The Mysteries

Of all the mysteries of the ancient religions, those celebrated at the village of Eleusis, near the city of Athens, were the most splendid and the most popular. To them men came, says Cicero, from the remotest regions to be initiated. They were also the most ancient, if we may believe St. Epiphanius, who traces them to the reign of Inachus, more than eighteen hundred years before the Christian era. They were dedicated to the goddess Demeter, the Ceres of the Romans, who was worshiped by the Greeks as the symbol of the prolific earth; and in them were scenically represented the loss and recovery of Persephone, and the doctrines of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul were esoterically taught. The learned Faber believed that there was an intimate connection between the Arkite worship and the mysteries of Eleusis; but Faber's theory was that the Arkite rites, which he traced to almost all the nations of antiquity, symbolized, in the escape of Noah and the renovation of the earth, the doctrines of the of the resurrection and the immortal life. Plutarch (De Is. et Os) says that the travels of Isis in search of Osiris(search for truth) were not different from those of Demeter in search of Persephone; and this view has been adapted by St. Croix(Myst. du Pag.) and by Creuzer,(Symb.;) and we may well suppose that the recovery of the former Byblos, and of the latter in Hades, were both intended to symbolize the restoration of the soul after death to eternal life. The learned have generally admitted that when Virgil, in the sixth book of his Aeneid, depicted the descent of Aeneas into hell, he intended to give a representation of the Eleusinian mysteries.

The mysteries were divided into two classes, the lesser and the greater. The lesser mysteries were celebrated on the banks of the Ilissus, whose waters supplied the means of purification of aspirants. The greater mysteries were celebrated in the temple at Eleusis. An interval of six months occurred between them, the former taking place in March and the latter in September; which has led some writers to suppose that there was some mystical reference to the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. But, considering the character of Demeter as the goddess of Agriculture, it might be imagined, although this a mere conjecture, that the reference was to seed-time and harvest. A year, however, was required to elapse before the initiate into the lesser mysteries was granted admission into the greater.

In conducting the mysteries, there were four officers, namely: 1. The Hierophant, or explainer of the sacred things. As the pontifex maxims in Rome, so he was the chief priest of Attica; he presided over the ceremonies and explained the nature of the mysteries to the initiated. 2. The Dadouchus, or torch-bearer, who appears to have acted as the immediate assistant of the Hierophant. 3. The Hieroceryx, or sacred herald, who had the general care of the temple, guarded it from the profanation of the uninitiated, and took charge of the aspirant during the trials of initiation.(life) 4. The Epibomus, or alter-server, who conducted the sacrifices.

The ceremonies of initiation in the lesser mysteries were altogether purificatory, and intended to prepare the neophyte for his reception into the more sublime rites of the greater mysteries. This, an ancient poet, quoted by Plutarch, illustrates by saying that sleep is the lesser mysteries of the death. The candidate who desired to pass through this initiation entered the modest temple, erected for that purpose on the borders of Illissus, and there submitted to the required ablutions, typical of moral purification. The Dadouchus then placed his feet upon the skins of the victims which had been immolated by Jupiter. Hesychius says that only the left fot was placed on the skins. In this position he was asked if he had eaten bread, and he was pure; and his reples being satisfactory, he pased through other symbolic ceremonies, the mystical signification of which was given to him, an oath of secrecy having been previously administered. The initiate into the lesser mysteries was called a mystes, a title which being derived from a Greek word meaning to shut the eyes, signified that he was yet blind as to the greater truths thereafter to be revealed.

The greater mysteries lasted for nine days, and were celebrated partly on the Thriasian plain, which surrounded the temple, and partly in the temple of Eleusis itself. Of this temple, one of the magnificent and largest in Greece, not a vestige is now left. Its antiquity was very great having been in existence, according to Aristides the rhetorician, when the Dorians marched against Athens. It was burned by the retreating Persians under Xerxes, but immediately rebuilt, and finally destroyed with the city by Alaric, "the Scourge of God," and all that is now left of Eleusis and its spacious temples is the mere site occupied by the insignificant Greek village of Lepsina, an evident corruption of the ancient name.

