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The Mysticism of MasonryIntroductoryIn placing this volume, which is the revised edition of the book firstissued under the title, Ancient Mystic Oriental Masonry, I do so without thethought of an apology, owing to the fact that the first edition was receivedby the earnest students of Masonry and the Occult not because it was anexpose, but because it was an interpretation of Masonic symbolism as handeddown to us through the ages from the Mysteries of the Ancients.As a Masonic work, the book must stand unchallenged for the reason that thebasis of its symbolism is from the highest and universally accepted Masonicwriters. The interpretation is also Masonic, with an additional Mysticinterpretation appearing within brackets. For this I am personallyresponsible, though these explanations are based on and entirely harmoniouswith the inculcations of the Ancient Mysteries as received by myself throughmy various journeys in the realm of the mystic. It is therefore entirelylawful for me to offer them to the aspiring neophyte.There are indeed many reasons why the present volume should be generouslycirculated among all classes of students of the Occult and Mystic, especiallythe members of the Masonic bodies.Entirely too little is known to the vast majority of these brethren of themodern organizations known as Masonic. They have been given the letter, which,though beautiful in itself, does not contain the life, and because of thislack, they cannot successfully defend the expression frequently heard, thatMasonry is a religion.Initiation is not what it is generally supposed to be. All Masons arefamiliar with the ceremonial form of Initiation but in reality this is no morethan an outward symbolization of an inner, an esoteric work, which should takeplace within each man seeking the Mysteries. A man may have received thedegrees of the Blue Lodge and may be an honor to that lodge and yet be whollyunfamiliar with the method of procedure which would bring into manifestationthe results of the personification of the life as symbolized in these threedegrees. It is this outcome of which, not only Masons but the entire humanrace are now so very much in need.Thousands of good men and true accept the letter of Masonry for the spiritor as including the spirit. Here is where begins the first great error.Nothing new can come to Masonry but there is a world of truth in Masonicsymbolism of which the vast majority of the membership of the honored body hasnot even heard, to say nothing of having a comprehension of the saving truththerein contained. It is for the purpose of helping these and pointing themthe way, that the present work in its new form of interpretation is presentedto them, as well as to the public, it being the author's contention that thisplan cannot possibly harm Masonry but, contrariwise, will help to glorify theinstitution by showing that it is kept alive and moving forward by a spiritwhich makes for the welfare not alone of the members of the association, butof mankind generally and universally.Masons who know and Initiates of the true Occult Brotherhoods who have hadlife and strength enspirited within by the knowledge of basic truthsharmonious with universal (God's) irrevocable Law, uncontradictably maintainthat:
 
INITIATION AND REGENERATION ARE SYNONYMOUS TERMS"The ritual of Freemasonry [Masonic symbolization] is based on this naturallaw, and the ceremony of initiation illustrates, at every step, thisprinciple, and if the result attained is a possession [of words and symbols]rather than a regeneration [of the candidate], in the great majority of cases,the principle remains none the less true. The mere inculcation of moralprinciples, or lessons in ethic, and their symbolic illustration and dramaticrepresentation, are by no means in vain. These appeal to the conscience andmoral sense in every man and no man has ever been made worse by the lessons ofthe lodge. By these rites and benefits, the Freemason is, above all men, inour so- called modern civilization, the nearest to the Ancient Wisdom. He haspossession of the territory in which lie concealed the Crown Jewels of Wisdom.He may dig deeper and find not only the Keystone of the Arch, the Ark of theCovenant, the Scroll of the Law but, using the spirit concealed in the wingsof the Cherubim, he may rise untrammeled by the rubbish of the temple and,meeting Elohim [Jehovah Adonai - the Father of Light], learn also to say "I amthat I am!" Does this read like a rhapsody, and are the landmarks, traditionsand glyphs of Freemasonry, nothing more?"The Universal Science and the Sublime Philosophy, once taught in theGreater Mysteries of Egypt, Chaldea, Persia and India [ and now in thePriesthood of ÆEth] and among the many other nations of antiquity, is a deadletter in modern Freemasonry. The intelligent Mason, however, should be thelast person in the world to deny that such a Wisdom once existed, for thesimple reason that the whole superstructure of Masonry is built upon thetraditions of its existence, and its ritual serves as its living monument.Proficiency in the preceding degree is everywhere made a reason foradvancement in Masonry. This proficiency is made to consist in the ability ofthe candidate to repeat word for word, certain rituals and obligations alreadypassed, the meaning and explanations of which constitute the lectures in thevarious degrees. The usage at this point, in the United States at least,serves to secure the rights and benefits of the Lodge [the lodge is symbolicof the heavens as well as the universe] to those entitled to them, and towithhold them from others, rather than to advance the candidate in realknowledge [i.e., the bringing into existence, manifestation andpersonification the potencies and forces innate within this universe whichwould becomeheaven]. -Dr. Buck, Mystic Masonry.Centuries ago, a real Mysticism existed within the Symbolic Masonry andthis is the legend:(*)-----------------------------------------------------------(*) All the Degrees of Ancient Mystic Masonry are in possession of theFraternity, Sons of Osiris.-----------------------------------------------------------It came to pass when the Great Temple was completed that Solomon hesitatedto dedicate it for two reasons:First, on account of the death of Hiram Abiff.Second, due to the fact that with the death of the Widow's Son, theMaster's Word and the secret manner of using it had been lost. Therefore,Solomon in his extremity called a Secret Council at low-twelve in the secretcrypt under the Sanctum Sanctorum. This Secret Council consisted of Solomon,King of Israel; Hiram, King of Tyre; Zadok, the High Priest and Benaiah,Captain of the Guards.
