowed his outlook upon the worldand came to look upon it and upon his fellowmen as it were through the spectacles of that

calling. Looking at other callings through thesespectacles, he became suspicious, prejudiced, andintolerant and so largely incapable of assisting inthe maintaining and furthering of civilization.There was need, therefore, of an organization inwhich men were to be given or led to an all-rounddevelopment, instead of the one sided vocationaldevelopment which they acquired in a societybased on division of labor. While in society atlarge they were adequately trained towardeffective division of labor, in Masonry they mustbe adequately trained for effective cooperationtoward the highest human development. Thepurpose, then, must be an all-round developmentof men as men; not merely as fellows in a calling,citizens of a state, members of a class or adherentsof a denomination, but as men fully competentand attentive to their duties as members of aprofession, as citizens, as churchmen, and yetconscious also of duties as men to rise abovesuspicion, prejudice, and intolerance, andappreciate and work sympathetically with theirfellows in every walk of life, of every politicalallegiance, and of every creed.

Today, when exaggerated nationalism andaggressive class consciousness are threatening todisrupt civilization, thinkers are approachingFichte’s position not from metaphysics, as he did,but from the standpoint of social psychology. Weare told that no man can form an objective andunbiased judgment of a situation in which he isemotionally interested. Hence, he unconsciouslylooks at every one and everything from thestandpoint of a profession or trade or calling orclass or nation or denomination and so, even withthe best of motives, proceeds upon prejudices andmisconceptions which impede his relations withothers. Whether in business or industry or politicsor international relations, we see this manifestedevery day. We have had illustrations in strikes,in race riots, and in wars. It is recognized as givingus a major problem of social control. Every socialagency, the law, administration, international law,and all attempts at international organization mustreckon with it. Many of those who are urging somesort of world organization to secure peaceableadjustment of international relations are writingvery much in view of the second world war in ageneration as Fichte did during the NapoleonicWars. We must concede that he has set us a taskwhich transcends time and place.

2. the relation of masonry to other humanorganizations and activities. Fichte’s conceptionof individual personality and its value led him tooppose any idea of merging the moral unit in thepolitical or any other organization. Such theoriesmisconceive the nature of organizations. Theyorganize certain of men’s activities withoutincluding their personalities. Thus each of us maybe in any number of groups or associations orrelations which organize our activities in differentdirections while still leaving us free in all others.In consequence, there is no incompatibility inbeing an efficient professional man or man ofbusiness, a faithful worker in some calling, a

loyal, patriotic citizen, a devout churchman, anda Mason striving for the universal while attentiveto the particular. Fichte urges that one may be abetter citizen of the world for being a good citizenof his state, and a better citizen of his state forbeing a good citizen of the world. We should seekto shape many-sided men, but not so many-sidedthat we cannot find any particular side. Masonryis not to supersede calling, government, or church;it is to supplement them. It is to help us becomplete, well-rounded men as well as theefficient, patriotic, devout men which we are orshould be outside of the Order. It is not hard tosee why absolute personal governments in theeighteenth century and totalitarian governmentsin the present century have suppressed Masonry.An order which considers that any organizationof men’s activities can stand in any degree on aplane with the omni-competent state cannot beallowed by such governments.

As to the relation of Masonry to the church, wemust remember that down to the Reformation andin parts of Europe much later, and down to theFrench Revolution, the church had vigorouslyrepressed freedom of thought and free scienceand had by no means made for the developmentof man’s personality to its highest unfolding. Thechurch, says Fichte, cannot make men devout.The man who is devout from fear or from hope ofreward only professes devoutness. Devoutness isan internal condition, an enduring frame of mind,not a temporary product of coercion or cupidityof reward or emotional excitement. Like or alongwith the state, the church may be a wholesomeagency of social control in restraining men’sinstinct of aggressive self-assertion. It can pointout to men their relation to the life to come andthe duties they ought to be adhering to for thevery and sole reason that they are duties. Thusthe church can be working towards shaping thefully developed man. But that is not its real, itsprimary function. Remembering what the statechurches were for the most part in Europe in theera of the French Revolution, we can understandwhy Fichte passes over this agency of humandevelopment very lightly. As he says, religiousinstruction through the churches had then takenon a mass of the incidental and one-sided fromwhich Masonry had the task of delivering men.On the other hand, Fichte does the fullest justiceto religion, although without identifying it withMasonry as Oliver seems to do.

As to morality, it will be remembered that Krauseconsidered that the purpose of Masonry was toput an organization behind morals as the churchwas an organization behind religion andgovernment or the state an organization behindlaw. Fichte holds that morality means the doingof one’s well understood duty with absolute innerfreedom, without any outside incentive, simplybecause it is his duty. Hence, there is no specificMasonic morality and hence also morality needsno special organization behind it. Like religion it





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is an integral part of the fully developed man.

3. How does masonry Go about attaining the endwhich it seeks? Both from his knowledge of theinstitutions of antiquity and from the Old Charges,Fichte had learned that throughout recordedhistory there had been systems of secretinstruction designed to perfect those who wereinducted. Indeed, we know today that theprimitive secret society is one of the oldest ofhuman social institutions. We know thatceremonies of termination of boyhood and raisingup of a man are among the oldest of human rites.Hence Fichte assumes that alongside the opentraining of men for their special work in societythere has always gone on a secret instruction, asystem of mysteries or a brotherhood which havesupplied the deficiencies of the one-sided trainingin society and sought to train men as such andnot as followers of some particular calling. Suchinstruction, he holds, can properly be given orallyin contrast with the open training which may usebooks or manuscripts, and may be dogmatic wherethe open training may be carried on by debate orargument or experiment. It may be carried on bymyths and allegories and symbols. Men of everywalk of life, meeting on an equality andassociating in a common course of instruction can,by hearing the oral lectures over and over, bylistening to and enacting the myths and symbols,divest themselves of the one-sidedness they havereceived in the training for their special callingand become the all-round men demanded forcivilized society. As the purpose is to rid us ofthe incidental and one-sided in their training, thisinstruction, while keeping to the old landmarks,may admit of much variation from age to age inorder to meet the exigencies of the incidentalwhich has accumulated in the time and place andcalls for laying aside.

But now let Fichte speak for himself.

The First LetterYou cannot reasonably ask that I concede to youany other acquaintance with the order than that itexists. What you would know from your books asto the nature of its existence I cannot recognizesince all this literary trash has begotten noknowledge in you and has only entangled you incontradiction and doubt. What writers are you totrust if you have no measure by which to test themand no means whereby to reconcile them? And asto what you believe or, as you say, you may findmore or less likely by a historical critique, I appealto your own feeling as I assert that your actualknowledge of the matter, taken strictly, extends tono more than the existence of the order.

But this is complete enough for me and I inviteyou to add to this sure knowledge conclusions Continued on Next Page - Letters


quite as sure. Then shall we find what the orderof Free Masons is in and of itself? No, not that.But what it can be in and of itself, or, if you like,what it ought to be.

This question will surprise you since you havenever put it. But it is the one question that you canput. What the order is, so far as I am concerned,you can, if it satisfies you, learn from The SmashedFreemasons.1 What it can be you can create froma better source, namely, your reason. But if youknow it, you will not believe, as somethingconsistent therewith, that it is actually in and ofitself what it can be according to your logicalconviction. You will at least not be able to assert it(but also not be able to deny it) since for that youwould have to be an adept. You would first be infull right a Masonic lawgiver before you couldmake this assertion with some justification.

In this field, where everything is shaking, let usseek a fixed point on which we can put our footsecurely, and from which we can go on fromuncontroverted facts.

You know that in the first decades of the eighteenthcentury, and, indeed, in London, a society cameinto public notice, which apparently had arisenearlier, but about which no one knew how to saywhence it came, what it was, and what it sought.It spread, notwithstanding, with inconceivablerapidity and traveled over France and Germany,into all states of Christian Europe,2 and even toAmerica. Men of all ranks, regents, princes, nobles,the learned, artists, men of business, entered it;Catholics, Lutherans, and Calvinists were initiatedand called one another “Brother.”

The society, which one knows not why, at least,as I bid you believe, quite accidentally, calleditself the Society of Free Masons, drew upon itselfthe attention of governments. It was persecutedin most kingdoms, e.g. in France, in TheNetherlands, in Poland, Spain, Portugal, Austria,Bavaria, Naples, was visited with the ban of twoPopes, was loaded with the most contradictoryaccusations, and every suspicion which is hatefulto the great mass of the people and would makeit hateful to them was thrown at it. But itmaintained itself under all these storms. It spreadinto new kingdoms and from capitals wastransplanted into provincial cities where formerlyone had scarcely heard the name. Unexpectedly,it found in one place protection and support, whilein another it was in peril of extinction. In oneplace it was decried as the enemy of the throneand fomenter of revolutions, and in another wonthe trust of the best rulers.

Thus it has continued to our days. You see howtoday the members of this society ask themselvesearnestly and continually, whence do we come?What are we and what do we seek? You see howthey gather from all places in order to answerthese questions, how they look earnestly at eachother, each awaits the answer from his neighbor,and finally all either aloud or in silence

acknowledge that none of them, none of thosewho have assembled, knows. What do they now?Do they go home, declare the general ignoranceof their brothers, release themselves reciprocallyfrom their vows, and part ashamed? Not at all.The order endures and spreads itself as before.

The society has undergone even harder things.The question as to its secrecy was more pressing.It was brought to general knowledge in publishedwritings, e.g. exposes of the uncovered secrecy ofthe Freemasons, of the overthrown, of the betrayed,Freemasonry.3 Someone extols the purpose ofcertain Masonic sects directed to perfect certainty.He then finds that here and there Masonry hasonly served for a wrapping of objectionablepurposes and brings these purposes to a light fatalto it.4 What happens then? Do the Freemasons giveup the betrayed secrets and, in order to freethemselves from all suspicion of dishonestpurposes, at once put the expose in the lodgelibrary? No. The society endures as if no slanderhad been spoken of it, nothing had been printedabout it, and it had preserved inviolable silence.

Finally, the society is torn apart internally. Allunity ceases. It splits into sects which are calledsystems. They brand each other as heretical,excommunicate one another, and repeat the planof a church with an exclusive plan of salvation.Servati5 asks, If I wish to become a Freemason,where dwell the genuine masters? In his thickvolumes he does not know what to answer, sincethe Masons of shade and sign answer with oneaccord, “Nowhere, nowhere than with us.”

What follows? The uninitiate, who formerly hadat least respect for the name of Brother, now findsthe Masons persecuting each other and brandingeach other as heretics, ridiculous, and what forMasonry is Worse than all persecution, the scoffand mockery of the elegant world. Now, withoutdoubt the dissolution of the wonderful society willfollow? Again, no. It maintains itself and spreadsas ever, and many a cowardly brother, who againand again blushed if some one in his elegant circlesaid he was a Freemason, goes scrupulously tothe lodge as before.

So, as it was said sometimes in jest that thegreatest secret of the Freemasons was that theyhad none, the most open and yet secret of theFreemason is that they exist and endure. What isit then, what can it be, that binds together allthese men of the most diverse modes of thought,modes of life, and education, and has held themto one another under a thousand difficulties inthis time of enlightenment and criticism?

Let us go further and more closely consider thesemen themselves who adhere to Masonry. Perhapsthey are weak-hearted, enthusiasts, hypocrites,intriguers, or ambitious, who have boundthemselves together? It is conceivable how thedishonest and crafty can unite with fools in order



to manage them for his purposes or at least tomake fun of their foolishness. It is conceivablehow the ambitious capture the enthusiasts in theirquest of secrets, in order to humble their prideand are able to take under their command menwho in other respects stand above them in rankand dignity. It is conceivable how the intriguingcan unite with the weak-headed in order to tellthem, and allow them to pay for, what shall fallto their lot. But no. In all ages we find the wisest,most honest, most honorable men in talent,learning and character, in the order. Above allthese are many —there is certainly one—intowhose arms you would throw yourself with fulltrust as the leader and guide of your life.

Yet, for I leave no possible objection behind me,this wise and honest man may through someaccident or whim of youth have been enticed intoan order the inner nature of which was unknownto him. He becomes acquainted with it, finds itnothing, and running off to childish play. But hecannot go back. A certain pride hinders him fromshowing himself a victim of deceit. His inner shameleads him to give himself to the empty thing andhe goes back to it quietly, without looking up.

Is this the true history of all honorable and wisemen in the order? If so, we are at the end of ourinvestigation. We are ashamed that we havebestowed so much attention upon the order andgive it up with smiles to the well-meaningenthusiasts and self-seeking intriguers.

