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Article THE MYTHIC GOAT. Page 1 of 3 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Mythic Goat.
THE MYTHIC GOAT .
TXTE have been always accustomed to believe that the story of the mythic and circumambulating goat was a base invention of the enemy , a coarse and foolish " skit" which it was hardly worth noticing , and was very good for a joke on the part of a sensationalist believer , a fanatical denouncer , or a Roman Catholic excommunicator
of Freemasons and Freemasonry . But lo and behold ! as truth is always stranger than fiction , and wonders never cease in this sublunary scene , in a grave report of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska , for the very year of light 1882 , we find this "soft impeachment" of Masonic manners and Masonic good
sense declared to be founded on fact . Listen to Bro . N . K . Griggs , who at p . 338 thus discloses the " secrets of the charnel house . " He declares that there is a variation as between the German and American mode , and having fixed the " locus in quo " in the Third
Degree , of all places , he thus proceeds in a burst of natural eloquence to hold up to our thrilled gaze the perambulation of the mysterious " goat , " though , he adds , the Germans prefer a " sheep . " The whole tale has a very sheepish air according to us , and if there really be such a relic of the ancient mysteries in existence still in Deutschland , we wonder why our dear German cousins and brethren did not retain the memory as well of the ibis , the monkey , or the alligator .
But now , as we said before , let us listen , and listen reverently , to our good Bro . Griggs , the vivacious heirophant and mystagogue of these new mysteries of lies and rubbish combined .
I . —THE AMERICAN MODE . " The craftsman is properly prepared , hoodwinked , and placed astride of an active , combative goat ; the goat is then prodded around the lodge-room with the Tyler ' s sword and Deacons' staves , but never
fails to pause , sometimes very suddenly , at each regular Masonic station ; the poor blind candidate often fails to notice the stations in season , and is finally raised from the floor in ancient form , and is forthwith pronounced a proficient M . M . By the next conferring of a like degree he is so well posted that he serves as one of the Deacons'' with equal pleasure to himself and honour to the fraternity . '
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Mythic Goat.
THE MYTHIC GOAT .
TXTE have been always accustomed to believe that the story of the mythic and circumambulating goat was a base invention of the enemy , a coarse and foolish " skit" which it was hardly worth noticing , and was very good for a joke on the part of a sensationalist believer , a fanatical denouncer , or a Roman Catholic excommunicator
of Freemasons and Freemasonry . But lo and behold ! as truth is always stranger than fiction , and wonders never cease in this sublunary scene , in a grave report of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska , for the very year of light 1882 , we find this "soft impeachment" of Masonic manners and Masonic good
sense declared to be founded on fact . Listen to Bro . N . K . Griggs , who at p . 338 thus discloses the " secrets of the charnel house . " He declares that there is a variation as between the German and American mode , and having fixed the " locus in quo " in the Third
Degree , of all places , he thus proceeds in a burst of natural eloquence to hold up to our thrilled gaze the perambulation of the mysterious " goat , " though , he adds , the Germans prefer a " sheep . " The whole tale has a very sheepish air according to us , and if there really be such a relic of the ancient mysteries in existence still in Deutschland , we wonder why our dear German cousins and brethren did not retain the memory as well of the ibis , the monkey , or the alligator .
But now , as we said before , let us listen , and listen reverently , to our good Bro . Griggs , the vivacious heirophant and mystagogue of these new mysteries of lies and rubbish combined .
I . —THE AMERICAN MODE . " The craftsman is properly prepared , hoodwinked , and placed astride of an active , combative goat ; the goat is then prodded around the lodge-room with the Tyler ' s sword and Deacons' staves , but never
fails to pause , sometimes very suddenly , at each regular Masonic station ; the poor blind candidate often fails to notice the stations in season , and is finally raised from the floor in ancient form , and is forthwith pronounced a proficient M . M . By the next conferring of a like degree he is so well posted that he serves as one of the Deacons'' with equal pleasure to himself and honour to the fraternity . '