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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Aug. 1, 1880
  • Page 23
  • THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES.
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The Masonic Magazine, Aug. 1, 1880: Page 23

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Page 23

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

The Ancient Mysteries.

sometimes prodigies and marvellous events succeeded one another with rapidity , Avbile injunctions of tbe most rigorous silence Avere imposed on the spectators . Hence those objects of magnificence or terror presented to the eyes , all calculated to produce tbe most lively impressions on tho mind . Such ceremonies are still iu use iu China , in Japan , and in those Eastern monarchies that haA'e subsisted from immemorial times . * They were knoAvn to the Caribbessto the

, Mexicans , aucl to the inhabitants of Peru , *)* before the destructive invasion of tbe Spaniards ; and they are found also at this day among the savages scattered over the Northern countries of the New . World , ! who , Avitb their independence , have preserved their original LO-AYS . Such formerly Avore the opinions of our brave ancestors , AA'I IO supported for so long a time the cause of liberty against the oppressors of the human race : tbey too had a

secret religion , and they fixed its abode in the obscurest retreats . Darksome AYOOCIS that inspired a sacred horror , ancl which time had respected as Avell as the band of man , were the habitations of their gods . Nobody durst approach them except on those stated days in which the Druids , escorted by the principal chiefs , went in pompons solemnit y to cut the sacred mistletoe , the symbol of their worship . In the Northern extremity of our continentalso

, , inaccessible grottos and immense caverns served to conceal from the multitude the sacrifices § of the priests of Odin , as we learn from some ancient characters inscribed on certain rocks in Iceland or Norway . Lastly , even those people that have been lately discovered scattered among the islands of the great Pacific Ocean , ancl Avho have been separated till UOAV from the world , have also their Mysteries . || We haA'e had more than one occasion to observe this

conformity of religious opinions in different ages ancl in different climates , Avbence , perhaps , it may be concluded that between man and the Deity there exist only a certain number of connecting relations , which are easil y traced . Thus , each individual system originating from the same princi p les would produce nearly similar results when civil society began to be formed ; ancl AA'hen afterwards a general intercourse was established among nations , it is not surprising that various people should insensibly adopt a theology similar in the essential parts thou ° \ h different in the form .

Thus , the first Greeks easily embraced that theology which was introduced , among them by tbe colonies . Tbey had borrowed their deities from tbe Oriental nations : to them they AA'ere indebted for that secret part of tbe religion Avhich could alone inform tbem of tbe true object of their veneration . The Mysteries were particularly celebrated in that country which has justly been considered as the parent of tho sciences ; f there they AA'ere cultivated by an

order of priests entrusted Avitb the care of preserving the sacred deposit ; and there it was only allowed to a feAV Avise men to remove the veil by which they AA'ere concealed . Orpheus , to AA'I IOIU we must always bave recourse Avhen Ave investigate tbe religion of the Greeks , bad travelled into Egypt , whence he had brought the Mysteries , which a philosopher of antiquity ** calls Divine , because tbey softened tbe manners of men ; because , with IaA \ 'S , tbey bestoAvecl

on them life and nourishment ; and , divesting them of their brutal inclinations , recalled tbem to tbe virtues of humanity . They Avere first instituted in a small island situated at the entry of tbe Tbracian Chersonesns , AA'hich antiquity long venerated as the centre of reli gion , and thence they passed insensibly into the neighbouring countries Melampus , instructed in the school of Orpheus , established similar institutions in Argolis ,

as did Trophonius in Bceotia , and the celebrated Musiens at Athens . ff In each canton tbey Avere distinguished by a different name , or rather , if Ave may use the expression , tbey had been put under the invocation of a particular divinit y