But that this is not so, your experience and minetestify. The true, wise and honorable men, whomor below being a man, lies outside of the circle ofhis thinking, striving, and acting. We know, havegone forward in the order, have busied themselveswith it earnestly, have worked for it for its ownsake, and even have sacrificed for it otherimportant ends. And now I am at the point whichI hold fixed and sure for you, for the non-Mason,and for every consistent reason:

As truly as only an indisputably wise and virtuousman busies himself earnestly with the order ofFreemasons, so truly it is no play, so certainly ithas an earnest and lofty purpose.

Thus we have found the standpoint from whichwe may survey all that remains and set foot furtherwith deliberation.

But before we do this, I hear you speak thus: “Itis true, wise and virtuous men busy themselvesearnestly with the order. It is a fact. But with whatdo they busy themselves? With the order as it is,or how and what it, and indeed through it, maycome to be? Perhaps they only work so far as tomake something of it and write something worthyof them upon the tabula rasa of Freemasonry? Ifthis is so, then you by your deduction have onlyproved what is known, namely, that the wise and

virtuous do not play but yet win nothing forFreemasonry.” All, Constant, that I along withyou can win for it! And, since I cannot otherwiseanswer you whether it is likewise entirelysufficient for my final purpose, I conceive mythesis thus:

As certainly as wise and virtuous men at any timebusy themselves earnestly with the order ofFreemasons, so certainly it can have a reasonable,good, and lofty purpose.

This purpose, possible or actual, we shall nowfind as we go forward upon this path.-That is, wecan know what the wise and virtuous man canwill, what he necessarily must will, so certainlywisdom and virtue are but one and are determinedby eternal laws of reason. Therefore we must nowinvestigate what the wise and good man may aimat in such a society. Then we have found withdemonstrated certainty the one possible purposeof the order of Freemasons.

The ThirdLetter

That which the wise and virtuous wills, that whichis his end, is the end-purpose of mankind. Theone end of human existence upon the earth isneither heaven nor hell, but solely the quality ofbeing men, which we have here in ourselves, andits highest possible development. We knownothing else, and what we call godlike or devilishor animal is nothing other than human. What isnot included in the highest possible development,what does not relate to this or bear upon it, eitheras part or as means, cannot be the purpose ofman nor be set to the wise and virtuous as an endeither in the most general or in the most specialcase. What lies above

In some measure that purpose is obtained by allmen, without their thinking it clearly orintentionally promoting it, simply through theirbirth to the light of day and through their life insociety. It seems as if it were not their purposebut a purpose with them. But the enlightenedthinks of it clearly. It is his purpose. He makes itan intended aim of all that he does.

How is it furthered in the great human society?Does everything work toward it with unitedpowers directly and without shift? It seems not.Society does not think and work with clarity andenlightenment as does the wise individual man.The faults of the world before are a burden uponit, and, busied with expatiating these, it has hardlytime to work for a posterity which again will haveto work for another. It must stand up to the greatbattle with refractory nature and slothful time. Itseeks to win the judgment over both and hasunderlying its task a disadvantageous butinevitable condition. It has divided the whole ofhuman development into parts, has distributedthe branches and special tasks of these and has

allotted to each station in life its special field ofcooperation. Just as in a factory time and cost aresaved in this that one workman during his wholelife only makes one kind of pen or pencil or wheelor vessel, only lays on these colors, only drivesor steers this one machine, and another likewiseduring his whole life does some other sort of work,and at length an over-foreman unknown to themunites what they have done in a whole, even so itis in the great workshop of human development.Every station in life works and makes somethingfor all the others beyond what each must do forhis share and for his own person; and they makealso for him for what he, otherwise engaged inhis own welfare, has neither time nor skill.

The unseen hand of Providence leads all the workof the individuals to the welfare and developmentof the whole. Thus the learned man proceeds tothe depths of mind and knowledge in order tofurther today what in some age may be generallyuseful, and in the meantime the farmer and thelaborer feed him and clothe him; the publicofficial administers justice, which without himthe community itself would have to administer;and the soldier protects against foreign power thedefenseless who maintain him.

Now every individual develops himself speciallyfor the station in life which he has chosen. Fromyouth on, either thorough choice or chance he hasbeen destined exclusively for one vocation. Thateducation is held best which prepares the boymost suitably for his future calling. Everything isleft on one side which does not stand in the nearestrelation to this calling or, as we say, cannot beused. The young man destined to be a scholarspends his whole time learning languages andsciences, indeed with choice of those whichfurther his future breadwinning and with carefulputting aside of those which promote the generaldevelopment of scholarship. All other stations inlife and activities are foreign to him, as they areforeign to each other. The physician directs hiswhole attention only to medicine, the jurist tothe law of his country, the merchant to theparticular branch of trade in which he is engaged,the manufacturer only to the making of hisproduct. In his specialty he knows with muchclearness and thoroughness what he needs toknow. It is specially clear to him. He looks on itas his acquired property. He lives in it as in ahome. And all this is good. In this way every onedoes his duty: The reverse would not promote allthe advantages of society but would be ruinousto the individual as well as to the whole.

But out of this there arises necessarily with all acertain incompleteness and one-sidedness whichcommonly, though not necessarily, passes intopedantry. Pedantry, which we commonly attributeonly to the learned walk of life (perhaps becauseit is most noticeable here, perhaps because heremen are more intolerant) prevails in all stationsof life and its fundamental principle is everywhere





the same, namely, to take the particular trainingfor its special walk of life for the common trainingof mankind and thence to strive to make it suchin practice. Thus the pedantic man of learninghas regard only for science and rejects all othervalues; his lectures and speeches in mixedsocieties seek to bring to his hearers some particleof his learning and to make them long for hisprecision in thought. The pedantic merchant, onthe other hand, despises the scholar and cries out:“Only reckoning and money, money is thewatchword of the sensible and happy life.” Thesoldier despises both, prizes only bodily strengthand dexterity, warlike spirit and assertion ofhonor, according to his conception of it, and woulddraft any one who is moderate. The theologianespecially (since his profession has of all the mostinfluence because of love of Heaven or fear ofhell) seeks to bring up all men, even the villagechildren, as thorough theologians and steadfastdogmatists. “Strive above all for the kingdom ofGod, the rest is a trifle.” So say the theologiansand with them all other vocations— and we knowwhat they understand by the kingdom of God.

Thus one-sidedness prevails everywhere, usefulhere and injurious there. Thus each individual isnot simply a learned man; he is a theologian or ajurist or a physician. He is not simply religious;he is a Catholic or a Lutheran or a Jew or aMohammedan. He is not simply a man; he is apolitician or a merchant or a soldier. And soeverywhere the highest possible development ofvocations hinders the highest possibledevelopment of humanity, which is the highestpurpose of human existence. Indeed, it must behindered since everyone has the indispensableduty to make himself as perfect as possible forhis own special calling, and this is almostimpossible without one-sidedness.

With these presuppositions, we must now turnback to Freemasonry, not to depart from it again,and build upon them certain significantconclusions. Masonry cannot aim at any of theends with which any of the vocations, regulatingagencies or orderings in human society are alreadyopenly and notoriously busied. It can tread in thepath of no other organization or go on beside it. Ifit did, it would be superfluous since it would seekto do what would be done without it. It could notexcuse itself on the ground that a public institutionbeside which it would go on and whose aim itwould adopt was defective and faulty. It is merepresumption to seek to make better as a secondaryconcern what another cannot make better as itschief concern. It is foolishness to pronounce ajudgment of condemnation against institutionswhich perhaps we know only as to their externaldifficulties and not as to the unsociable difficultieswhich they find in the object of their activity. Eachof these institutions in the state carries the germof what is better in itself and strives towardperfection, and the question for Masonry can only

be whether an institution for a certain purpose isthere, not whether it is good. Others must carefor that. If Masonry were to take hold actively ofthe plan of another institution, it would onlyspread the disorder more widely since it wouldonly disturb and confuse the carrying out of theplan. It would be highly injurious in that it mustadd this activity secretly since, indeed, it is notknown to have taken over any single branch ofhuman development.

If such a society might busy itself withecclesiastical or political, philosophical, learned,or mercantile subjects, if the wise and virtuousman could not support it, much more, when itsconfused existence became known to him musthe destroy it. And to that end it would require nofurther trouble than to advertise it, since it is thehighest interest of the whole human society andof each of its branches, of the state, of the church,of the learned and of the trading public to blotout such a miseducation so soon as he becameacquainted with it.

Thus every purpose with which any calling insociety is already busied would be wholly andunqualifiedly excluded from Masonry; and it wouldbe just as foolish and ridiculous if its memberssought secretly to make good shoes with it as toseek to reform the state as a whole or in particular.Every Mason who would gainsay this would putnot only his good will and Masonic insight butalso his sound judgment under suspicion.

But it must have some purpose, since otherwise itwould be an idle, empty sport, and the wise andvirtuous could have no more to do with it than if ithad set itself the harmful purpose above described.

But this could only be such a purpose: A purposefor which the greater human society has no specialinstitution, a purpose for which according to thenature of the purpose and of the society it canhave no special institution.

If it could have such an institution, then it wouldthe more be the duty of the wise and virtuous toput this institution in the bosom of the greatsociety and allow it to proceed therefrom than toseek to further its aim through separation fromthis society. The nature of the great society andthe nature of the purpose inhering in it woulddemand absolutely that he make the state mindfulin this almost incomprehensible way of this untilnow forgotten branch of the order’s activity. Hemust then leave it to the great societyunconditioned, whether he wishes to findinstitutions for it or not. In no case may he, inorder to be efficient for this purpose, set himselfapart along with a special society since he in nocase belongs to it for this sort of activity.

Now comes the question whether there can besuch a reasonable and good purpose for whichthe greater society, according to its nature, canhave no special institutions, and what this purposemay be. If so, the one possible purpose of Masonry

(pure and considered as a special society) will befound.

The FourthLetter

I shall at once further clear up your suspicionwhether I, perhaps, intend to set forthFreemasonry as an end in itself, if I put beforeyou the second conclusion from what we haveconsidered above with respect to the greaterhuman society as the keystone of this arch ofthought.

We have recognized it as an evil that educationin the greater society is always bound up with acertain one-sidedness and superficiality whichstands in the way of the highest possible, i.e.purely human, development and hinders theindividual man as well as mankind as a wholefrom a happy progress to the goal.

We now have a purpose given us which the greaterhuman society cannot aim at, since it lies outsideof that society and is first manifest through theexistence of society, a purpose which can only bereached by going out from society and settingapart from it. The purpose is: To do away withthe disadvantages in the mode of education inthe greater society and to merge the one-sidededucation for the special vocation in the all-sidedtraining of men as men.

This is a great purpose since it has for its objectwhat is of most interest to man. It is reasonablein that it expresses one of our highest duties. It ispossible since everything is possible that we oughtto do. It is almost impossible to attain in the greatsociety, at least exceedingly hard, since walk oflife, mode of living, and relations entangle manwith fine but fast ties and pull him around in acircle, often without his being aware of it, wherehe should go forward. Hence the purpose is onlyto be attained by getting apart. But not by aneverduring departure, since a new one-sidednesswould arise from that; since thereby theadvantages for society of what has been won forpure human development would be lost; and sincethereby we disregard that we are to merge bothforms of training and thereby to elevate theneedful training for vocations. Nor are we to attainthe purpose by turning back to isolation, sincethis would strengthen our one-sidedness morethan it would remove it and overlay our heart withan egoistic crust. Therefore we shall attain thepurpose only through a society distinct from thegreater society which does no injury to any of ourrelations in that greater society, which hasprepared us to see and take to heart in time thepurpose of humanity, to make it intentionally ours,and which works through a thousand means towean us from our vocational and social crudities



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and raise our development to a purely human one.

This or none is the purpose of the society ofFreemasons; so certainly the wise and virtuousman may occupy himself with it. The Mason whowas born a man, and has been shaped throughthe training for his vocation, through the state,and through his other social relations, may bedeveloped again on this platform wholly andthoroughly to a man. This only can be the purposeof a separate society, and it answers the questionput to us: What is the order of Freemasons in andof itself, or, if you prefer, what can it be?

But, you say, this purpose is in part too wide, inpart too narrow: the latter because the end can bereached in other ways, by meditation, by travel,by going about among men, and in sociable life;the former because no society of any sort, from itsvery nature, can realize the full attainment of thatpurpose. As to the former, about which thenecessary light will come in what is to follow, forthe moment I make only this short answer: A mancan drag himself out in the ways you have describedand maintain a course which goes out beyond hiswalk of life. He can learn to efface the pedantryfrom his outside appearance and to raise his thoughtto a greater generality. But his inner self remainsuntouched by all this. He goes on in his old way:only he does so behind hedges and elegant walls.Perhaps by meditation he can efface theprofessional spirit in himself; but may give themore stiffneckedness to his individual character,which is still very different from the character ofpure humanity. That which in this connection oughtto be brought about in all seriousness can onlyhappen in a separate society, as we have deducedit, and, as you will soon come to think with me, inaccord with its whole activity.

