The teachings of Masonry are founded on the Ancient Mysteries. As Albert Pike has well expressed it, Masonry is a succession of the Mysteries. However, Masonry in its present form had its origin in London about the year 1725. Mystic Masonry had its inception in initiatory Schools founded in the early days of civilization. The key words of modern Masonry are Fraternity and Sociability. The key ideal of Mystic Masonry is spiritual illumination by means of Initiation.
Masonry of today rigidly excludes women from all its rites and ceremonials, but Mystic Masons well know that the masonic "lost word" can never be recovered until man and woman, in full equality on all planes of manifestation, stand hand in hand before the Holy of Holies.
The inner work given the craft at the time of King Solomon was transmitted from generation to generation in secret cyphers or keys by means of architecture, painting and literature. This was in preparation for the time of the falling of the "cloud upon the Sanctuary." About 1530 came the beginning of the end which lost to "workmen" their jurisdiction over the "mystic building art." With the Reformation came the final and complete division between Masonry and the Church. Speculative succeeded Operative Masonry, the two poles of humanity-masculine and feminine, the head and the heart, man and woman-were rent asunder to function separately and unequally until the two poles are again united upon a yet higher rung of the evolutionary ladder under the now dawning Aquarian impulses.
From a brochure entitled Inspiring Legends of Masonry published by the Vista del Monterey Studio, Monterey, Calif., we extract the following:
"One tradition is that Masonry received its inspiration in the erection of Solomon's Temple, when the artisans and craftsment of the world united in heart and effort to build to the glory of God.
"Thirteen hundred years from the time of Solomon, again the most powerful ruler in the world, the Emperor Constantine of Rome decreed that God be given the pomp and adulation due His holy name, and once more the artificers and craftsment were called upon to consecrate themselves to the building of churches.
"The royal edict that the world be Christianized, given by Constantine 333 years after the crucifixion continued to bear its fruit in the succeeding centuries, and more and more grew the demand for workmen to assist in the erection of the great churches and religious retreats, which more and more sprung up over Europe until history records that it became the custom for bands or guilds of workmen to journey from place to place seeking opportunity to offer their time and talent in the erection of these great temples.
"Because these structures were mostly of stone, these consecrated workmen soon became skilled Masons and, because they were zealous in their willingness to give their best efforts to advance the Kingdom of God, in turn they were exempted from taxes and obligations imposed upon ordinary folks in those days, so that they became known as Free Masons — holy men to whom God was first."
The masonic order was founded upon three fundamental Degrees. These are Entered Apprentice, Fellowcraft and Master. The inner attainments which are to be pursued by those taking these three Degrees are Dedication, Purification and Illumination.
Masonic teachings are communicated by means of symbols, emblems and allegories, these constituting the Wisdom language. When one has learned to interpret this language the deepest and most profound spiritual truths will be revealed to him. If he has not learned to interpret it such truths will remain a closed book to him even though he may be admitted into the highest Degrees of the Fraternity. Symbols and allegories both conceal and reveal. They conceal their secrets from those who have failed to prove themselves worthy of receiving them, yet they reveal those secrets to others in exact accordance with their worthiness. All truth possesses an inner and outer significance. St. Paul aptly made this clear when he said that milk was for babes while meat was for strong men.
Albert Pike, the foremost authority on Masonry, states that the Lodge teaches morality by means of its symbolism, and much more. It is this "much more," this deeper teaching to which Pike refers, that is the text of Mystic or Esoteric Masonry.
Masonic ritualism is probably the most magnificent symbolism to be found in the modern world. The Rites, remnants of the Ancient Mysteries, delineate a way to spiritual illumination (Initiation). Unfortunately, however, few twentieth century adherents to Masonry have any conception of the glorious truths on which its work is founded. All Masons are enjoined to become "Sons of Light." To the First Degree a candidate comes, poor, naked and blind, in search of Light. In the Thirty-second Degree he should attain divine oneness with that Light through the Rite of the Mystic Marriage. It is for this reason we have chosen to refer to the First Degree as a "dedication to the Light."
Three is the most important number associated with the First Degree, and it means complete dedication of body, mind and spirit to the quest for Light. Three principal officers conduct this Degree, in which there are three greater Lights and three lesser Lights. Admittance to the lodgeroom is gained after three knocks at its door, and there are three journeyings around the room in quest of Light. These are but a few uses of the number three as accentuated in the First Degree.
To become an Initiate means to be reborn, the second birth being into a new and higher phase of life. When a candidate is Initiated he leaves behind him the claims of the world and is born into a life of the spirit. This "new birth" entails much painful preparation, sacrifice and purification. These are typified in the masonic apron made of lamb's wool, the lamb being a symbol of purity, sacrifice and transmutation. The apron is formed of a square and a triangle, their combined sides adding up to the number seven; and the numerical significance of seven is completion of the quest.