The herald opened the ceremonies of initiation into the greater mysteries by the proclamation "Retire , O ye profane." Thus were the sacred precincts titled. The aspirant was clothed with the skin of a calf. An oath of secrecy was administered, and he was asked, "Have you eaten bread?" The reply to which was, "I have fasted; I have drunk the sacred mixture; I have taken it out of the chest." By this reply, the aspirant showed that he had been duly prepared by initiation into the lesser mysteries; for the Clement of Alexandria says that this was a shibboleth, or password, by which the myste, or initiates, into the lesser mysteries were known as such, and admitted to the epopteia or greater initiation. The gesture of spinning wool, in imitation of what Demeter did in the the time of her affliction, seemed also to be used as a sign of recognition.

The aspirant was now clothed in the sacred tunic, and awaited in the vestibule the opening of the doors of the sanctuary.

What subseuently took place must be left in great part to conjecture, although modern writers have availed themselves of all the allusions that are to be found in the ancients. The temple consisted of three parts: the megaron, or sanctuary, corresponding to the holy place of the Temple of Solomon; the anactoron, or holy of holies, and a subterranean apartment beneath the temple. Each of these was probably occupied at a different portion of the initiation. The representatiom of the infernal regions, and the punishment of the uninitiated impious was appropiated to the subterranean apartment, and was, as Sylvestre de Sacy says, (Notes to St. Croix, i. 360,) an episode of the drama which represented the adventures of Isis, Osiris, and Typhon, or Demeter, Persephone, and Pluto. This drama, the same author thinks, represented the carrying away of Persephone, the travels of Demeter in search of her lost daughter, her descent into hell; the union of Pluto with Persephone, and was terminated by the return of Demeter into the upper world and light of day. The representation of this drama commenced immediatly after the profane had been sent from the temple. And it is easy to understand how the groans and wailings with which the temple at one time resounded might symbolize the sufferings and death of man, and subsequent rejoicings at the return of the goddess might be typical of the joy for the restoration of the soul to eternal life. Others have conjectured that the drama of the mysteries represented , in the deportation of Persephone to Hades by Pluto, the departure, as it were, of the sun, or the deprivation of its vivific powers during the winter months, and her reappearance on earth, the restoration to life of the murderd Zagreus, or Dionysus, by Demeter. Diodorus says that the members of the body of Zagreus lacerated by the Titans was represented in the ceremonies of mysteries, as well as in the Orphic hymns; but he prudently adds that he was not allowed to reveal the details to the uninitiated. Whatever was the precise method of symbolism, it is evident that the true interpretation was the restoration from death to eternal life, and that the funereal part of the initiation referred to a loss, and the exultation afterwards to a recovery. Hence it was folly to deny the coincidence that exists between this Eleusinian drama that enacted in the third degree of Masonry. It is not claimed that the one was the interrupted successor of the other, but there must have been a common ideal sourcee for the origin of both. The lesson, the dogma, the symbol, and the method of instruction are the same. Having now as Pindar says, "descended beneath the hollow earth, and beheld those mysteries," the initiate ceased to be a mystes, or blind man, and was thenceforth called an epopt, a word signifying he who beholds.

The Eleusinian mysteries, which, by their splendor, surpassed all comtemporary institutions of the kind, were deemed of so much importance as to be taken under the special protection of the state, and to the council of five hundred were intrusted the observance of the ordinances which regulated them. By a law of Solon, the magistrates met every year at the close of the festival, to pass sentence upon any who had violated or transgressed any of the rules which governed the administration of the sacred rites. Any attempt to disclose the esoteric cermonies of initiation was punished with death. Plutarch tells us, in his Life of Alcibiades, that that votary of pleasure was indicted for sacrilege, because he had imitated the mysteries, and shown them to his companions in the same dress as that worn by the Hierophant; and we get from Livy (xxxi. 14,) the following relation:

Two Arcanian youths, who had not been initiated, accidently entered the temple of Demeter during the celebration of the mysteries. They were soon detected by their absurd questions, and being carried to the managers of the temple, although it was evident that their intrusion was accidental, they were put to death for so horrible a crime. It is not, therefore surprising that, inthe account of them, we should fnd such uncertain and even conflicting assertions of the ancient writers, who hesitated to discuss publicly so forbidden a subject.

