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  • The Masonic Magazine
  • Oct. 1, 1878
  • Page 48
  • THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY.
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The Masonic Magazine, Oct. 1, 1878: Page 48

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    Article THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. ← Page 3 of 3
Page 48

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The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

from possessed individuals ; silenced the heathen oracles ;* put all enemies under His feet , by His descent into hell ancl redemption thence . And it ivas for this very purpose that the Son of God ivas manifested : that He might destroy the works of the devil . The doctrine ivas also preserved in the ceremonies of the Spurious Freemasonry ; for the candidate , ivho represented Osiris , ivas made to descend into Tartarus , to witness the torments of the damned . But ho was soon delivered thence , and being conducted to the sacred plains , he heard the sound of sacred music , ancl saw the souls of the just in the enjoyment of those rewards which arc the result of piety and virtue .

A reference to the great sacrifice by ivhich these benefits were secured to man was also found in the observances of these remarkable institutions , which were used for conferring a ceremonial regeneration , and the symbol was tho colour of the rose , or blood . And it is an extraordinary coincidence that the same relation should exist between this colour and baptism , in Christianity . The Scriptures speak of the rosetree as the symbol of the regenerated , ancl dew ( ros ) as that of regeneration . The red

. and white , which are sometimes united in the rose , are types of the love and wisdom of God , ancl by appropriating them to himself the candidate becomes regenerated and competent to partake of the benefits which are derived from initiation . As amongst the Jews an unequivocal type of the Atonement , wrought out by the crucifixion of Christ , had been provided in the projected sacrifice of Isaac by his father ; so , in all other nations , evident vestiges of the same fact may be accurately traced in

the bloody sacrifices which were used to avert the anger ancl propitiate the favour of avenging deities , ancl to prevent the idea from being lost , there was a bloody baptism in the Mysteries , ivhich resembled the ceremony instituted by Moses hi the wilderness , t and Avas typical of the blood of Christ . It was called Taurobolium , and was confidently believed to convey a perfect regeneration to the soul . Mr . Maurice imagines that these regeneratory sacrifices showed the deep ancl unanimous conviction of the pagan world that man had fallen from the high condition of his original purity ; whence he compares them to Christian baptism , ancl thinks they symbolize the necessity of a radical conversion of the heart .

It is quite clear that the simple act of shedding blood , unaccompanied by any typical reference , could never have been believed capable of procuring the favour or acceptance of God , and therefore a faith in their efficacy could only have been derived from a tradition of the divine command given to Adam , and practised by the first martyr , that animal sacrifices should be used to preserve in the minds of men a knowledge of the vicarious offering which was to atone for human transgression .

This primitive command was perpetuated throughout the heathen world in the abstruse theories of the hierophant , ancl also by immemorial practice . It was used by Ham , the first post-diluvian idolater , and every colony of his posterity considered the omission to be worse than sacrilege . The same may be said of all the other descendants of Noah who contracted the same defilements . However their opinions respecting the name of the deity or the nature of divine worship might vary , still purification by of

blood was esteemed the most acceptable service , ancl was always used on occasions peculiar solemnity . Ancl it was universally believed that the perfection of human nature would be restored , and general security accomplished , by some great human sacrifice , the use and design of which , says South , j ; " Was to appease the deity by paying down a life for sin , and that by the substitution of a man or beast to die and pay down his life instead of the sinner . For there ivas a tacit acknowledgment that the wages of sin was death , and that without shedding of blood there coidd be no remission . " ( To be continued . )