“The Masonic Magazine: 1880-08-01, Page 23” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01081880/page/23/.
  • List
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Title Category Page
WHAT WAS THE HERMETIC SOCIETY OF 1721 ? Article 1
A LECTURE ON THE ANTIQUITY OF LAYING CORNER STONES WITH RELIGIOUS AND MYSTICAL CEREMONIES. Article 3
WHAT'S IN A SIGN ? Article 7
WAITING: THE POET'S GUERDON. Article 9
OLD RECORDS OF THE LODGE OF PEEBLES. Article 10
THE QUARTERLY COMMUNICATIONS. Article 12
THE ASTROLOGY OF SHAKESPEARE. Article 14
CAMOENS: POET AND WARRIOR. Article 17
THE BEAUTIFUL STONE OF THE MASONIC ARCH. Article 20
THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES. Article 21
LODGE HISTORIES. Article 25
SONNET ON THE LATE LEARNED JOHN OXLEE. Article 29
THE LIVERY COMPANIES AND ART TREASURES. Article 30
"ARS QUATUOR CORONATORUM." Article 33
IN THE LONG RUN. Article 36
LITERARY AND ANTIQUARIAN GOSSIP. Article 36
PERFORMANCE OF THE AGAMEMNON OF AESCHYLUS AT BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD. Article 39
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Ancient Mysteries.

sometimes prodigies and marvellous events succeeded one another with rapidity , Avbile injunctions of tbe most rigorous silence Avere imposed on the spectators . Hence those objects of magnificence or terror presented to the eyes , all calculated to produce tbe most lively impressions on tho mind . Such ceremonies are still iu use iu China , in Japan , and in those Eastern monarchies that haA'e subsisted from immemorial times . * They were knoAvn to the Caribbessto the

, Mexicans , aucl to the inhabitants of Peru , *)* before the destructive invasion of tbe Spaniards ; and they are found also at this day among the savages scattered over the Northern countries of the New . World , ! who , Avitb their independence , have preserved their original LO-AYS . Such formerly Avore the opinions of our brave ancestors , AA'I IO supported for so long a time the cause of liberty against the oppressors of the human race : tbey too had a

secret religion , and they fixed its abode in the obscurest retreats . Darksome AYOOCIS that inspired a sacred horror , ancl which time had respected as Avell as the band of man , were the habitations of their gods . Nobody durst approach them except on those stated days in which the Druids , escorted by the principal chiefs , went in pompons solemnit y to cut the sacred mistletoe , the symbol of their worship . In the Northern extremity of our continentalso

, , inaccessible grottos and immense caverns served to conceal from the multitude the sacrifices § of the priests of Odin , as we learn from some ancient characters inscribed on certain rocks in Iceland or Norway . Lastly , even those people that have been lately discovered scattered among the islands of the great Pacific Ocean , ancl Avho have been separated till UOAV from the world , have also their Mysteries . || We haA'e had more than one occasion to observe this

conformity of religious opinions in different ages ancl in different climates , Avbence , perhaps , it may be concluded that between man and the Deity there exist only a certain number of connecting relations , which are easil y traced . Thus , each individual system originating from the same princi p les would produce nearly similar results when civil society began to be formed ; ancl AA'hen afterwards a general intercourse was established among nations , it is not surprising that various people should insensibly adopt a theology similar in the essential parts thou ° \ h different in the form .

Thus , the first Greeks easily embraced that theology which was introduced , among them by tbe colonies . Tbey had borrowed their deities from tbe Oriental nations : to them they AA'ere indebted for that secret part of tbe religion Avhich could alone inform tbem of tbe true object of their veneration . The Mysteries were particularly celebrated in that country which has justly been considered as the parent of tho sciences ; f there they AA'ere cultivated by an

order of priests entrusted Avitb the care of preserving the sacred deposit ; and there it was only allowed to a feAV Avise men to remove the veil by which they AA'ere concealed . Orpheus , to AA'I IOIU we must always bave recourse Avhen Ave investigate tbe religion of the Greeks , bad travelled into Egypt , whence he had brought the Mysteries , which a philosopher of antiquity ** calls Divine , because tbey softened tbe manners of men ; because , with IaA \ 'S , tbey bestoAvecl

on them life and nourishment ; and , divesting them of their brutal inclinations , recalled tbem to tbe virtues of humanity . They Avere first instituted in a small island situated at the entry of tbe Tbracian Chersonesns , AA'hich antiquity long venerated as the centre of reli gion , and thence they passed insensibly into the neighbouring countries Melampus , instructed in the school of Orpheus , established similar institutions in Argolis ,

as did Trophonius in Bceotia , and the celebrated Musiens at Athens . ff In each canton tbey Avere distinguished by a different name , or rather , if Ave may use the expression , tbey had been put under the invocation of a particular divinit y

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