The qualifications for initiations were maturity of age and purity of life. Such was the theory, although in practice these qualifications were not rigidly regarded. But the early doctrine was that none but the pure, morally and ceremonially could be admitted to initiation. At first, too, the right of admission was restricted to natives of Greece; but even in the time of Herodotus this law was dispensed with, and the citizens of all countries were considered eligible. So in time these mysteries were extended beyond the limits of Greece, and in the days of the empire they were introduced into Rome, where they became exceedingly popular.

The scenic representations, the participation in secret signs and words of recognition, the instruction in a peculiar dogma, and the establishment of a hidden bond of fraternity, gave attraction to these mysteries, which lasted untill the very fall of the Roman empire, and exerted a powerful influence on the mystical associations of the Middle Ages. The bond of union which connects them with the modern initiations of Freemasonry is evident in the common thought which pervades and identifies both; though it is difficult , and perhaps impossible, to trace all the connecting links of the historic chain. We see the beginning and we see the end of one pervading idea, but the central point is hidden from us to await some future discoverer.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] There are none of the Ancient Mysteries which afford a moree interesting subject of investigation the Masonic scholar than those of the Persian god Mithras. Instituted, as it is supposed by Zeradusht or Zoroaster, as an initiation into the principles of the religion which he had founded among the ancient Persians, they in time extended into Europe, and lasted so long thar traces of them have been founded in thr fourth century. "With their penances," says Mr. King, (Gnostics, p. 47,) "and tests of the courage of the candidate for admission, they have been maintained by a constant tradition through the secret societies of the Middle Ages and the Rosicrucians down to the modern faint reflexof the latter - the Freemasons."

Of the identity of Mithras with other deities there have been various opinions. Herodotus says he was the Assyrian Venus and the Arabian Alitta; Porphyry calls him the Demiurgos, and Lord of Generation; the Greeks identified him with Phoebus; and Higgins supposed that he was generally considered the same as Osirus. But to the Persians, who first practised his worshipped as the God of Light. He was represented as a young man covered with a Phrygian turban, and clothed in a mantle and tunic. He presses with his knee upon a bull, one of whose horns he holds in his left hand, while with the right he plunges a dagger into his neck, while a dog standing near laps up the dripping blood.

This symbol has been thus interpreted. His piercing the throat with his dagger signifies the penetration of the solar rays into the bosom of the earth, by which action all nature is nourished; the last idea being expressed by the dog licking up the blood as it flows from the wound. But it will be seen hereafter that this last symbol admits of another interpretation.

The mysteries of Mithras were always celebrated in caves. They were divided into seven stages or degrees, (Suidas says twelves,) and consisted of the most rigorous proofs of fortitude and courage. Nonnus rhe Greek poet says, in his Dionysiaca, that these proofs were eighty in number, gradually increasing in severity. No one, says Gregory Nanzianzen, could be initiated into the mysteries of Mithras unless he had passed throught all th rituals and proved himself passionless and pure. The aspirant at first underwent the purifications by water, by fire, and by fasting; after which he was introduced into a cavern representing the world, on whose walls and roof were inscribed the celestial signs. Here he submitted to species of baptism, and recieved a mark on his forehead. He was presented with a crown on the point of a sword, which he was to refuse, declaring at the same time, "Mithras alone is my crown." He was prepared, by anointing him by oil, crowning him with olive , and clothing him in enchanted armor, for the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] of initiation through which he was about to pass. These commenced in the following manner: In the first cavern he heard the howling of wild beasts, and was enveloped in total darkness, except when the cave was illuminating by the fitful glare of terrific flashes of lightning. He was hurried to the spot whence the sounds proceeded, and was suddenly thrust by his silent guide through a door into a den of wild beasts, where he was attacked by the initiated in the disguise of lions, tigers, hyenas, and other ravenous beasts. Hurried through this apartment, in the second cavern he was again shrouded in darkness, and for a time in fearful silence, until it was broken by awful peas; of thunder, whose repeated reverbations shook the very walls of the cavern, and could not fail to inspire the aspirant with terror. He was conducted through four other caverns, in which the methods of exciting astonishment and fear were ingeniously varied. He was made to swim over a raging flood; was subjected to a rigorous fast; exposed to all the horrors of a dreary desert; and finally, if we may trust the authority of of Nicaetas, after being severely beaten with rods, was buried for many days up to neck in snow. In the seventh cavern or Sacellum, the darkness was changed to light, and the candidate was introduced into the presence of the Archimagus, or chief priest, seated on a splendid throne, and surrounded by the assistant dispensers of the mysteries. Here the obligation of secrecy was administered, and he was made acquainted with the sacred words. He received also the appropriate investiture, which, says Maurice, (Ind. Antiq., V., ch. i.,) consisted of the Kara or conical cap, and candys or loose tunic of Mithras, on which was depicted the celestial constellations, the zone, or belt, containing a representation of the figures of the zodiac, the pastoral staff or crozier, alluding to the influence of the sun in the labors of agriculture, and the golden serpent, which was placed in his bosom as an emblem of having been regenerated and made a disciple of Mithras, because the serpent by casting its skin annually, was considered in the mysteries as symbol of regeneration.