The second proposition which you have pointedout is more important, and I add to my statementof the purpose the following important limitation:In so far as such development is possible througha society expressly set up for this purpose.

There is a general human kind of developmentfor which every one takes himself, his conscienceand God for witness and judge, namely, moralfreedom. You know my conviction on this point:“Everyone who is honest with himself,” so I wrotesome years ago, “must watch himselfunremittingly and work toward his perfection.This must through practice become, as it were,natural to him. But this is something which fromits very nature cannot be communicated. I cometo a painter whom I wish to see work. He showsme all his paintings, even those not yet finished.But, as much as I have begged him to, he isunwilling to work upon them before my eyes. Heassures me that works of genius are arrived atonly in solitude. This led me to the work of themoral genius in us, and I suspected the truth thatin this matter, too, one must be alone. I found it

always more confirmed that true striving toperfect oneself was very delicate and bashful sothat it drew within itself and could not becommunicated. I had never brought my betteringsof myself before myself in words. How could Iclothe it in words before others? Enough. I tookanother course and my friends, as I myself, knewthe growth of the plant only by the fruits.Accordingly, one should never make his self-bettering a show; he should never abase himselfto a mere confession of his faults but should leavethem off. We should be disgusted with them; thenwe shall not, as it were, turn them about this wayand that in order to express them precisely andelegantly. If one wished, out of a mistaken feelingof duty, out of a certain heroic spirit, in friendshipor for the sake of the purpose of some society, tocompel himself thereto, he would not makehimself trusted, win love for himself; at any rate,no more fear the existence of faults which onehas so roundly condemned; at any rate, corrupthimself with the confession in that he wouldreckon it to himself as a bettering.” And so it is.His development for moral freedom in order tomake it a social affair, to speak about it withothers, to let himself be drawn into a reckoningabout it, and to confess it or let himself confess,destroys the spirit from the ground up, since itviolates holy modesty; it makes one a slanderoushypocrite before himself, and a society which hasto do with this leads in effect to the darkestmonkish asceticism. Thus Masonry has nothingto do with this sort of training for pure humanity,nor has any society which is not made up offanatics and has understood Horace’s saying:

Insani sapiens nomen feret, aequus iniqui Ultra,quam satis est, virtutem si petat ipsam.6

All that looks to differences among men, whetherto skill in art or learning or virtue, is beforeMasonry profane. But Masonry itself is profanein comparison with moral freedom since that isthe all-holiest compared to which even the holyis common. This conception, firm and thoroughlydefined and clear in itself, we must undoubtedlymake a canon of Masonry and a principle ofcritique of everything Masonic if we have to setup such a critique.

Another is, to be sure, to put it shortly, the trainingof the spirit and the impetus to receptivity formorality, the training of external morals and ofexternal uniformity to law. This of course belongsto Masonry.

Now the picture of Masonry, as it is in and ofitself, or uniquely can and should be, will governyour soul.

I draw this picture as yet with few strokes. Heremen of all walks of life come freely together andbring into a hoard what each, according to hisindividual character, has been able to acquire inhis calling. Each brings and gives what he has:the thinking man definite and clear conceptions,the man of business readiness and ease in the art

of living, the religious man his religious sense,the artist his religious enthusiasm. But noneimparts it in the same way in which he receivedit in his calling and would propagate it in hiscalling. Each one, as it were, leaves behind theindividual and special and shows what it hasworked out within him as a result. He strives soto give his contribution that he can reach everymember of society, and the whole society exertsitself to assist this endeavor and in this way togive his former one-sided training a generalusefulness and all-sidedness. In this union eachreceives in the same measure as he gives. Justthrough this that he gives it is given him, this isto say, the skill to give.

The Fifth LetterNow, first, I answer your question: Can we notput Freemasonry as an end in itself? This willgive me occasion for some further definitions.

As you admit, you have come upon this ideathrough comparisons of Freemasonry withreligion. One may ask, what is the purpose of thechurch? It is the furthering of religion. What isthe purpose of religion? Without doubt its purposeis itself, since it is purely the result, therequirement of the harmonious spirit and heart,the product of our enlightenment, the highestblooming of our reason, the dignity of our nature.For what, then, shall it further be good or serveas a means? What can it be a purpose toward?Thus the order of Freemasons is to be upheld andcultivated for the sake of Freemasonry. It is notgood toward something, it is good toward and foritself; not a means toward any other purpose.What still beyond this shall it have in view? Thetrue Mason must know what it does and can do,what it has brought forth in him and will bringforth in others—and that is Freemasonry.

Directly, on the whole, it would be idle to inquireabout a purpose of Freemasonry, to answer thisquestion, and (as we have done) to propose sucha purpose. It would be for the sake of oneself,whereas it ought to exist immediately and wouldbe a constituent part of the absolute.

There is certain sense in which this propositioncan well be conceived in which it is true andimportant. But it seems not definitely enoughexpressed. One often speaks (whether withphilosophical precision I will not say at this time)of a widest and wide, of a narrow and narrowestsense of words and propositions in philosophy.So one may say, if I call Masonry an end in itself,I mean Masonry in the narrowest meaning. Butthis is to me precisely that general, pure humantraining which has been set forth as the end ofMasonry. According to this, the purpose is—itself.

The thing is right. But the words are somewhatunintelligible. Man is an end in himself and the





purely human training is an immediately requiredmethod whereby men are directly a constituentpart of what is an end in itself or of the absolute.But should one acknowledge Masonry and ageneral human training for equivalentexpressions? The Masonic frame of mind(according as the term was at the beginningprecisely explained) might be called an end initself. But does Masonry or the order ofFreemasons mean as much as the Masonic frameof mind? Masonry is not a training or a frame ofmind but a society or union. I cannot say: BrotherNN has done this laudable act according to hisFreemasonry —it is rather a proof of his goodMasonic frame of mind. Or: Mr. NN hasFreemasonry in himself, without having beentaken into the order, although he can have thetrue Masonic frame of mind—the frame of mindof a general human training. But when the wordMasonry denotes an organization, it cannot be anend in itself but only a means, since anorganization for a given purpose is only a meansand cannot exist directly but only under thecondition of a certain state of the world as it is atthe moment.

For the special society is founded only because thepurpose which it sets before itself cannot be attainedin the greater society as it is at the time. It can bethought of in the sphere of reason very differently;at least without the qualification pointed out abovein the training of the individual. Much more it shouldalways go forward to the better, and this betterconsists particularly in the equality and harmony ofthe development of all individuals. If it does this, inthe measure in which it goes forward in doing it,the special society is less necessary; and as it hasreached its goal is superfluous and out of place. Canwe say of a thing so relative that it is a constituentpart of the absolute?

One could say that it is a purpose of mankind asa whole to form a single great organization suchas today the Masonic organization should be.7

But of itself the very existence of Masonry showsthat what we have called an end in itself has notyet been attained.

The example which is made use of for thatproposition will put the contrary in clearer light.It is said: One cannot inquire about a purpose ofreligion (or, more precisely, of devoutness, of thereligious frame of mind) but rather about apurpose of the church. Quite right. But theconception of Masonry does not correspond to theconception of devoutness; much more instead tothe conception of pure human development. Tothat of the church there corresponds directly theconception of Masonry or (what is the same thing)of the order of Freemasons. Masonry means,therefore (to put the matter in short) not the frameof mind but the organization; but this, in order tobring about the frame of mind, is conditioned bysomething incidental which just as well could not

be and in fact ought not to be. Masonry is notdirectly an end in itself—as little such as is thechurch in the proper sense before mentioned, andas to both one may inquire, with all philosophicaljustification as to their purpose and may proposeit clearly and definitely.

I hope to have done this as to Masonry. But wehave not yet come to the end. We have not onlystill to investigate what and how Masonry worksboth upon its members and upon the world, butalso to explain in detail the fundamentalprinciples above set forth and apply them furtherin order that they may become more apt andadequate to judgment of the present condition ofMasonry and of the Masonic achievement.

The Sixth LetterOur first question will be this: What does theorder bring about in the Mason? The second: Whatdoes it bring about in the world? I will expressmyself briefly and be content with fruitful hints.If the organization is not wholly fruitless, withoutdoubt one who belongs to it, let him be in anydegree of culture that he will, must come nearerto ripeness than the same individual outside ofit. This is true of the alert man with respect toevery new relation into which he enters.

In this connection I take ripeness and generalhuman development to be synonymous; andrightly so. One-sided development is alwaysunripe. Also if on one side there is over-ripeness,because of this there is sure to be on other sidesbitter, sour unripeness.

The principal sign of ripeness is strength softenedby graciousness. Violent anger and extendedattacks and assaults are the first and indeednecessary wrenchings and stirrings of developingstrength. But they are no longer whendevelopment is complete and the beautifulspiritual form is in itself rounded off. Or, if I maysay it in the words of art of the school: As ripenessensues, gracious poetry is joined to clearness ofhead and righteousness of the heart and beautycomes into union with wisdom and strength.

This, as I think, is the picture of the ripe,developed man: His mind is free from prejudicesof every sort. He is master in the realm of ideasand looks out over the region of human truth aswidely as possible. But truth is for him only one—a single indivisible whole, and he puts no side ofit before another. To him, development of thespirit is only a part of the whole development,and it does not come into his mind to have entirelycompleted it, even so little as it comes into hismind to wish to be deprived of it. He sees verywell and does not hesitate to acknowledge howmuch others in this respect behind him arebackward, but he is not overzealous about thissince he knows also how much here depends uponluck. He obtrudes his light, and much less the full

shine of his light, upon no one, while yet he isever ready to give to anyone who asks it so muchas he can carry, and to give it to him in such dressas is most agreeable to him, and does not mind ifno one asks enlightenment of him. He is righteousthroughout, scrupulous, strict against himselfwithin him self, without externally making the leastfuss about his virtue and obtruding it upon othersthrough assertion of his integrity through greatconspicuous sacrifices, or affectation of highseriousness. His virtue is as natural and I mightsay modest as his wisdom; the ruling feeling as tothe weaknesses of his fellow men is good-heartedpity; in no wise angry indignation. He lives in faithin a better world already here below, and this faithin his eyes gives value, meaning and beauty to hislife in this world; but he does not press this faithupon others. Instead, he carries it within himselfas a private treasure.

This is the picture of the perfected man; this isthe ideal of the Mason. He will not ask nor boasta higher perfection than mankind everywhere canattain. His perfection can be no other than ahuman and the human perfection. Each man mustbe busied continually in approximation to thisgoal. If the order has any efficacy, every membermust visibly and consciously occupy himself withthis approximation. He must keep this picturebefore his mind as an ideal set up and laid nextto his heart. It must be, as it were, the nature inwhich he lives and breathes.

It is very likely that not all, yes perhaps no one, ofthose who call themselves Masons will reach thisperfection. But who has ever measured thegoodness of an ideal or only an institution by whatindividuals actually attain? It depends on what theycan attain under the given circumstances; on whatthe institution through all given means wills andpoints out that its members should attain.

Moreover, I do not say that Masons are necessarilybetter than other men, nor that one cannot reachthe same perfection outside of the order. It is quitepossible that a man who had never been takeninto the society of Freemasons could resemblethe picture set forth above, and there actuallycomes to mind at this moment the picture of aman in whom I find it eminently realized; and heat most knows the order only by name. But thesame man, if he had become in the order andthrough it what he has become by himself in thegreater human society, would be more capable ofmaking others the same as he is, and his wholeculture would be more social, morecommunicable, and directly, also, essentiallymodified in its inner self. What comes into beingin society has in practice more life and strengththan what is produced in retirement.

These are the hints that I wished to give you as tothe working of the Society of Freemasons uponits members. Either it must effect a happyapproximation to the ideal set forth above, or





nothing at all. More than that cannot be achieved.What is less can be achieved everywhere. It is amatter of course that the members must besusceptible to their salutary influence, also thatthe institutions must be of such a nature that themost and the least susceptible nevertheless in hisjust relation profits in it and goes forward.

And now the next question will be whether thisorganization has effect upon the world.

