Mystic Masonary embraces a body of exoteric wisdom pertaining primarily to the building of the temple not made with hands, namely, the celestial body of man himself. In its ceremonial forms it embodies symbolically the laws and principles governing all creation as manifested by the Great Architect of the Universe.
All throught the ages Initiate Architects have been active in the world, giving form to successive civilizations and guiding the whole course of human evolution. These spiritual architects are generally referred to as Mystic Builders, and it is to them that Masonry has looked for its inspiration and guidance in formulating its ideals and in pointing the way that leads to divine attainment.
Supreme among Mystic Builders of all times was the Master Jesus. It was in the "carpenter shop" of his Initiate father, Joseph, that he served his apprenticeship. The record of the life he lived and the works he performed as Christ Jesus gave to the world the most illumined of all books, the New Testament.
The evolutionary status of a people, their basic character and the essential nature of their thought life and spiritual aspirations find unmistakable expression in architecture, as it does in all the other arts. "As they thought, they built," writes Louis Sullivan, the eminent American architect. "For strange as it may seem," he continues, "they could build no other way. As they built, they made, used, and left behind them records of their thinking. Then, as through the years new men came, with changed thoughts, so arose new buildings in consonance with the change of thought-the building always the expression of the thinking. Whatever the character of the thinking, just so was the character of the building."
Guilds of Mystic Builders existed in all pre-Christian civilizations as evinced by various insignia incorporated in ancient initiatory Temples. Even in their present ruined state the Temples in ancient Egypt, Babylon, Greece, Persia and other lands, bear in their structures various signatures of the Mysteries they were erected to preserve and to perpetuate.
One of the dominant features common to all these structures is the two columns or pylons flanking the main entrance to the Temple. This is an architectural feature that has been retained in present day Temples, however much other structural changes have evolved from age to age. It is an invariable part of every Masonic Temple to this day.
The perpetuation of the two-pillared portal in all Temples dedicated to the Mystery Wisdom, arises from a symbolical significance that remains equally valid through all the years of man's present phase of evolution. The two columns are representative of the two poles of being between which is woven the whole fabric of creation. These two poles we know as the positive and negative states of matter, and in human life as the masculine and feminine forces of being. In Masonry these two principles are known as the Jachin and the Boaz columns at their Temple door.
It is between these two columns that every neophyte must pass in his quest for light. The perfect balancing of these opposites is a basic requirement in the performance of the Great Work. Schopenhauer, the German philosopher who was deeply imbued with oriental mysticism, declared that "Polarity or the sundering of a force into two quantitatively different and opposed activities striving after reunion... is a fundamental type of almost all the phenomena of nature, from the magnet and crystal to man himself." Truly the blending of the opposites is foundational to the attainment of Illumination or Initiation.
In Ancient Egypt th.e contemplation of the manifested universe inspired a deep sense of awe and wonder that found expression in the massive pylons and towering columned passages that led into their holy Temples. The masculine principle was dominant in these mighty structures.
Another type of consciousness flowered in Babylon. It was feminine in nature, and so its Temples incorporated a rich and mire sensuous beauty. Again the masculine principle predominated in Persia where the Mysteries were keyed to the Fire element. The Grecian Mysteries, which were again attuned to the feminine principle, found architectural expression in its Temples of incomparable symmetry and beauty. Though in ruins, the Parthenon still proclaims to all the world the glory of the Golden Age of Greece.
In architecture the Doric column is symbolic of the masculine principle, the Ionic, of the feminine, and the Corinthian, which is a blend of the two, represents a state of equilibrium.
With the coming of Christ a new era dawned. A fresh impulse entered into the life of humanity which found its most glorious architectural expression in the great European cathedrals. A mystical upward striving took concrete form in the lofty domes, pointed arches and the towering spires that characterize the Christian churches of centuries past. Also, as Christianity is the religion of the cross, its most representative basilicas are cruciform in structure. Gothic architecture has well been defined as "a synonym for medieval Christianity."
In more recent times we have departed from the former standard types of church architecture. This is inevitable. We are in a eriod of transition. New forms are coming into being. Just what their principal characteristics will be is not clear, except that they will feature spaciousness and light. It remains for New Age concepts to become formulated in the minds of men before a fully developed and truly representative architecture can come into being.
In speaking of the rich and revealing symbolism incorporated in ancient Temples, both oriental and occidental, W.R. Lathaby, an English architect, observes in his book, Architecture, Nature and Magic, that we have in our time quite lost touch with such inner values and spiritual motivation. "Those ancient works," says he, "were imitations of Paradise; ours are exercises in commercial 'grandeur' and advertising vulgarity." They are "whim-works in sham styles... Design must have some motivating idea in it," he adds. "What idea can we mordern people think except structure for reasonable service.