Perhaps the most familiar symbols of Masonry are the Square and the Compass resting upon an open Bible. These are the three "greater Lights" of the Lodge. For a Mystic Mason this arrangement is of profound import. In the Apprentice Degree a candidate is admonished to use the Square for correlating his life with the Golden Rule; the Compass, to circumscribe desire and keep passion within due bounds. Esoterically, the Square represents the feminine principle (woman); the Compass, the masculine principle (man); while the Bible, the supreme textbook of life, teaches the aspirant how to attain perfect equilibrium between the two. Polarity-a complete blending of the masculine and feminine poles within the individual, and full equality between man and woman in the objective world-is the underlying theme of both the Bible and the Mysteries whereon Masonry is founded.
In the center of the conjoined Square and Compass is placed the All-seeing Eye. This symbol denotes the Law of Causation that operates throughout human evolution. It is defined in the biblical statement that "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap," a reaction that is unfailing and infallible. Every candidate upon the Path soon learns that whatever comes to him is his own just dessert and cannot, therefore, be attributed to any external agency. He attracts his own good or ill fortune by his own good or evil outpouring. If he has "sown the wind" he will surely "reap the whirlwind." And this Law applies to nations as well as to individuals.
A modern candidate spends much time working on the Tracing-Board or Mosaic Pavement, the flooring of black and white stones symbolizing the black and white forces which beseige every candidate who seeks to follow the Path of Light. It is because of the conflict between them that the Path is so narrow, and its temptations so subtle, that many turn away in disappointment and disillusionment.
The black-and-white pavement is surrounded by a tesselated border denoting the aura of protection builded by every Mason for himself through right thinking, right living and right action. If all Masons had developed this protective aura, their combined influence would be such that the very locality where a Lodge is situated would be immune to every type of community disaster-a fact revealed to each candidate of the Ancient Mysteries by the following information taken from the records of an early Egyptian school.
The Grand Lodge contained only forty members, each of whom bore the name of a quality he represented, namely, Truth, Peace, Beauty, Perseverance, and so forth. (In a modern Lodge the three Masters-Wisdom, Strength and Beauty-are a "recollection" of the ancient craft.) Complete unity of these various qualifications created a perfect Master. One so perfected was eligible for the Great Lodge, the influence of which covered all Egypt. An aspiring candidate was cautioned that the slightest infraction or failure on the part of one Brother weaknened the whole forty. An important function of these perfected Masters was to build and maintain intact a protective aura around their Temple so no evil or disintegrating force could penetrate that holy sancutary.
In the center of the checkered pavement of the masonic lodgeroom is placed the Blazing Star, typifying the Christ Light and also the star which guided the Wise Men to the manger where they found the Holy Babe. This Light now shines on Holy Night at the heart of Earth — where every successful candidate will sometime be brought to meet the Christ face to face, and to know Him as He is. This star will eventually illumine the hearts of all men, and humanity shall have become a Christed race. Then will the Lord Christ reign forever and ever as Regent of Earth, Lord of Lords, and King of Kings.
The "working tools" of the First Degree are a twenty-four inch Guage and a common Gavel. Throughout all Degrees candidates are impressed with the ideal tha the Rough Ashlar must become the perfected Cubical Stone. The Gavel is the instrument wherewith rough edges are chipped away as the Stone is being shaped to fit the finished edifice. To a Mystic Mason the Gavel represents a controlled and spiritualized power of will that overcomes weaknesses of character one by one, and transforms them into vibrant and dynamic powers of spirit.
The twenty-four-inch Guage is a measurement of time. An esoteric candidate is taught soon after his entrance upon the Path that one of his most important accomplishments is to become an Invisible Helper. He learns that his real self is awake and alert the full twenty-four hours of every day, and that when his body is asleep he himself is free to travel to the ends of the earth on errands of love and mercy; to explore the depths of the sea or the heart of the planet; to soar through space; or, upon far flung battlefields where there is fear, pain and death, to respond to every cry for help. He may even penetrate the realms of the newly dead, visit hospitals where the struggle between life and death is being waged continuously, or wing his way to homes and hearts made desolate by the grim Reaper. These are the sacred and beneficient services and ministrations of love which an esoteric candidate may render when he becomes an Invisible Helper. They are fittingly described by the masonic admonition to "receive the wages of the Master which gives the ability to travel in foreign countries."
Every candidate is taught that he is Initiated into the First Degree-which means that he is born into a new life where his human consciousness becomes the servant of his spiritual self. He is passed in the Second Degree; in other words, he now possesses ability to investigate the wonders of inner realms. He is raised in the Third Degree; that is, he is freed from his body and is able to travel in both the objective and subjective realms. For him there are no boundaries or limitations to the freedom of spirit. Through earth and air, water and fire, an Initiate roams at will any time, always as the messenger of the Blessed Lord Christ. Such, in very truth, are the "wages" of a Master.
— Corinne Heline