The SeventhLetter

Can, indeed, this question be put forth seriouslyas a doubtful one? Can one still ask whether theorder has effect upon the world, upon the greathuman society? Does not the man so trained inthe sanctuary of the order remain as before inthe world and keep his place therein? Does henot remain, as before, husband, father of afamily, companion, member of the profession towhich he belongs in the world? Can his trainingacquired in the order, which has now becomethoroughly his own, which constitutes anessential part of his personality, which he cannottake off at will when he leaves the lodge, fail tobe visible in all these relationships? And so doesnot the order through its members work mostbeneficially upon the world?

I remind you of one matter which you in yourown thinking will support: No one occupies hisplace in the greater society more suitably thanhe who can look out beyond his place; who looksthrough and over not only his place but the fineboundary lines which it transcends or trenchesupon in the greater society, so that he is thegreater and clearer scholar who looks out overnot only his own branch of learning but alsothose adjoining it and even the whole field ofknowledge. Only one who stands in his place inthis way conducts himself for the worldintelligently and consciously. The other is a blindmachine which, perhaps, works rightly in itsplace, but the operation of which is first directedto its true aim through the whole. The formerknows how at the right time now to relax therequirements and rules of his vocation, now tohold strictly to them, now to sharpen them. Thelatter does not understand this, but he goes likea machine today and tomorrow his fixedaccustomed way. But it is Masonry which raisesall men above their vocation. In that it trainsmen, it directly trains the most serviceablemembers of the greater society—the amiable andpopular, the learned and wise, not only theskilful but also the men of affairs possessed ofjudgment, humane warriors, good heads ofhouseholds, good bringers-up of children.Whatever human relation one may think of,Masonry has the most advantageous influence

upon it.

Moreover, human society must be in a processof continual progress. All its relations mustcontinually become purer and perfectthemselves. In particular, a well ruled stateprogresses in legislation, in administration, ineducational institutions, and has even an earopen for proposals and improvements. Such astate, occupied with progress toward perfection,can undertake nothing with agents who havenever looked out beyond the narrow sphere oftheir special calling and can only go on in theold rut. They are useless when an improvementgoes forward. They have no desire to be useful,and so resist improvement, and either turn alltheir influence to hinder them or prepare forthem a bad result, even with good intentions offurthering them. Where the majority of theagents of a state is so constituted, it will everremain out of date. Indeed, already a wellgrounded study of the sciences rises above thisnarrow circle of routine and tradition.

Science shows the interdependence of all humanrelations and indicates the point from whichfurther progress must be made. But does scienceactually have this influence upon the world? Ifthe majority of men were wont to studyfundamentally when they study, if they were notin the habit of thoroughly forgetting a few yearslater what perchance they bring away from theuniversity, if it were not for all this, what helpis mere knowledge without practice? Here,where nothing further can help, Masonry comesin as an institution of practice for many-sidedness, and fills a gap which the great civilsociety must needs leave.

I remind you here in passing of the state in whichwe both live and to which one would not withoutthe highest injustice deny the fame of strivingfor perfection. I will not decide whether thistendency also goes along with the Masonrywhich has flourished in that state for a long timeor whether and how it has been supported byMasonry; but I can definitely pronounce that forthe future this tendency must find a good supportin the order.

Consider also the following observation. In aremarkable writing in which men’s callings aredivided into two classes, and those are put inthe first class which concern themselves withtraining of the minds and hearts of others as wellas with governing them, and in the second, thosewhich care for the needs of living on earth—inthis writing it is pointed out that the chief groundof the imperfection of many human relations liesin the difficulty of exchange of effect and ofreciprocal influence of these two classes uponeach other, and that it cannot becomefundamentally better until this reciprocalinfluence is thoroughly restored. Now if withme you hold that want of cohesion and influenceto be an evil, you will hold the order ofFreemasons to be the best antidote and take it

to be the most suitable instrument of thorough-going improvement. It unites in itself at leastboth ends of these two classes and brings bothnearer to each other without regard to thebusiness of their professions and callings. Onthis account it is urgently necessary that in alodge (as indeed usually happens) there be notonly the learned but also the unlearned and thatthe learned sit side by side with them, and notof the others be jealous because he is this andanother that. A member of the second class ofcallings who learns here to lay aside his mistrustor reserve or fear or hate or contempt, at leastwith respect to the members of the first classwho are his brothers in the order; a member ofthe first class who learns to put away his disdainat least as to the members of the second classwho are his brothers, will indeed take this frameof mind with him out of the lodge into the world,extend his better opinion of these classes alsoto other members of them who are not membersof the order, and impart this better opinion toother uninitiated members of his class.

An upright citizen who had perchance learnedthat a scholar is not necessarily a pedant, willno longer so unqualifiedly take this for grantedoutside of the order and will impart this to otherupright citizens who are not brothers. A scholarwho perhaps has learned in the order that anuntaught official or citizen is not at the sametime an ignorant and unintelligent man, withwhom one cannot talk reason and from whomhe can learn nothing, will also outside of theorder treat such men with esteem and spreadabout his discovery in speaking and writing. Andso the Masonic order may be one of the mostimportant institutions for the world, whichwithout it is essentially defective.

Finally, although I can only point this out in aswift sketch, the order can work for the state,for the church, and for the learned public, andcan be useful to all societies in order graduallyto prepare and lead up to improvements wherebyit is possible to foresee resistance to one-sidedness.

You now have data enough as to the adaptabilityto its purpose, the utili ty, yes and theindispensableness of the order of Freemasonsin the great human and civil society. What itcan achieve is clear to you from natural and justdeductions from the statement of its purpose.Its effectiveness must follow if it has the purposethat its members seek in this organization toacquire a general purely human training incontrast to a special vocational training. But itmust so surely have this reasonable andirreproachable purpose that earnest, wise, andvirtuous men will enduringly occupy themselveswith it.





The Lost Keys of FreemasonryManly Palmer HallMetaphysical/Masonic classic from Manly P. Hall.This is an insightful study of the deeper and esotericaspects of Freemasonry. Wonderful work for Masonor non-Mason. Searchable-text PDF format. ISBN:1-887560-54-8

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The Secret Teachings of All AgesManly Palmer HallSimply put, this is the most fascinating andcomplete occult book ever published. It representsa lifetime of research into the mythology,symbolism, and magical practices of countlesscultures. From the secrets of Isis to the teachingsof mystic Christianity, nearly every occult dogmaimaginable is represented here. On CD in PDFsearchable text format. Bookmarked by chaptersfor ease of use. Note: This e-book edition doesnot contain the color plates as in the original printversion of this work. ISBN: 1-887560-09-2

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Manual of the LodgeAlbert MackeyMonitorial Instructions in the Degrees of EnteredApprentice, Fellow Craft, and Master Masonarranged in accordance with the American Systemof Lectures: To which are added the Ceremoniesof the Order Past Master, Relating to Installations,Dedications, Consecrations, Laying of Corner-Stones, etc.1870 Edition. Bookmarked bychapters for ease of use. ISBN: 1-887560-13-0

Rosicrucian ManifestosThe Rosicrucian Manifestos are documents issuedin the sixteenth century that announce theRosicrucian movement to the world. IncludesFama Fraternitatis, Confessio Fraternitatis,Chymical Wedding, Secret Symbols of theRosicrucians, Laws of the Fraternity of the RosyCross and more. PDF Searchable Text Format.Bookmarked by chapters for ease of use.ISBN: 1-887560-38-6

Aesop’s FablesTranslated by Rev. George Fyler TownsendThroughout history fables have been a popularmethod of giving instruction. Fables contain a

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Masonic ManualRobert MacoyThe Masonic Manual, a companion for theinitiated; containing the rituals of Freemasonry,embraced in the degrees of the lodge, chapter andencampment embellished with upwards of threehundred engravings. ISBN: 1-887560-49-1

Symbolism of FreemasonryAlbert MackeyContents: An Introduction to Symbolism; Originand Progress of Freemasonry; Noachidae;Primitive Freemasonry; Spurious Freemasonry;Ancient Mysteries; Dionysiac Artificers; Unionof Speculative and Operative Freemasonry at theTemple of Solomon; and much more. 1869 Edition

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The EighthLetter

We will now develop our discussion to the endthat the fundamental principles hereinbefore setforth may in their application be sufficient forforming a judgment on Masonic subjects, andhence for judging of the present condition ofMasonry in general, for judging of Masonic ritual,laws, and regulations, especially of the Masoniccontributions of individual lodges and brothers,and finally even, in case a reformation should befound needful, where and how it should beproperly reformed. But in order that thosefundamental principles appear actually sufficientthereto, they must now be formulated separatelyin detail and more broadly applied. For thispurpose we must turn back once more to the firstfundamental principles and agree upon them.

First Fundamental Principle. The end-purpose ofhuman existence is not at all in this present world.This first life is only preparation and germ of ahigher existence, the certainty of which we feelwithin, notwithstanding we can think nothing asto its condition or kind or manner.

Second Fundamental Principle. The purposeswhich are laid down for the present life, as well asthis present life itself, obtain for us only throughworth and meaning, in that the former arecommended us and only in the latter can thesepurposes be carried out. All our possible behavioronly presents itself and can only present itself tous as a furthering of that highest purpose of thepresent life. There is no direct work and preparationfor eternity, but one prepares himself for it andapprehends it here below only through this, thatone with the most honest will has furthered thecommanded purposes of the present life.

We have to do, therefore, above all andimmediately with the present life. The proposedpurpose of that life is the only apprehensible one.It must be furthered by the good and wise manwith clear consciousness. We will lead it back tothree principal points, and thus more definitelydescribe it and set it off.

First: The whole of humanity ought to make asingle purely moral and devout community. Thisis the purpose of the church; of course, the churchin the idea which as visible church is still ever inexistence. Toward this purpose all developmentof the spirit is related as means.

Second: All humanity ought to constitute a singlethoroughly just state. The relation of individualmen to one another in states, the relation of thesestates to one another on earth, ought to bethoroughly ordered by the eternal rules of right

prescribed by reason. This is the purpose of alllawmaking in the individual states and of allcovenants and treaties of peoples with each other.A good part of the sciences is related to this ifone does not look only at the training of the spiritto be maintained thereby (as this happened abovein another connection) instead of at its actualcontent as the means to ends.

Third, finally: The rational existence shouldthoroughly prevail over irrational nature and thedead mechanism be subjected to the command of awill. Any purpose which any rational being, ledthrough its nature, can propose to itself, ought to becapable of being carried out outside of it in lifelessnature, and nature should be fitted to the rationalwill. Mechanical art and a good part of the sciences,according to their content, are means thereto.

Let us now apply these principal ideas moreclosely to our purpose.

The furthering of these ends, or better of this onecommon end of humanity, is something now inthe greater human society divided among manysingle vocations, so that the members of thesevocational groups develop themselves almostexclusively, and at least particularly, only for theircalling and later through their calling. You seethat it is a natural result of this arrangement thatthe members of the occupational group only obtaina part of human development, in no wise thewhole; and more or less one-sidedness of the spiritand of culture is the lot of the individual. Becauseof this necessary arrangement and under thesecircumstances, it is difficult to find anywhere awhole real man. One must construct such a manout of many persons of different and opposedcallings. One could scarcely find him in the greatfield of general human society and its customaryinstitutions of training.

Now it is a matter of consequence to bring thisone-sided vocational culture to one place and torecast it to one which is general and purely human,as it were (if I may keep to the picture set forthabove), to make actual the proposed constructionof a whole, real man out of a number of persons,and not merely in thought but so that in thisrecasting each individual for himself, so far aspossible, should be in fact this real whole man.This problem is nowhere solved in the great society.

This, I have shown you, is the one possible andpermissible purpose of a smaller society, madeup from all callings and all developed peoples,arisen by setting off from the greater society,which now calls itself Freemasonry. From thiswe derive further the following and quite evidentconclusion that every subject of human culturewhich can be attained in society, yet in anothermanner than in the greater society, is likewise asubject of Masonic culture, and that it is goodand needful that the Mason make his own thegreatest part of the training, let it be throughsciences, through art, or through business andexperience. Only, everything one-sided, that is,

what in the greater society, through the settingoff of a branch of culture from the whole mass ofculture, falls upon this single branch and dependsupon it, and furthermore all that is fortuitous,which has been established through thecircumstances of the time and the place, in someone department of this culture —that in Masonryall this be separated there from and after therecasting remain behind as caput mortuum.

So, in order to adduce but one example, religioustraining is no doubt a part of Masonic education;but the religion of the Mason is something whollyother than that of any existing church or indeedany particular sect, or even of the superficiallyphilosophizing and dishonestly expounding deistsand interpreters of the Bible.8

The Ninth LetterBefore we now take a step further, I must discussfirst an important truth and refute a commonopinion, the presence of which in your soul wouldpowerfully disturb the impression of what I stillhave to say to you. If this truth has not as yetbeen heard by you, and fitted in the series of whathas heretofore been set forth, attend to thefollowing proposition and you will find howprecisely it prepares for and introduces this truth.