"Ancient architecture," Mr. Lathaby goes on to say, "had a meaning and a message; it was religious, magical, symbolical and cosmical. It is the large content of it in these senses that makes it quite a different from grandeurs in the ecclesiastical and department-store 'styles' of the present day."
Since we are now living in a period of change when the forms of the past are being outgrown and the forms of the future not yet established, a certain formlessness exists in every department of life; inner and outer. And so present day architecture, in the words of Frederic Towndrow, in his volume Architecture and Balance, is a diseased superficiality cut off from the life-blood of structures, that it is existing apart, it is vacillatory, undefined and uncertain." He also asserts that "it is propounded upon no faith or definite lines of action. It is neither one thing nor the other and it will sink in human regard just as it lacks force or distinction."
But out of the disorder that prevails between the Old Order that is passing and the New Order that is in the becoming, there are not wanting signs that point to an expansion of consciousness and an elevation of the spirit that will inevitably create suitable structures, material and spiritual, in and through which they will find adequate expression.
Claude Bragdon, perhaps the most spiritually illumined of modern American architects, in his inspirational volume, The Beautiful Necessity, points to what is emerging. Mr. Bragdon recaptured the deeper spiritual significance of the arts, and of architecture in particular, as this was apprehended by the Mystic Builders of old.
In the "spectrum of the arts," he observes, "each one occupies a definite place, and together form a series of which music and architecture are the two·extremes." He then refers to time and space as "the two gates through which ideas enter phenomenal life... Everything bears the mark of one or the other of them and may be classified accordingly. In such a classification music is seen to be allied to time and architecture to space because music is successive in its modes of manifestation, and in time alone everything would occur successively, while architecture, on the other hand, impresses itself upon the beholder all at once, and in space alone all things would exist simultaneously." Mr. Bragdon then goes on to show that all other arts fall somewhere between music and architecture which stand at opposite ends of the spectrum, since they all partake of both time and space in. varying proportion, either actually or by implications. Thus poetry and drama are allied to music and so to time; sculpture to architecture and so to space, but with action in suspense and in painting, arrested action is portrayed in idealized space.
"Music," Mr. Bragdon observes further, "depends primarily upon equal and regular divisions of time... Architecture, correspondingly implies the rhythmical division of space...A certain identity therefore exists between simple harmony in music and simple proportion in architecture... All architectural forms and arrangements which give enduring pleasure are in their essence musical. Every well composed facade makes harmony in three dimensions; every good roof sings a melody against the sky." True indeed is the poetic expression, "Architecture is frozen music." The new incoming Aquarian Age will call into being a new type of architecture which will find is perfect flowering in Temples of Initiation. In these the Christ Mysteries, deeply and richly amplifying those of ancient times, will be taught and practiced. Light, color and music will be the dominant features of these new Temples which will stand as portals connecting the outer and the inner worlds. These Temples will truly answer to the poetic description of architecture as frozen music.
The portals of these New Age Temples will be certain to retain the two familiar upright columns. In Christian Temples these two pillars become representative of the masculine and feminine powers as manifested in the Lord Christ and in Mother Mary. In the New Age Mary and the feminine principle will come into greater recognition. In Mary this aspect of being attained to divine perfection, and the mission undertaken by this Master Initiate is to uplift the women of the world to a position of equality with men.
This is a development awaiting realization in the coming age under the zodiacal rulership of Aquarius. The pictorial symbol of this sign is a human figure, an androgyne, embodying in equal measure both the masculine and feminine principles in nature. With the attainment of this state of balanced development, man and woman will pass hand in hand between the two-columned portal into the Temple of Light.
The two columns in the New Age Temple also represent the two signs, Aquarius and Leo, the former governing the exoteric activities during the period of its rulership and the latter the esoteric development. Aquarius will promote the spirit and practice of brotherhood while Leo will infuse the spirit of love that will make for closer and more harmonious bonds of true fellowship.
All people are builders. Every individual is working upon one or the other or two structures. These structures have been abuilding ever since the dawn of civilization. Both are described in the Bible, the one in Genesis and the other in Revelation. The first is the Tower of Babel, the other, the New Jerusalem.
