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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Feb. 1, 1882
  • Page 22
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The Masonic Magazine, Feb. 1, 1882: Page 22

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    Article ADONHIRAMITE MASONRY. ← Page 3 of 5 →
Page 22

Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Adonhiramite Masonry.

All ancient authors agree that these Magi had receptions for their initiates , to whom they taught the secrets , aud unfolded to them the knowledge of mysteries impenetrable for everyone else . They alone were charged with the education of the kings and of the grandees , because they were the only persons who understood " the arts ancl nature ; " * and , whatever were the prejudices against them , it is indubitable that their doctrine was nothing but a natural theology , founded on the " Cultus "

, and adoration of a Supreme Being , as Arnobius has remarked . But as everything with them was symbolical , their great number of hieroglyphs has caused many errors to be imputed to them , of which they were incapable . It is easy to judge of this by the great illumination which possessed those whom they had instructed ; and we must admit , "by all that is told us in the history of Abraham , of Jacobof Josephandabove allof Mosesthat these great men owed much

, , , , , of their knowledge to those sages of Egypt , ancl that they followed their maxims iu that which regarded the police , the government , war , offices , the public safety , & c . The Magi , especially those at Memphis ancl Heliopolis , were so much considered , aud their reputation extended so far , that all the great warriors , philosophersstrangers of a superior rankcame to Egypt to be initiated among

, , the priests to learn the secrets of the priesthood . Then , as each returned into his own country he made his fresh knowledge subserve either his own interest or selflove , ' and instituted doctrines , games , festivals , mysteries , following his own views and his opinions . It was from among them that Lycurgas and Solon drew a portion of their moral teaching ; that Orpheus came to be initiated , which fact furnished him with the means of instituting the festivals in his own country

, and which gave birth to the Grecian Mythology . It was among them that Thales was instructed , that Pythagoras obtained his metempsychosis , - } - that Herodotus collected an infinity of information , Democritus his secrets , and thousands of others alike .

There it was that Moses , brought up among the Magi , profiting by the wisdom which he had received , made it serve to deliver the Israelites from the slavery of the Egyptians , and above all to establish the worship of the one true God . We know how much trouble he had to maintain obedience among his people when they were in the wilderness , and that he required nothing less than a jmrified morality and all the learning of the Magi , as much as regards physics as astronomy , to enable him to succeed . It is true that the ignorance

of the Israelites did not contribute a little to his designs ; for what knowledge could men have who had always been slaves amongst a people where all learning was in the hands of the priests ? We know that Moses made use of probationary trials for the Levites ; that the secrets of the priesthood were impenetrable to all other Israelites , and that their maxims were preserved until the time of Solomon . Besides , we must be persuaded , after what the

sacred books tell us , that all that was in the temple was emblematical , like the candlestick with seven branches , the twelve oxen , the bread , the book of seven seals , etc . Bat after the destruction of Jerusalem the Jewish people , whether wandering or enslaved , finding themselves dispersed in all parts of the world , could not prevent Paganism from taking possession of the remaining portion of their secrets , and the probationary trials which it employed the better to judge of those to whom they confided their mysteries . J Accordingly they neglected none of these means to give credit to all the new institutions , even the most ridiculous and the most unworthy , § and

“The Masonic Magazine: 1882-02-01, Page 22” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01021882/page/22/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
FREEMASONRY IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY ; CHESTER, 1650-1700—APPENDIX. Article 1
THE QUEEN AND THE CRAFT. Article 12
DOCUMENTA LATOMICA INEDITA. Article 13
ACTS OF PARLIAMENT RELATING TO CRAFTSMEN. Article 18
ADONHIRAMITE MASONRY. Article 20
FOUNTAINS ABBEY, YORKSHIRE. Article 25
RELIEF. Article 32
USE OF THE WORD FREEMASON. Article 33
THE LANTERN AT PLUMPTON HALL. Article 34
AFTER ALL; Article 36
LITERARY GOSSIP. Article 41
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Adonhiramite Masonry.

All ancient authors agree that these Magi had receptions for their initiates , to whom they taught the secrets , aud unfolded to them the knowledge of mysteries impenetrable for everyone else . They alone were charged with the education of the kings and of the grandees , because they were the only persons who understood " the arts ancl nature ; " * and , whatever were the prejudices against them , it is indubitable that their doctrine was nothing but a natural theology , founded on the " Cultus "

, and adoration of a Supreme Being , as Arnobius has remarked . But as everything with them was symbolical , their great number of hieroglyphs has caused many errors to be imputed to them , of which they were incapable . It is easy to judge of this by the great illumination which possessed those whom they had instructed ; and we must admit , "by all that is told us in the history of Abraham , of Jacobof Josephandabove allof Mosesthat these great men owed much

, , , , , of their knowledge to those sages of Egypt , ancl that they followed their maxims iu that which regarded the police , the government , war , offices , the public safety , & c . The Magi , especially those at Memphis ancl Heliopolis , were so much considered , aud their reputation extended so far , that all the great warriors , philosophersstrangers of a superior rankcame to Egypt to be initiated among

, , the priests to learn the secrets of the priesthood . Then , as each returned into his own country he made his fresh knowledge subserve either his own interest or selflove , ' and instituted doctrines , games , festivals , mysteries , following his own views and his opinions . It was from among them that Lycurgas and Solon drew a portion of their moral teaching ; that Orpheus came to be initiated , which fact furnished him with the means of instituting the festivals in his own country

, and which gave birth to the Grecian Mythology . It was among them that Thales was instructed , that Pythagoras obtained his metempsychosis , - } - that Herodotus collected an infinity of information , Democritus his secrets , and thousands of others alike .

There it was that Moses , brought up among the Magi , profiting by the wisdom which he had received , made it serve to deliver the Israelites from the slavery of the Egyptians , and above all to establish the worship of the one true God . We know how much trouble he had to maintain obedience among his people when they were in the wilderness , and that he required nothing less than a jmrified morality and all the learning of the Magi , as much as regards physics as astronomy , to enable him to succeed . It is true that the ignorance

of the Israelites did not contribute a little to his designs ; for what knowledge could men have who had always been slaves amongst a people where all learning was in the hands of the priests ? We know that Moses made use of probationary trials for the Levites ; that the secrets of the priesthood were impenetrable to all other Israelites , and that their maxims were preserved until the time of Solomon . Besides , we must be persuaded , after what the

sacred books tell us , that all that was in the temple was emblematical , like the candlestick with seven branches , the twelve oxen , the bread , the book of seven seals , etc . Bat after the destruction of Jerusalem the Jewish people , whether wandering or enslaved , finding themselves dispersed in all parts of the world , could not prevent Paganism from taking possession of the remaining portion of their secrets , and the probationary trials which it employed the better to judge of those to whom they confided their mysteries . J Accordingly they neglected none of these means to give credit to all the new institutions , even the most ridiculous and the most unworthy , § and

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