I put my proposition in clear form: all training insociety which depends upon will proceeds fromtraining of the understanding. It is, indeed (thus Ianticipate the possible objection) by far notenough to know the truth. One must have alsothe strong will to obey it, and this resolution ofthe will in no wise proceeds from mereknowledge, and no one can demonstrate it eitherto himself or others from first principles. It issomething different, independent of mere insight;and there is no logical consecutiveness in theproposition: he must understand this, thereforehe must will it.

But even the best will, if it were possible wherethere is great darkening of the understanding,would be of no use and no value if one could notapprehend what he wishes to will with his goodwill. Those, therefore, who cry out to theunwelcome learner who endures instruction underthem: “Have nothing to do with knowledge; thatmay do for the schools; do, do, that is the thing”—they without doubt, to speak most gently of them,know nothing of what they speak.

To do is, no doubt, the thing; it is theconsummation of the thing. But how will you dowithout long investigation of what it is you are todo? Will you act blindly like the animal? That istruly not the thing. One who would speak in thisway and knew of himself how to apprehendeverything about doing, he seems to me like ablind man who would retort to the physician whoengages to restore his sight: “What help to me is





mere seeing; the mere glimpse, which is all youcan give me? My knowledge will not be enrichedthereby. The eyes fasten upon an object, they letthemselves rest upon it, contemplate it and surveyit—that is the matter of consequence, that is thething.” Stupid—of course that is the thing. Wouldyou cast your recovered glimpse dumb and dullupon objects, like a bull, and leave the formsflowing into one another before him to staggerpast? Thus, of course, you would glimpse nothingwith your glimpse. Only await this fixing andadjusting and abiding of your sight in vain fromany physician or any eye salve. This you musttake from yourself, from your own power. Butyou can direct and adjust no glimpse unless youfirst have a glimpse; and this I will give you aspreliminary. The right use of it will be your affair.

You see that to will is not to will because ofknowledge, but to will the known because ofthe willed.

What shall one say, therefore, to those who, whenthey observe that everyone everywhere works forclear knowledge, call out to him, “But man is notsimply and only understanding.” Certainly he isnot that alone. Also I say will is for itself. But noone can immediately produce effects upon the willof another nor, as it were, will into it, or put inmotion or move it. This comes ever from inwardout; never from outward in.

I, for my person, know only two kinds of influenceupon men. The first and by far the most importantis through instruction. But here knowing does notmake doing. To this end everyone must determineof himself. In order to bring him thereto, thereremains nothing except the good example bywhich one points out to him partly thepracticability of the precept, partly the lovelinessof its achievement.

I, for my person, I repeat, know only these twosorts. Yet I remember you know still a third forwhich you stand up: You will also to make menbetter through emotion and shock, through whatyou call the heart and through fantasy; a meaningwhich all public speakers are attached to. Believeme, Constant, so certain it is only enduringimprovement of the will deserves to be calledimprovement, so certainly nothing is to beaccomplished by the proposed method—indeed,the frequent use of it is absolutely harmful.Through this that one is moved and sheds a floodof tears or is intoxicated with elevated thoughts,he can indeed be brought to a transient good deedor restrained from a bad deed. But when themental smoke is past he is again the man he wasbefore, and we have won nothing by the externalact, upon which we must never rely if we seekthe true purpose. It can very easily happen thatone who often and readily sheds tears takes itthat because of that he is a good man, and neglectsthe self-examination and self-cultivation which

alone could have saved him.

Just as, therefore, in this institution of trainingthe instruction is the most real, so is it also inMasonry. In the following letters I shall proceedupon those presuppositions to relate the objectsof Masonic training above set forth to instructionand to answer the question: If the matter standsas I have said above, what in consequence is theobject of Masonic instruction and how andthrough what, according to its essential character,is that instruction Masonic?

The Tenth LetterI gave you as the common purpose of mankindthat it should achieve a single purely moralchurch, a thoroughly just state, and subjectirrational nature to the command of a will. I stopnow at the first part of this purpose, the trainingtoward pure morality and devoutness, and beginwith an assertion wholly discrepant from the oneusually made, that is, that there is no Masoniceducation and training toward morality. Evenmore, there is in general no such education, andthere can be none; and it is without doubt one ofthe most pernicious tendencies of our time thatmen should still believe this, since one indicatesopenly thereby that he does not know truemorality and confuses it with gentility, conformityto law, and the like, for which, to be sure, thereis an education.

Morality (one speaks often of pure morality whenhe means simply morality, since there is noimpure morality and what is impure is thereforenot moral) —morality, therefore, is that one dohis well understood duty, with absolute innerfreedom, without any external incentive, simplybecause it is his duty. This resolution is one thata man can only choose for himself. It cannot betaught or demonstrated, much less entreated orworked up through emotion or coerced.

This morality residing within is everywhere butone, the just now proposed good will, somethingpositive which is capable of no increase ordiminution, of no change and no alterationthrough circumstances. There cannot, therefore,be any special Masonic morality, as sometimessupposed. I meant the single true morality whenI wrote in a former letter that there were objectswhich, since they were everywhere no object ofsocial development, could also not be object ofMasonic development; about which everyonecould go into judgment only with himself andGod, but in no wise with any other and in respectof which even Masonry would be a profanation.There are undoubtedly special duties whichMasonry enjoins upon its members, which theywould not have if not members of this society.Whether one observes these duties out of purelove as a duty or on other grounds, that issomething which a man determines for himselfand not as a Mason.

Even if, therefore, there is no special Masonicmorality, is there yet a special Masonic religion,or —in order to obviate all misunderstanding—aspecially Masonic view of religion and on thataccount a Masonic training toward religion? Weare speaking here of moral not of ecclesiasticalorganized religion, with which Masonryeverywhere has nothing to do. We will considerthis more narrowly.

In accordance with the definition we have given,Masonry has to separate from every single branchof human culture the incidental which the conditionsof time and place have attached to them andmoreover to separate what is one-sided orexaggerated, arising necessarily from the cutting offof this branch from the whole stem of culture, andmust put back in the whole all that is human in itspurity and in its coherence. This is its character,which it must verify also in the given case.

Now religious training in the greater society hasundoubtedly taken on a mass of the incidental andone-sided, and if it is needful that the influences ofthis manner of training be put an end to, it must bedone in the Masonic manner. The religious opinionsof peoples, as could not be otherwise, have annexedto their customs and usages, to their views of life,to their sciences and art; and in these respects oneis as right as another.

No doubt the Godhead has appeared to all of themand has mightily manifested itself among them; tothe Jews in their wonderful deliverance fromservitude to Egypt, to the Romans in the foundingof their eternal capitol, to the Arabs as a man out oftheir ranks united the scattered nomadic tribes andbade a huge empire arise almost out of nothing.Only if they quarrel with one another, if the onecontradicts the history of another and seeks to forceits own upon his as the only truth, then they beginto be wrong.

Every man who is born in society is necessarilyborn in some part of it, under some nation, andkeeps along with the rest of the products of thisnation, its external national form of the religious.The theologians of all nations have exertedthemselves from the beginning to raise the spiritof their profession to the place of the generalhuman spirit; and they have succeeded only toowell. The perfectly developed man must utterlylay aside this wholly incidental form, which isnot pure human but is a sketch of a man. He whohas religion should not be a Jew, or anuncircumcised associate of Jews, or a Roman oran Arab, but he should be absolutely a man.

Religious opinion in the greater society, throughcutting itself off from the rest of human cultureand surrendering to a special organization, thevisible church, must keep an obvious one-sidedness. To the man who has nothing to do andwill do nothing more than lead others todevoutness, the religion which he will bring to





others is no doubt a purpose and the only purposeof his life. He knows it for this and in that respectis entirely right. Without the pure human frameof mind, he will easily be tempted to wish to makeall about him to his like, and to make for allreligion—which here does not mean the onewhich they bring to others but much more theone which they ought to have—to make thisreligion also the single purpose and business oflife. From that he will easily be tempted to exhortthose entrusted to him to confine themselves, inorder to become truly pious, to seeking the eternaloutside of freedom. Some will believe him andobey him and— it is the mildest that I can sayit—will have a very one-sided devoutness.

Such is not the true Mason. To him, this strivingfor a devoutness existing for itself appears whollylike the striving of a man who aspires to swimand to swim elegantly without going into thewater. He knows of no aspiring to the eternalbeyond the conscientious furtherance of thetemporal out of pure love of duty; it does not befallhim to aim at the heavenly jewel which he cannotperceive. He aims only at the earthly goal whichis set up for him, in the firm trust that the heavenlyis latent behind it and that it will come to himwithout his doing more if only he has attainedhis earthly goal.

To him, devoutness is nothing isolated andexisting for itself, so that a man can be very strongin piety but in other respects weak and backwardand a bad man. He is not religious, but he thinksand acts religious; to him religion is not an object,but only the ether in which all objects appear. Heputs his whole strength to every task which comesto him at the moment, and the observer mightthink that he had nothing to do but attain thispurpose and that this filled out his wholeexistence and all his motivation. But in fact hehas nothing to do with the mere existence, and ithas not the least value for him in and of itselfand because of itself. Only he strives for theeternal and to him invisible and incomprehensiblewhich is latent behind this earthly husk, and onlyon account of this that is latent has what theobserver sees got any meaning for him. His frameof mind is ever in eternity, his powers are everwith you. But it does not occur to him only to livein heaven in proud fashion with his mind and toleave his powers at rest on earth; since there isno mind without effective power to yieldsomething to think out.

The EleventhLetter

The special calling to which the religious bringingup of the greater society is entrusted, which seesnothing which goes beyond the ministry of its

office, and cannot see it, since in fact if it pursuedthe true aim that must remain invisible to it, caneasily be tempted to endeavor toward usefulnessand to make its ministry a visible, tangibleactivity, its business a social and politicalinfluence. One who thinks of the members of thisprofession in this way will have recourse to theusual means of bringing men to morality throughfear of punishment hereafter and hope of eternalreward, and call this religion. Poor fellow! Heknows not that what he brings about through fearand cupidity of reward is absolutely not moralitybut only external respectability and conformityto law and that he, so far as is in his power,contributes to deaden forever, both for moralityand for religion, those upon whom he works.

It is not so with the Mason. He knows that in thegreater society where there is no ethical customat least external conformity to law must becoerced. He knows that it is a false and, morethan this, a highly dangerous pretense to take thisconformity to law as preparation for morals; thatit only exists and must be supported with allstrength in order that human society may endure.But he will never give himself to this purposesince he knows also that the state has providedprisons and houses of correction and other wellknown institutions to that end, and he is far fromwishing that religion, the holiest thing mankindhas, should be degraded to the position of aninefficient policeman.

What concerns the Mason himself and theMasonic society is so understood that one whoneeds desire for reward and fear of punishmentin order to remain an honorable man does notbelong in the society since he, widely removedfrom standing in need of attempt to improve hisreceived training for the society, has himselfhardly that training; so that such a person is to beleft out of account in Masonic arrangements.

The Mason must do good and shun vice out of afeeling of duty or at very least a feeling of honoreven if he also (although this is not possible)knows or believes not the least of God or religion;and this not as Mason but as man who, as weconceive it, is only just capable of Masonry.Therefore, the Mason cannot wish to consider oruse religion as a stimulus to virtue; even if onlyon the one ground already adduced above, sincereligion cannot be this inasmuch as all that isbased upon an external motive ceases to be virtue.

Religion could be used to calm the mind and heart;toward calm at seeing the apparent contradictionbetween the law of duty and the course of theworld, but is not used for this by the perfectMason since he does not need to be calmed inany such way.

To be sure, everyone is first led to religion throughperceiving that contradiction. That last earthlypurpose of humanity is set up for me through mymost inner self. Acts, works, sacrifices areimposed upon me for this purpose. I cannot in

my heart refuse obedience to this voice. But if Iam attentive to the march of events and destinyof the world, all my labor for this purpose seemslost; indeed, sometimes it seems a hindrance tothe purpose. Everything seems as well or illdirected exactly as it goes, wholly without regardto my work, through an invisible and blind power.It is this consideration, Constant, which soonforces itself upon the conscientious coldlyobserving man—it is this which leads a man toreligion, and sets up for him, instead of the earthlypurpose, as to which he doubts, although he doesnot give up, an invisible and eternal purpose.