In the eleventh chapter of Genesis we read:
The type of builders who sought to erect the tower of Babel are with us to this day. In pride and arrogance they are creating structures that pierce the skies, yet remain themselves earthbound creatures. For all their material impressiveness they lack significance and permanency. The element that gives meaning and endurance is lacking. That necessary missing ingredient is spiritual. Says Claude Bragdon: "There can be no great architecture without religion and until it can be said of every architect, 'Himself from God he could not free,' there will be no architecture worthy of the name."
The builders of Babel did not take God into partnership. He was left out of account. The result was frustration and failure. In the words of the Psalmist, "Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it." No matter how great the numbers engaged in the building, how commanding the material forces engaged in the work or how impressive the structure, unless it is conceived and executed in relation to the spiritual forces that by their very nature are eternal, it will ultimately come to naught. The elements of immortality are not .in it. This is true whether the structure be a building, a social organization, a political state or a civilization. If its foundations be merely material, it will go the way of all matter; it will vanish from the face of the earth. Only when these are based on eternal principles and spiritual values can they or will they endure.
Let us now turn to another type of structure such as is described in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation:
Unlike the builders of Babel who were scattered over the face of the earth, the builders of the New Jerusalem are gathered together into the Temple of Light, "where there shall be no more night."
Also, by way of contrast it is to be noted that the Mosaic record states explicitly that the workmen on Babel were journeying not toward but from the East, the symbolical source point of light, whereas the builders of the New Jerusalem operate actually in the light and are at one with it. In the first instance man is building to gratify his own personal pride and ambition whereas in the second instance the creation is spiritually motivated and dedicated to the service of man and the glory of God. The former soon crumbles since the workmen failed to incorporate in the structure the forces that bind whereas the latter, by its identification with spiritual law and purpose, endures forever.
The Genesis portrayal of the Babel builders has its correspondence in the world of the present time. Babel means confusion, and in confusion much of the world's present structure has been and is being erected. All that is so founded is doomed to perish.
But there are also other builders at work. Foundations are being laid or a city that is to arise foursquare, and that will conform to the true measure of man and the lines drawn by the Great Architect of the Universe. That is the city of light, or the civilization, the new world order, biblically called the New Jerusalem. It is even now emerging from beneath the surface, though as yet almost imperceptibly, and gives promise to rise to glorious heights in future centuries under the Aquarian-Leo impulses that will govern the new age now dawning.
The story of Babel is also. recorded in Tarot symbolism, the sixteenth major card, a lightning-struck tower, representing the destruction that ultimately overtakes a Godless world order and a civilization dominated primarily by material pursuits. As in Tarot symbolism, the tower with its battlements so constructed is struck by fire from heaven and two men, representative of all engaged in the enterprise, are shown falling amongst the crumbling fragments of masonry. It is a vivid picturization of what occurs in the world of men when divine powers are perverted to selfish and unworthy ends.
Not so the New Jerusalem, the City Beautiful. Those who work on this structure and come within its environs enjoy divine protection and blessing. For them "there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away."
Workers on this City will one day be permitted to stand in the presence of the Great Lord of the World and from Him receive the Master's wages and the passport to "travel in foreign countries."
When the Lord Christ returns it is to the New Jerusalem, the radiant City of Light, that, symbolically speaking, will become His dwelling place, and into its environs will be gathered all those who as faithful builders have had their names inscribed as light templars in the Lamb's Book of Life.
Masonry has forgotten a most important truth relative to receiving and disseminating occult power, namely: that the apex of the triangle formed by the three Masters must be a woman. There was a time when such a formation brought a great downpouring of spiritual power during observances of the ancient Mysteries. Since this vital requirement has been ignored. The feminine column is often represented as broken, so Masonry's magnificent ceremonialism is empty pageantry shorn of its potency. Its true meaning and purpose have been lost in the mists of ages past.
Ceremonially at least, the Church has remained closer to the truth. In its enactment of the Resurrection Ritual one of the three Masters is feminine. It is Mary Magdalene who with Peter and John forms the triangle of light.
New Age humanity must have a spiritualized statecraft founded upon the precepts embodied in the Sermon on the Mount, and a scientific religion which demonstrates the works and words of the Christ. Peter is called upon to "feed my sheep" in Church Craft. John, according to the Lord's words, is to "tarry till I come." Meanwhile Peter is working to build an illumined Church and John to build a spiritualized state.
Initiation through awakened soul power must be the rock upon which the New Age Church is founded, not the formal ceremonialism of today. Likewise, Initiation must be the cornerstone of the New Age State, not the exoteric pageantry now so prevalent. The Lord Christ will not return until civilization is sufficiently advanced for the forces of Church and State to unite in evolving a glorified race that makes manifest the Christ Within. Peter and John labor unceasingly to this end, and will continue to do so until the sublime purpose is accomplished and man is qualified for a higher spiritual unfoldment under the Religion of the Father.