 
After Solomon had deplored the loss of Hiram Abiff and, with him, theMaster's Word and the secret manner of using it, Hiram, King of Tyre, aroseand reminded King Solomon that Nathan, the Prophet, was still alive and mightbe able to render some assistance in the present calamity. Solomon, therefore,ordered Benaiah, Captain of the Guards, to search out and bring before himNathan, the Prophet.Benaiah, having ascertained that Nathan the Prophet was at the house ofAbiathar, a former High Priest under King David, repaired to the palace onlyto find that Nathan had died of old age but a very short time previous to hisarrival. He therefore set about to return and discovering a stranger wanderingnear the Secret Crypt, he thereupon took him into his custody and brought himbefore the Secret Council. The stranger proved to be Abdemon, a very wise manand a subject of Hiram, King of Tyre. Upon examination it was found that hehad been initiated as an Entered Apprentice, passed to the Degree of FellowCraft, raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason by Seisan, a Scribe, whohad journeyed into the country of the Tyrians, so that the secrets of Masonrypreceded Hiram, King of Tyre, into his own dominions.Abdemon, being a Master Mason, and recognized by King Hiram as a verylearned and crafty man, was at length admitted to the Secret Council aftergiving into the hands of King Solomon a manuscript that had been given to himin a wonderful and mysterious manner by an Egyptian during the time he washeld in confinement by the Secret Council. Solomon was so pleased with themanuscript that he then and there admitted Abdemon as a member of the SecretCouncil which was then sitting. Abdemon, in his turn, felt himself so highlyhonored that he begged leave and received permission to journey into the landof Egypt that he might be initiated into the secrets of the Initiates of theGreat Pyramid and, in turn, promised to journey back into the land of theIsraelites and disclose to the Secret Council what he had learned. Abdemon wassuccessful in his efforts and the following degrees were instituted topreserve the knowledge he had gained in the land of Egypt and his journey andinitiation in the Great Stone Pyramid: The King's Pioneer; Degree of Master ofthe Secret Cavern.After resting for three days at the well of Beersheba, Ameni, the Singer,the Horoscopus and Abdemon, under the escort of the King's Pioneer, journeyedby easy stages to Mount Serbal, where the parties took refuge in a naturalcave and there Abdemon received his final instructions before his initiationinto the Degrees of the Pyramid.During the course of the journey, Ameni disclosed to Abdemon many hiddenmysteries concerning initiation and why it was impossible to make thesedisclosures to the multitude in general. Among the things which Amenicommunicated to Abdemon on their journey, the following is but a part:"Before appearing on earth, man [the Soul which takes up its abode in thebody we call man] lived in a spiritual world, similar to the one in which helives on leaving the earth. Each awaits his turn in this sphere to appear onearth, an appearance necessary, a life of trials none can escape."The life anterior, which we have all passed through, was, so to speak, alife of nothingness, of childbirth, of happiness like that which we enjoy onour exit from the earth; but this happiness cannot be comprehended, because itis not accompanied with sensations to prove its reality, therefore God deemedit fit that we should pass through these successive lives, the first, on theglobes of which I speak to you - a life unknown of beatitude, devoid ofsensation - the second, the one you now enjoy, a life of action, sensation - apainful life placed between the two, to demonstrate through its contrast the
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