Therefore, perhaps, it is necessity which leadshim to religion, but the completely developedman, in which category I will now for once thinkof the Mason, does not remain standing on thisstep. Now he has religion; it has become anessential part of himself. He needs it no morejust because he has it. The law of duty and thecourse of the world contradict each other no morebecause he now knows a higher world of whichthis one is only a practicing appearance. He isnow forever freed from the doubt which drovehim to belief. Through this now even his religionpreserves the character which I attributed to itabove, so that it is to him no more an object ofhis activity but instead, if I may so express it,limb and instrument of all his activity. But is notto him something which he makes for himself,which he remembers and calls to notice, butsomething through which he makes himselfunconsciously wholly another. It is the eye of hislife, which he, when he resigns himself, if it isnot reflected back to him by the mirror of artificialreflection, does not see but by which he seeseverything else which he sees.

And now I believe I have exhausted what from aMasonic point of view has to do with the firstpart of the collective purpose of humanity. I havebeen at the greatest length about it because itserves to explain what follows and because Iwished to give you for this most important part adetailed example of Masonic teaching anddoctrine.

The TwelvthLetter

The second chief point in the collective purposeof humanity, according to my eighth letter, has todo with bringing about a thoroughly justorganization among men, of the citizens in thestate and of the states with one another, wherebyall mankind finally constitute a single state,ordered and ruled by eternal rules of right derivedfrom reason. We come now only to this, to setforth the state of mind and mode of thought ofthe Mason through which he cooperates to bringabout this chief purpose of humanity. I can do





this briefly and definitely as follows:

As one in his eyes relates the earthly purpose tothe eternal, even so the present, proximatepurpose of the state in which he lives is relatedto the earthly purposes of collective mankind. Aseverything earthly only means to him the eternal,and only through the eternal, for the husk of whichhe recognizes the earthly, does the earthly havevalue for him, so all laws and ordinances of hisstate and all occurrences of his time mean forhim only the whole human race and bringthemselves into relation for him only to the wholehuman race and have only worth and meaningfor him in this respect.

Only I do not believe that the perfectly trainedman will thereby be withdrawn from his stateand be given over to a cold, inertcosmopolitanism. He will, on the contrary,become through this disposition the most perfectand useful citizen. Just as in respect of religion,notwithstanding his mind is wholly with theeternal, he dedicates his whole strength to thestate, to his city, to the office to which he belongs,to the particular little spot of earth where he lives,notwithstanding his mind goes upon the whole.In his frame of mind love of fatherland and senseof world citizenship are most intimately united,and, indeed, stand both in a definite relation. Loveof fatherland is his act, sense of world-citizenshipis his thought; the first is the phenomenon, thesecond is the inner spirit of this phenomenon,the invisible in the visible.

Then even so, Constant, as a religion which wouldexist for itself is vain and perverted andridiculous, so a cosmopolitanism which wouldexist for itself and exclude patriotism is pervertedand vain and foolish. “The individual is nothing,”says the cosmopolitan, “I think and care and liveonly for the whole; may it be better for the whole,may order and peace spread abroad over it.”Good! But tell me, how you expect to get at thiswhole with the salutary state of mind which youassert you entertain with respect to it? Whetheryou will to do well toward it in general and as itwere in the lump? Is then the whole somethingdifferent from the single parts united in thought?Can it in any way be better in the whole if it doesnot begin to be better in any single part? But ifonly you seek first to make yourself better andthen to make your two neighbors on the right andleft better, I think the whole will now undoubtedlybe better, since it has one or two or threeindividuals who have certainly become better.

The Mason recognizes this, and on that accountmanifests his cosmopolitanism through thestrongest activity for the very place where hestands. So also as defectively as the civil lawsunder which he lives may be drawn up, and asdeeply as he may see their deficiency, he obeysthem as if they were expressions of pure reason

itself, since he knows that defective laws andconstitutions are better than none at all; thatdefective laws are the precursors of better ones,and that no one of them can be altered orabrogated without the intent of all; that no onecan abrogate them merely by simple tacitdisobedience. Only if the charges which the stategives him are directly and incontrovertiblecontrary to right it goes without saying that hedoes not undertake to carry them out and on thisaccount will go to destruction—and this not onlyas a Mason but also as a mere upright man. Exceptfor this one case, he performs with a care andapplying of his strength as if he had nothing elseto do, the things which have to do with the tasksand purposes of the state, so far as that after himthey may be much better, and according to hisinsight those tasks and purposes ought to beachieved. Then he has for the time nothing toregulate but only to obey; and he knows that thegoing on of the whole is reckoned upon hisobedience. Only in this is he different from thosewho obey out of fear or for profit or from custom,that he does it all entirely for the whole worldand for the sake of the whole world.

As to what belongs to the third part of thecollective purpose of humanity, the purpose thatnon-rational nature be subjected completely tothe rational will, and that rational being rule overdead mechanism, it is essentially part of theMason’s mode of thought that he know this, thathe recognizes therein the purpose of humanity,and that on this account he respect and esteemfrom this point of view every human occupation,however insignificant it may be. Acquaintancewith this purpose and respect for it, serves himto the end that he value men not according to thegreater or smaller place which they chance tooccupy but according to the fidelity with whichthey exercise its duties. From this point of viewthe lowliest mechanical labor is on an equalitywith the highest mental employment, since theformer as well as the latter advances the dominionof reason and extends its conquered realm. Apeasant or a day laborer who performs his workwith real fidelity and attention, on account of hisduty and for the sake of the whole, and brings itto successful conclusion, has his station in theeyes of reason above the ineffective scholar andthe useless philosopher. One who masters thispoint of view will not only value justly the worldand its relations but also will brighten his ownvalue through the elevated standpoint which hehas attained.

To bring about, to fortify, to animate this mode ofthought, toward this, my friend, all instructionwhich I call Masonic must proceed. You will nowbe able to estimate how this instruction must begiven and taken as well as how without thisinstruction nothing can be gained.

The ThirteenthLetter

Let us in a few words look back over the wholepath which we have traveled over.

Freemasonry, according to our investigation, isan institution which has to efface the one-sidedness of the training which a man receivesin the greater society and to elevate that merehalf training into one general and purely human.We asked, what are the parts and objects of humancultivation which are to be received in thissociety? And we answered: Training towardreligion, as citizen of an invisible world, for thestate, as citizen of a part of the visible world, andfinally for readiness and skill as a reasonablebeing to rule over irrational nature. Again, weasked, what are the means employed by thesociety to bring this cultivation to its members?

And we answered: Instruction and example. Andnow first the question to be answered was: Howcan it be actually that Masonic instruction andMasonic example further the ultimate purpose?

We answered: In religion, separation of everythingincidental which the conditions of time and placehave brought into the religious opinion of thesociety, whereby religion is put forward one-sidedly as either something single, separate fromall our acts, or as means for some materialpurpose. In respect to the training for law andright: The most intimate union of the sense ofworld citizenship with the sense of state-citizenship, in which the Mason obeys the lawsof his land and the regulations of its rulingauthorities with the most punctilious precision,but not as if only his land existed (the devastatingpatriotism of the Romans) but because it is a partof the whole of humanity. Finally, in respect ofthe purpose of subjecting nature to reason,acquaintance with this purpose serves in part toencourage him to fidelity to his calling and topoint out to him a higher point of view for hisapparently unordered employments, in part to givehim the true measure of respect for a truepromoter of the purpose of humanity, no matterwhat his position may be.

Upon what Masonic example as such depends,how a procedure becomes evident among themembers of the society in which one cannot failto appreciate the many-sidedness of their state ofmind, the purity of their mode of thought, in whicheach strives to cooperate toward the welfare ofthe other, without arrogance or conceit, withsacrifice of his claims as citizen, scholar, or artist,and with sole regard to fruitful usefulness towardliving to the effect upon pure humandevelopment—all this, Constant, you will be ableto abstract and set off by itself from what hasbeen said. We will not busy ourselves only withMasonic instruction and, after we have consideredits matter, will seek further: How can such a thingoriginate, be propagated, and be increased?

Also we persist in this inquiry, as in all that have





gone before, immovably upon the standpoint ofthe uninitiated, who knows nothing historical aboutmysteries and orders, as that which is commonlyknown, which he, on the other hand, reaches as aconclusion loving the truth and consistently.

So long as men, we now argue further, do nottrain themselves actually in the state of nature,and are trained consciously, with design andaccording to rule but through the circumstancesto which they passively yield, there is no speakingabout the training which we mean here, neitherof one which is public in the greater civil society,nor of a secret one in a special narrowerorganization. Mankind ripens in thesecircumstances only at first to capacity for athought out and calculated training.

This maturity comes and there come forth specialcallings, religious institutions, or a priesthood,laws, constitution and magistracy; there arises,in a word, that whole condition of mankind whichI described in one of the first letters.

Since according to my presupposition all proceedfrom the state of nature from the same point, atfirst the difference in their cultivation cannot bevery noticeable nor the one-sidedness andsuperficiality of this cultivation be very great.

But the separation continues. The new races ofman are born from now on in certain callings andfor certain callings. With each new age thedifferent callings are more sharply cut off fromone another, and now gradually along with theadvantages of social cultivation come thedisadvantages described above, and especiallythis disadvantage, the need of helping it outthrough a separate organization.

It is not unknown to me that in a number of statesand systems of government, especially inantiquity, there were various wholly publiccontrivances and institutions which opposed sosharp a separation of walks of life as we see inthe modern world and brought about a tolerablebalance in the cultivation of all. But I know atthe same time that these contrivances were onlyin a very few states of the old world and that theywere far from producing full evenness ofcultivation of the mind.

In a word: The deficiencies in humandevelopment, which, according to ourconclusions, can only be done away with by anorganization such as we think the Masonic societyas it exists in the present is, must be almost asold as the whole constitution of society, since theyare a necessary consequence there of. But if theyexisted, so no doubt there were always superiormen who observed them. If, however, they wereobserved, so without doubt those who observedthem found the one possible means of remedyingthem, namely, separation in close societies for

the purpose of pure human training, and havejoined with like-minded others in order to carryout their ideas. It is, therefore, in the highestdegree likely that from the beginning in additionto the public training in society there was a secrettraining which went on beside it, rose and fellwith it, had an unobserved influence upon theformer and, on the other hand, was gained ortolerated through the influence of the former. Forexample, there was Pythagoras and his famousband in the states of Magna Græcia. Hence weput as the first proposition which deserves ourattention the following: It may well be, so far ashistory reaches, there were always secretinstitutions of training separate and necessarilyseparate from the public institutions.

The FourteenthLetter

It is only where there are no institutions fortraining through the ordered greater society thatwe find no secret institutions for training. Withraw savages or nomadic pastoral peoples there isno need of an institution to efface the one-sidedness of the priesthood or of the lawmaking,since they have not yet matured even to priesthoodor lawmaking. With them, therefore, one has nomysteries to seek. There is then an absurdsuperstition. There are no mysteries which directand elevate their authorized national truth, forthey have as yet no natural truth.

We know fairly well through history what coursethe public training has taken. It is true the originand first source of this training is hidden in secretdarkness or is covered up in mythical poetry, andso we have later found peoples with a high degreeof cultivation (as to this think only of the Hindusand the Chinese) the history of whosedevelopment does not at all join on to the chainwhich we have reviewed and makes no part of it;but which alone could only represent a highersource of culture for our race than that which ourhistory knows.

Nevertheless, we see also in our own history aprogress and an unbroken chain of culture, whichgoes forward from the Egyptians to the Greeks,from them to the people of Asia Minor, fromthem back to the Greeks, from them to theRomans, and from them after the union withChristianity which arose in the East, to the newpeoples of Europe.

In this whole sequence there was need of secretinstitutions of training. It is probable, accordingto our first proposition above, that they didactually exist.

The whole public culture in the time and seriesof peoples described is always one and the sameculture; a continuous thread which took on theimpression of the national character of each

people to which it came, and through the progressof the human spirit, was won and fully developedwith each people.

It is therefore in the highest degree likely—andthis is the second natural conclusion which wecome to from the standpoint of the uninitiated—that a like continuous chain of secret culture bythe side of that thread of public culture, ran onthrough the same times and peoples, and like thepublic culture has come down to our times. It ispossible that, just as Christianity, coming out ofanother source, united with the public culture, atthe same time also the existing secret cultureannexed the secret culture of the same easternpeoples among which public Christianity arose.