The feminine Master, Mary Magdalene, was awarded the honor of being the first to see the risen Christ, and was the one commissioned to voice the glad tidings of His resurrection. According to legend she knelt before Him and lifted her hands in homage and adoration, saluting her Lord with the word "Rabboni!"- which means Most excellent Master.
Temple Craft outwardly perpetuates homage to the divine feminine in much of its Degree ritual. For example, a legend concerning the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon says she propounded "strange questions" to the potentate. And on beholding his glorious Temple, glittering like gold and so expertly fashioned it appeared to be formed of a single piece of marble, she raised her hands to heaven and exclaimed, "Rabboni! Only a most excellent Master hath done this."
In the majestic symbolism of Temple Craft a triangle is formed by the three Masters whenever a concentrated downpouring of spiritual force is invoked for any special purpose. Since the Master at the head of the triangle is no longer a woman embodying the power of the feminine pole, the highest occult work is impossible of accomplishment.
In Solomon's Temple the mystic word engraven upon the Column of Beauty, the feminine column which supported the Holy of Holies, was in exaltation of the divine feminine. This golden Temple was reverenced by the Queen of Sheba in an initiatory ceremonial of Temple Craft. And the luminous appearance of the Christ before which Mary of Magdala knelt was an initiatory ceremonial of Church Craft. Both the Temple and the shining figure of the Lord symbolize the spiritual robe of mastership, the ideal of the Church and of Masonry — the golden wedding garment described by St. Paul; also the temple "made without hands" and "eternal in the heavens" which is idealized in the work of every Master Mason.
Church Craft teaches very definitely the power of the exalted feminine, as evidenced in the following biblical legend.
In Judges it is recorded that the Israelites were given the password Shibboleth that they might ford the Jordan in safety. When the Ephraimites were required to pronounce the word and they replied "Sibboleth," they were swept away. The letter "H'' symbolizes the awakening and functioning of the higher nature in man. It is a feminine letter. Those who learn to use the feminine force rightly are preserved from harm; those who have not are prey to the psychic tide leading to destruction. Shibboleth is a power cypher meaning an ear of corn at the water ford. The ear of corn (wheat) is a symbol of Virgo, the Virgin, and water is an element associated with processes of purification. Hence, this power cypher points to purity and chastity as requisites for attaining the highest degrees of illumination. If this were generally recognized by masonic brethren, their lodges would become temples rather than playgrounds and they truly would be acolytes journeying "toward the East in quest of light."
The supreme mission of Church and State is to unite the forces of heart and head. The ideals of the two institutions, if rightly understood, are fundamentally the same. The magnificent ceremonialism of Masonry is keyed to the masculine or fire potency, and the higher ritualism of the Church is keyed to the feminine or water potency. Herein lies the reason for their difference and opposition. It is also here that a wider vision and a more profound understanding will bring about their reconciliation and reunion.
When the Masonic candidate learns to dissociate the personality of Hiram from the principle which he represents, he will come to understand that Hiram is the Christ of the Masonic Lodge. The letters composing the name H-I-R-A-M are the initial letters of the Latin phrase used in the Church: Homo Jesus Rex Altissimus Mundi, interpreted "The Man Jesus is the world's exalted king." The Mysteries of the Church and the Mysteries of Masonry are one. The three blows dealt Hiram, the Master Builder, by the murderers are the three judgments pronounced upon the Christ. The grave of Hiram is the rock-hewn sepulcher of Jerusalem. The stone placed over Hiram is the same as the one rolled away by the Angels on the first Easter morn. The raising of Hiram is the Resurrection. The twelve fellowcraft sent out by Solomon are the twelve Disciples of Christ. Both Masonry and the Church have three recognized degrees: Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master in the lodge; Purification, Illumination and Master in the early Church. All masonic lodges together form the Grand Lodge of the Universe and all churches make up the great Church Universal. Hiram is the Christ of the Grand Lodge; Peter and John are The Boaz and Jachin of the Church Universal.
The Lord Christ is the world Saviour, the Regent of Earth. His mission is universal and all paths of attainment merge in Him. In these days of stress and crisis, the two columns to which mystic Masons and mystic Christians may safely anchor their lives are His two most comforting promises: "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly," and His final words before His ascension, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."
— Corinne Heline