“The Masonic Magazine: 1878-10-01, Page 48” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 28 May 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmg/issues/mmg_01101878/page/48/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
Monthly Masonic Summary. Article 1
CHARTER OF SCOON AND PERTH LODGE, A.D. 1658. Article 2
THE SO-CALLED LOCKE MS. Article 4
AN OPENING ODE. Article 7
MASONRY AND CHRISTIANITY. Article 8
A SONG FOR SUMMER. Article 9
FIVE POINTS OF FELLOWSHIP. Article 10
BEATRICE. Article 11
ART-JOTTINGS IN ART-STUDIOS.* Article 14
LEND A HELPING HAND. Article 16
AUTUMN LEAFLETS. Article 17
AN IMPROMPTU. Article 19
LORELEI. Article 19
MILDRED: AN AUTUMN ROMANCE. Article 21
A VISIT TO ASHOVER CHURCHYARD. Article 25
LOST AND SAVED; OR, NELLIE POWERS, THE MISSIONARY'S DAUGHTER. Article 28
REVIEW. Article 32
SONNET. Article 34
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. Article 35
THE MODERN ORDER OF "KNIGHTS TEMPLAR" IN THE BRITISH DOMINIONS. Article 38
THE ORIGIN AND REFERENCES OF THE HERMESIAN SPURIOUS FREEMASONRY. Article 46
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

The Origin And References Of The Hermesian Spurious Freemasonry.

from possessed individuals ; silenced the heathen oracles ;* put all enemies under His feet , by His descent into hell ancl redemption thence . And it ivas for this very purpose that the Son of God ivas manifested : that He might destroy the works of the devil . The doctrine ivas also preserved in the ceremonies of the Spurious Freemasonry ; for the candidate , ivho represented Osiris , ivas made to descend into Tartarus , to witness the torments of the damned . But ho was soon delivered thence , and being conducted to the sacred plains , he heard the sound of sacred music , ancl saw the souls of the just in the enjoyment of those rewards which arc the result of piety and virtue .

A reference to the great sacrifice by ivhich these benefits were secured to man was also found in the observances of these remarkable institutions , which were used for conferring a ceremonial regeneration , and the symbol was tho colour of the rose , or blood . And it is an extraordinary coincidence that the same relation should exist between this colour and baptism , in Christianity . The Scriptures speak of the rosetree as the symbol of the regenerated , ancl dew ( ros ) as that of regeneration . The red

. and white , which are sometimes united in the rose , are types of the love and wisdom of God , ancl by appropriating them to himself the candidate becomes regenerated and competent to partake of the benefits which are derived from initiation . As amongst the Jews an unequivocal type of the Atonement , wrought out by the crucifixion of Christ , had been provided in the projected sacrifice of Isaac by his father ; so , in all other nations , evident vestiges of the same fact may be accurately traced in

the bloody sacrifices which were used to avert the anger ancl propitiate the favour of avenging deities , ancl to prevent the idea from being lost , there was a bloody baptism in the Mysteries , ivhich resembled the ceremony instituted by Moses hi the wilderness , t and Avas typical of the blood of Christ . It was called Taurobolium , and was confidently believed to convey a perfect regeneration to the soul . Mr . Maurice imagines that these regeneratory sacrifices showed the deep ancl unanimous conviction of the pagan world that man had fallen from the high condition of his original purity ; whence he compares them to Christian baptism , ancl thinks they symbolize the necessity of a radical conversion of the heart .

It is quite clear that the simple act of shedding blood , unaccompanied by any typical reference , could never have been believed capable of procuring the favour or acceptance of God , and therefore a faith in their efficacy could only have been derived from a tradition of the divine command given to Adam , and practised by the first martyr , that animal sacrifices should be used to preserve in the minds of men a knowledge of the vicarious offering which was to atone for human transgression .

This primitive command was perpetuated throughout the heathen world in the abstruse theories of the hierophant , ancl also by immemorial practice . It was used by Ham , the first post-diluvian idolater , and every colony of his posterity considered the omission to be worse than sacrilege . The same may be said of all the other descendants of Noah who contracted the same defilements . However their opinions respecting the name of the deity or the nature of divine worship might vary , still purification by of

blood was esteemed the most acceptable service , ancl was always used on occasions peculiar solemnity . Ancl it was universally believed that the perfection of human nature would be restored , and general security accomplished , by some great human sacrifice , the use and design of which , says South , j ; " Was to appease the deity by paying down a life for sin , and that by the substitution of a man or beast to die and pay down his life instead of the sinner . For there ivas a tacit acknowledgment that the wages of sin was death , and that without shedding of blood there coidd be no remission . " ( To be continued . )

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