The FifteenthLetter

As to the public culture, it would unquestionablybe suitable that anyone, so far as he is susceptibleof it, have the easiest access to it which ispossible, so that it could be laid away in enduringmonuments after the time that the art was foundof giving to the fleeting thoughts and fugitivewords permanence and visibleness to the eye. Butnot every man is to have access to the secretculture, but, according to its nature, only he whohas already undergone the public culture and hasalready completed it so far as possible. As is clearfrom all that has been said, the secret culturecannot proceed from the public culture; muchmore it presupposes the public culture. Even solittle can it go by the side of the public culturewithout the purposes of both becoming vain. Itcan only come after it. But now one can—let mealways carefully explain this point—attain in twoways to the proper end of all secret culture, thatis, the purely human development. It can be doneeither of itself alone, by talent, deep meditation,and investigation, by cultivation of the mind andheart according to the results of this meditation,or through a society, which, then, can be, not thegreater civil society (since even here one wouldfind that isolated condition) but only a smaller,separate society.

In the first case, as what we are viewing has comeinto existence by way of meditation, it takes onthe form of meditation. It is argued, tried bydialectic, demonstrated; its conclusions arerefuted and verified. Nothing hinders that one inthis form preach it from the house tops, or if onewill, write it out or allow it to be printed.

So it is quite possible, in order to take the mostenlightening example from fact, that I in theseletters have sought to set forth the most intimatespirit of all possible mysteries according to mybest knowledge and power, and in no way havekept anything back to myself, while I always made





use of the form of argument and ordinary speech.But at the same time I am very sure that I havenot in the least revealed either to you or to anyonewho might chance to read these letters what hemay not know and I may not say. For there are inall bookstores books for open sale which, althoughindeed they treat of Masonry, yet do not reveal asyllable of Masonry.

But on the other hand—and mark thisdiligently— there are in all bookstores books ofMasons and of non-Masons which make nomention of Masonry, whose authors perhaps didnot know one word of Masonry, whichnevertheless are throughout genuinely Masonic.

Therefore, I repeat, nothing hinders one frommaking common the pattern of the mysteries, solong as the speech and writing are common—butnot the mysteries. One who has it not in himselfalready will never apprehend it. To him the speechwill convert itself into a series of unintelligibletones, the writing into white paper; or if a sensecomes out of it, it is a confused and half sense,not at all the whole and full sense which wasintended. It then becomes disputed and a treatyof partition is concluded as to how far one at allevents would leave what has been asserted to holdgood, and how far not. Something is always wonthereby; at least the way is prepared for the truth.But not understanding or misunderstanding bringsabout a very small injury; one which is as goodas none. What is it then, finally, which ismisinterpreted, but a philosophy? What is it towhich damage has been done except to the gloryof the author of this philosophy, who, if he hadonly a spark of true spirit, would put no valueupon his glory.

But now with respect to the second case, whenone receives pure human culture through a secret(that is merely separate) society, the instructionwhich is prescribed for the closed society mayeasily have taken on a wholly different form—not of arguments, which leads to disputing, inthat it proposes grounds of reasoning, challengesto proof of these grounds, and will hold true nofurther than the grounds will reach, but in thesimple telling: “So it is once for all, we know it;and every one who presents himself as like uswill know it.” This instruction must be applied,not like the first exclusively to the understanding,but instead to the whole of the man, so as not toadmit any disputing. But it is needful, finally,that, according to the presupposition it came downfrom the hoariest antiquity and be clothed inmetaphorical expressions and pictures.

If such instruction comes to one who is notsusceptible of it, he will, it goes without saying,understand it as little as the first—thephilosophical, argumentative. But one does notdispute him nor engage in compromises, sincehe himself offers none and wishes to be agreed

to in toto . Men reject him at once asfundamentally false and visionary, or if he isdependent on the pictures, as nonsensical andabsurd, deride him and give him the reward ofthe common subject of laughter. From now on itis not, as in the first case, an individual that isblamed, but the whole purpose of a necessarysociety is forever made vain.

This instruction of the separate society—and thisis what I wished to point out—can never be laiddown in enduring monuments for everyone whomaccident might lead to them. It can only becommunicated to him whose susceptibility hasbeen maturely tried and investigated. With one whodoes not understand it, it perishes before birth.One who actually understands it and values it, ashe should, gives it out further surely and notwithout enlightenment. Since one may err in trialof a person, so he must make use of external meanssuch as solemn engagements, in order to assuresecrecy even in respect of the external forms.

And now I come to my third significantconclusion: It is most highly probable, so Iconclude, that the secret teaching can only betransmitted through oral and in no wise throughwritten tradition. Written communication mustbe strictly forbidden. If our supposition statedabove, that an unbroken chain of secret culture,along with the public culture, has come down fromantiquity to our times, has a sound basis, so onemust seek the secret teaching in no wise in booksbut only in a still persisting oral transmission.Also this supposition seems to be confirmed bythe circumstance that at the time of arising of theearlier mysteries publication of ideas in writingwas not truly possible, and in secret and holythings men continued in the customary practice.

I know very well all the disadvantages of the oraltransmission and the whole difficulty of deliveringto the succession of members something of sucha tradition all the way to a demonstrable truth.But I know also that there is a remedy againstthat disadvantage, there are mitigations of alldifficulties to be found through mere meditation,without historical instruction. In a word, I knowthat everywhere a proof of the genuineness of suchan oral transmission is possible, the conveyingof which, however, would carry me too far afield.Only one observation presses itself upon me herewhich I recognize as important and I cannotforbear making. It is as follows: It could not failto be that a present secret culture have influenceupon the public culture and that many occurrencesof public history which stand there indiscontinuity, may be fully comprehended throughthe secret culture; that individual persons whowere participants of the secret tradition also standout as notable persons in public history. It is,therefore, entirely thinkable that public historycan be clarified out of the secret history.

On the contrary, it would be necessary, accordingto the fundamental proposition just set forth, thatone who possesses the secret learning let sink all

which through any fault of his got abroad to publicknowledge, renounce it and no longer build uponit, so that forthwith the secret history of cultureshould not be proved by the public history, andthat no datum of the latter could be likewise adatum of the former. Whatever came to publichands, at once through this ceased to be a part ofthe secret science, and therefore the endeavor toput together a secret history out of the publichistory may be undertaken with great caution.

The SixteenthLetter

In this way a secret instruction could actually bebrought into existence and come down to our timewhich would now be preserved in the interior ofa special society. But what value and whatmeaning could the instruction, which has comedown through the course of time, have for us? Iask this as well in my name as in yours. Shall itperchance lay fetters upon freedom and theprogress of reason, to strike down throughauthority the free urge toward research andcommand blind faith? Boldly and as loud aspossible and upon every risk I cry out: Far be itfrom the Mason, who should have laid aside allfetters of authority that here he allow himself tofight in new secret fetters; far be it from him,who strives to attain pure human developmentand everywhere to live only in the spirit, that herehe allow himself to be bound to a new fetter; farbe it from the society which scorns all spirit of acalling, that it should itself change into a calling.What were, then, they who deposited the firstgerm of this possibly extant instruction, those laterwho developed it, completed it, increased it?What were they which their later successors werenot also? What had they in themselves which thelatter do not equally have in themselves? Withwhat right did they do what they did that the latterdo not have the same right?

The public culture has gone forward with theprogress of time; the secret culture has probablydone the same. The public culture will go onfurther, and the secret culture cannot stand stilland remain behind the former. But everytraditional instruction, if there is such a thing,can have no other authority than that which itsvenerable age gives it, none other than that whichany man and any human work covet over othermen: That one voluntarily presupposes thatwisdom may be concealed in it, that one earnestlystrive to find this wisdom, and that one joyfullytake it up after he has found it, and has verified itin his own understanding and heart.

This traditional instruction could and should benothing other to the initiate than what Homer,Sophocles, Plato are to us as sharers in the publicculture. That one faithfully preserve this survival,





that he do not adulterate it, or where it isadulterated that he restore it to its original purity,is reasonable and is required by proper respect forantiquity. That one in all instruction should startout from this and make it, as it were, the text ofhis reflections, would be proper in order to preservethe unity of the traditional chain and give it over Continued on Next Page - Letters


to the world to come always as just the same. Thatone declare and use it toward the only possiblepurpose of all mysteries, so that pure and generalhuman development be aimed at, is plainlynecessary and any other avowal is wrong.

This restoration of the old, moreover this addedinterpretation adapted to the culture of the timeis what every age adds to it, whereby the ensembleof instruction is increased and broadened, which

Table Lodge Vocabulaary Word Search

was the second part of my proposition.

Thus each builds upon that basis of the traditionalwhat he has—one firm building materials,another (to apply here a picture used by a holywriter9 ) straw and stubble. But both must beconfirmed through the test of time and bepreserved for the age to come, which then may



decide whether these materials shall be added tothe old treasure or rejected as unserviceable.

But, you have already long since asked, how, ifthe purpose of Masonry is so thoroughly defined,as has been set forth and explained in theseletters, can any Mason (as the profane well knowit) so misjudge it as to pass on whollyunserviceable and foreign contributions? Thisgoes with another complaint which I have oftenheard reported, so that the same answer is to begiven to each. I mean the complaint about thefrightful contrast of the ideal set up by Masonrywith what is the common reality. I answer:Everywhere by no means are all those Masonswho bear this name, but all should be and no onewho carries this name should be given up. Solong as this happens, so long as there is strivingonly for this ideal, the society is Masonic—conceding also that no one of its members attainsthis purpose, and conceding further that up to thisday the actual purpose of existing Masonry hasbeen to seek its purpose.

So if this purpose is established, let us not merelyknow but do and zealously do over, the more wecan always find the actuality in our meaning isbehind the ideal.

One who in viewing the deficiency in humanrelations, the unserviceableness, theperverseness, the corruption among men, dropshis hands and passes on and complains of eviltimes, is no man. Just in this that you arecapable of seeing men as deficient, lies uponyou a holy calling to make them better. Ifeverything was already what it ought to be,there would be no need of you in the world andyou would as well have remained in the wombof nothing. Rejoice that all is not yet as it oughtto be, so that you may find work and can beuseful toward something.

1 This refers to some eighteenth-century exposeof Masonry.

2 A large part of southeastern Europe was thenunder Turkish rule.

3 There were three of these published inGermany between 1742 and 1747.

4 I suppose this refers to the Strict Observance.5 Author of a book on the history of German

Freemasonry, 1787.6 “The wise shall bear the name of fool, the just

of unjust, if he seeks even virtue beyond whatis enough.” Epistles, I, 6, 15.

7 [Author’s note] Certain Masonic symbols seemto point this way.

8 He refers to a group of thinkers in theeighteenth century who sought to construct anatural religion on the basis of reason alone,rejecting all Revelation.

9 The reference is perhaps to Exodus, 5: 11-12.


health. When the war was over, the commandergave Newton money and a gun, then saw himsafely on his way to his home in Texas. Thisamazing story, transacted during one of thebitterest internal struggles our world has everseen, helps us identify some of the Masonic valuesthat have played such an important role inAmerican history. Where the Fraternity isconcerned, hatred and resentment can play no rolein a person’s life. The Masonic vision rises abovethe sense of being divided into hostile subgroups,all striving to undermine each other’s well-beingand sense of identity.

What Masonry says to Americans, in short, is thatthey are united by their deepest feelings aboutlife and life’s mission. Just as the commander ofthe camp in Illinois could see beyond the “enemy”identity of the captured Southerner, so can eachand every Mason build a bridge of brotherhoodto others and to society that leaves opposition farbehind.

To the curious individual or someone who mayhold skeptical notions about what Freemasonryis, I would, as a university president, say, twokinds of people arrive at my school: those whoneed to become a little more skeptical towardwhat they see going on in the world, and thosewho need to move a certain distance in theopposite direction— toward a better sense of howmuch human ideals can do to make human lifemore bearable.

I would suggest to such an inquirer that he bringhis sense of skepticism to bear in analyzing whatthe Fraternity really does, how it really functions,and what really motivates whose who join it. Andif the skeptic takes my advice, and embarks on askeptical pilgrimage of this kind, he’s very likelyto emerge at the other end with his skepticismdestroyed!

A specific instance from my professional lifeshowed me what Freemasons are doing inAmerica. A few years ago, I found myselfconfronted with a problem. An undergraduate atmy school had been accused of some exceedinglybad behavior that might well lead to expulsion.The evidence seemed incontrovertible. But therewas something about the whole case that left meuncomfortable—something not quite right. Bysheer coincidence, I found myself having aconversation with a fellow Scottish Rite memberwho, when he heard my story, said: “Expulsionis such a serious punishment. Ask the young manto come to my office, and let me see what I canfind out.”

A day or two later, my fellow Mason called meagain. “The student is completely innocent,” hesaid, “but it was a case of protecting the identityof the friend who did commit the act in question.Indeed, he wouldn’t even tell me the name of

that individual, even though I promised to keepit in confidence. So what we’ve got here is a caseof loyalty. My sense about this young person isthat he’s going to mature into an admirable humanbeing, who will encourage those he knows to donothing foolish or socially disruptive. If you givehim another chance, I don’t think you’ll be sorry.”

At the time, I didn’t even think of our exchangeas motivated by Masonic sentiment. Today, I lookat it somewhat differently. For an adult to beconcerned about a young person with no Masonicconnection and to play a role in helping that youngperson climb over a serious obstacle in life, that,it seems to me now, defines the MasonicFraternity. As a Freemason, I’m proud. As auniversity President, I’m grateful!

TraditionContinued from Page 6

Back to the mysteriousness of Masonry. We thinkthat the aura of mystery is sexy and cool.

But this textbook definition does tell us exactlywhat Masonry is, and how it functions. I recall aphone conversation I once had with Bro. JeffreyPeace, a rather learned and erudite Mason. Hisexamination of this definition meant adeconstruction of it and an examination of itsparticular word usage. I will borrow his method,because it is good and effective, and to his methodI will add my own commentary.

“A peculiar system of morality....”

Any good dictionary will tell us that the wordpeculiar can mean eccentric, queer, or odd. Itcan also mean distinctive, singular, unique.Freemasonry, with its archaic language andregalia, can certainly appear odd to one who isunfamiliar with it. And although its structure andinitiatic model resemble older traditions, as itcurrently exists it is certainly unique. Moralitygenerally refers to a system of moral conduct, orvirtue, usually taught via a moral discourse, orstatement, or lesson, and the Third Degree dramabears striking resemblance to the Church-sponsored morality plays of the 1400s. (It alsobears resemblance to certain death-and-resurrection traditions, but I’m not gonna gothere— that’s for another paper.)

“… veiled in allegory…”

In this context the word veiled means obscuredor concealed. Understanding of the meaning ofallegory is fundamental to understanding not onlythe nature and character of the Masonic legend,but also the great and baffling error of logic whichnearly every Christian ‘religious objector’commits in comparing the Hiramic legend toliteral Scripture. Merriam-Webster Online

101Continued from Page 7

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defines allegory as “the expression by means ofsymbolic fictional figures and actions of truthsor generalizations about human existence.” Anarticle in World Book Encyclopedia describesAesop’s fables as the most popular form ofallegory, and of course fable is close cousin toparable. I mention this because Scripture tellsus that Jesus used parable to teach, therefore themethod of teaching is not, of itself, objectionable.

In short, an allegory is a story with a moral, andby its very nature, its message and moral is veiledor concealed, making it more implicit thanexplicit. This type of storytelling requires thelistener to do more than listen; he is led toconsider exactly why he is being told a particularstory, and what meaning he ought glean from themanner of its telling.

“… and illustrated by symbol.”

To illustrate is to “to provide with visual featuresintended to explain or decorate;” and symbol hastwo definitions which are relevant to the Masonicmorality play: “something that stands for orsuggests something else by reason of relationship,association, convention, or accidentalresemblance; especially: a visible sign ofsomething invisible [as in] the lion is a symbolof courage”; and “an object or act representingsomething in the unconscious mind that has beenrepressed [as in] phallic symbols.”

People in ancient times drew pictures as asymbolic mode of communication, and drawn/written symbols eventually evolved and becamemore elaborate, resulting in modern alphabets.We will find in Freemasonry a cornucopia ofvisual symbols. In the allegorical dramas of itsdegrees, we will also find symbolism of a literarytype; the Masonic legend being an allegory toldin dramatic form, this is quite natural and to beexpected, for literary symbolism abounds in allthe great stories and plays, in fables and in myths.

With all of the above-mentioned in mind, let usnow re-examine that mysterious definition ofFreemasonry. Having clarified the words andmodernised its language a bit, it might read thus:

A unique system of moral instruction,obscured by/in a moral tale,

and explained by means of visualand literary representation.

Not as cool or mysterious or sexy, is it? That’salright. It is more clearly understood by themodern mind, and that was the intent of thisexercise. This exercise was hopefully not toopedantic, nor too elementary, for it was absolutelyessential that we establish what Freemasonry is,and what it isn’t.

Particularly in terms of it’s vaunted legend, before

InitiationContinued from Previous Page

we try to understand it.

Our religious detractors argue from the point ofview that the Bible is a true and inerrant historicalwork. Why they argue history vs. allegory isbeyond me. But it is paramount, to the new andstudious Freemason, to understand what we arebefore he can begin to understand the why.

On that note, I will leave you with two words, aquestion:

Why, Brother?

this sense, the tunic represents to the candidatethe death of profanity, the rebirth into the new light.The candidate is visually reminded of the death ofthe old, and thereby the rebirth, into the new.

Today, the tunic is worn by the Marshall when heescorts the Candidate into the Temple for theceremony of initiation. The tunic’s shape stems fromthe cross of Malta, being a folded cross. (fig. 2)

We know that the cross can be inscribed in thesquare, symbol of matter, but also in the circle,symbol of spirit, thus alluding to the transformation

WearContinued from Page 8

which is gained by the initiate who has purifiedhis heart and his mind and is therefore worthy to“ascend into the hill of Lord”.

I first joined up. If I had not been so young andstupid, I may well have left our Brotherhood then.I thought, “Why subject myself to abuse everyweek at Lodge rehearsal?” Better thoughtsprevailed though, I stuck it out, and I kept comingback.

Most recently I’ve had reported to me incidentsof punch-ups in the bar area and arguments atthe festive board - even during the run up to thisarticle. But most Brothers have pointed the causeof this to the pressure mounted by the PastMasters. This seems to take in most of what Ihave said already. I had one suggestion that weshould draw up a code of conduct to include LOI’s,Festive Boards and Committee meetings. Whilewe can’t legislate morality, we can set the stagefor better action.

The next most unpopular bullying tactic is thethreat. This is most commonly heard as ‘I willnot attend while you sit in that chair’. ‘I willoppose you at every turn’ ‘I’ll make sure you don’tget that promotion’. It’s not difficult to makesomeone feel uncomfortable when you threatenhim with lack of support, opposition andwithholding what he desires.

There are also certain gripes and bellyaches thatare offered up to influence. They’re usually over‘why was he promoted when I joined five yearsbefore him?’ or something like that. I supposewherever we look there’s going to be an unevenplaying field which seems to favor some and notothers. I don’t believe this is a Freemason issuespecifically; that’s just life as it unfolds. Somepeople, it would seem, are more equal than others.

In this life we can control only one thing, ourresponses to what happens to us. It’s the completeand unyielding duty of every Freemason tosafeguard his thoughts, words and deeds. Inaddition to this, we are called to protect the weakand support the needy. Should we have to bereminded of this?

No never?

2B1 ASK1

BullyingContinued from Page 2



Masonic Humor32 Laughs from

Employee EvaluationsThese are actual quotes taken from U.S. Federalgovernment employee performance evaluations.1. “Since my last report, this employee has

reached rock-bottom and has started to dig.”2. “I would not allow this employee to breed.”3. “This employee is really not so much of a has-

been, but more of a definite won’t be.”4. “Works well when under constant supervision

and cornered like a rat in a trap.”5. “When he opens his mouth, it seems that it is

only to change feet.”6. “This young lady has delusions of adequacy.”7. “He sets low personal standards and then

consistently fails to achieve them.”8. “This employee is depriving a village

somewhere of an idiot.”9. “This employee should go far, and the sooner

he starts the better.”10. “Got a full 6-pack, but lacks the plastic thingy

to hold it all together.”11. “A gross ignoramus - 144 times worse than

an ordinary ignoramus.”12. “He doesn’t have ulcers, but he’s a carrier.”14. “I would like to go hunting with him.”15. “He’s been working with glue too much.”16. “He would argue with a signpost.”17. “He brings a lot of joy whenever he leaves

the room.”18. “When his IQ reaches 50, he should sell.”19. “If you see two people talking and one looks

bored, he’s the other one.”20. “A photographic memory but with the lens

cover glued on.”21. “A prime candidate for natural de-selection.”22. “Donated his brain to science before he was

done using it.”23. “Gates are down, the lights are flashing, but

the train isn’t coming.”24. “He’s got two brains cells, one is lost and the

other is out looking for it.”25. “If he were any more stupid, he’d have to be

watered twice a week.”26. “If you give him a penny for his thoughts,

you’d get change.”27. “If you stand close enough to him, you can

hear the ocean.”28. “It’s hard to believe he beat out 1,000,000

other sperm.”29. “One neuron short of a synapse.”30. “Some drink from the fountain of knowledge;

he only gargled.”31. “Takes him 2 hours to watch 60-minutes.”32. “The wheel is turning, but the hamster is dead.

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Show him your CrossTed and me were going home from a Rose Croixmeeting. Ted was driving. He shouldn’t havebeen because he was a bit tiddly. We wererelying on that 1 in 10,000,000 chance that thepoliceman would be a Mason.

Sadly, Ted ran through 40 or 50 red lights andwe were stopped by a trafficpoliceman: “Stirling Moss, sir?Michael Schumaker are we, sir?”

I noticed that the policeman waswearing a square & Compasses lapelpin! I whispered to Ted: “He doesn’tknow you’re a Mason! Show him yourcross!”

Ted shouted: “Oy! Why don’t you pissoff and leave us alone?”

Changing aLightbulb

Q: How many Masons does it take toscrew in a lightbulb?

A: Three. One to screw it in, one toread the minutes of the previouslightbulb replacement, and one to siton the sidelines and complain aboutthe way they USED to screw inlightbulbs.

Married to theDevil

One beautiful Sunday morning thetiny town of Smithvale wakes up andgoes to church. Before the servicestarts most of the congregation haveseated themselves. They’re allnattering to their neighbors when -shazam - Satan himself appears at thealtar in flames.

Naturally, the townspeople erupt inchaos, with people fleeing the church,left, right and center... except for BillScroggs.

God’s ultimate nemesis seemsconfused.

He walks up to Bill and says, “Don’tyou know who I am?”

Bill replies, “Aye, I do.”

Bewildered, Satan asks, “So, you aren’t afraidof me then?”

“No I’m not .” replies Bill calmly.

By now, Satan’s melon is twisted beyond allrecognition , “Why the hell not?” the darkOverlord enquires.

To which Bill replies, “Because I’ve beenmarried to your sister for 25 years.”

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The Last WordA drunk man in an Oldsmobile

They said had run the lightThat caused the six-car pileup

On 109 that night.

When broken bodies lay aboutAnd blood was everywhere,”

The sirens screamed out eulogies,”For death was in the air.

A mother, trapped inside her car,”Was heard above the noise;

Her plaintive plea near split the air:Oh, God, please spare my boys!”

She fought to loose her pinned hands;She struggled to get free,”

But mangled metal held her fastIn grim captivity.

Her frightened eyes then focusedOn where the back seat once had been,”

But all she saw was broken glass andTwo children’s seats crushed in.

Her twins were nowhere to be seen;“She did not hear them cry,”

“And then she prayed they’d been thrownfree,”

“Oh, God, don’t let them die!”

Then firemen came and cut her loose,”“But when they searched the back,”“They found therein no little boys,”

But the seat belts were intact.They thought the woman had gone mad

“And was travelling alone,”“But when they turned to question her,”

They discovered she was gone.

Policemen saw her running wildAnd screaming above the noise“In beseeching supplication,”Please help me find my boys!

They’re four years old and wear blue shirts;“Their jeans are blue to match.”

“One cop spoke up, “They’re in my car,”And they don’t have a scratch.

They said their daddy put them there“And gave them each a cone,”

Then told them both to wait for MomTo come and take them home.

“I’ve searched the area high and low,”But I can’t find their dad.

“He must have fled the scene,”“I guess, and that is very bad.”

“The mother hugged the twins and said,”“While wiping at a tear,”

“He could not flee the scene, you see,”“For he’s been dead a year.”

“The cop just looked confused and asked,”

“Now, how can that be true?”“The boys said, “”Mommy, Daddy came”

“And left a kiss for you.”

He told us not to worry“And that you would be all right,”And then he put us in this car with

“The pretty, flashing light.”

“We wanted him to stay with us,”“Because we miss him so,”

“But Mommy, he just hugged us tight”And said he had to go.

He said someday we’d understand”“And told us not to fuss,”

“And he said to tell you, Mommy,”“He’s watching over us.”

The mother knew without a doubt“That what they spoke was true,”

“For she recalled their dad’s last words,”“I will watch over you.”

The firemen’s notes could not explain“The twisted, mangled car,”

And how the three of them escaped.Without a single scar.

“But on the cop’s report was scribed,”“In print so very fine,”

An angel walked the beat tonight,On Highway 109.

volume 1 - issue 11 noember 2006 living as masons

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