He was instructed in the secret doctrines of the rites of Mithras, of which the history of the creation, already recited, formed a part. The mysteries of Mithras passed from Persia into Europe, and were introduced into Rome in the time of Pompey. Here they flourished, with various success, until the year 378, when they were proscribed by decree of the Senate, and the sacred cave, in which they had been celebrated, was destroyed by the Praetorian prefect.

The Mithraic monuments that are still extant in the museums of Europe evidently show that the immortality of the soul was one of the doctrines taught in the Mithraic initiation. The candidate was at one time made to personate a corpse, whose restoration to life dramatically represented the resurrection. Figures of the corpse are found in several of the monuments and talismans. There is circumstantial evidence that there was a Mithraic death in initiation, just as there was a Carbiric death in the mysteries of Samothrace, and Dionysiac in those of Eleusis. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], the Roman emperor, had been initiated into the Mithraic mysteries of Rome , and is said to have taken great pleasure in the ceremonies. Lampridius, in his Lives of the Emperors, records, as one of the madfreaks of Commodus, that during the Mithraic ceremonies, where "a certain thing was to be done for the sake of inspiring terror, he polluted the rites by a real murder; an expression which evidently shows that scenic representation of a fictitious murder formed part of the ceremony of initiation. The dog swallowing the blood of the bull was also considered as a symbol of resurrection.

It is in the still existing talismans and gems that we find the most interesting memorials of the old Mithraic initiation. One of these is thus described by Mr. C.W. King, on his valuable work on the Gnostics and their Remains, (London,1864:)

"There is a talisman which, from its frequent repitition, would seem to be a badge of some particular degree amongst the initiated, perhaps of the first admission. A man blindfolded, with his hands tied behind his back, is bound to a pillar, on which stands a gryphon holding a wheel; the latter a most ancient emblem of the sun. Probably it was in this manner that the candidate was tested by the appearance of imminent death when the bandage was suddenly removed from his eyes."

As Mithras was considered as synonymous with the sun, a great deal of solar symbolism clustered around his name, his doctrines and initiation. Thus MEI... was found, by the numerical value of the letters in the Greek alphabet , to be equal to 365, the number of days in a solar year; and the decrease of the solar influence in the winter, and it revivification in the summer, was made a symbol of resurrection from death to life.

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]These mysteries were celebrated throughout Greece and Asia Minor, but principally at Athens, where the years were numbered by them. They were instituted in honor of Bacchus, or, as the Greeks called him, Dionysus, and were introduced into Greece from Egypt. In these mysteries, the murder of Dionysus by the Titans was commemorated, in which legend he is evidently identified with Egyptian Osiris, who was slain by his brother Typhon. The aspirant, in the ceremonies through which he passed, represented the murder of the god and his restoration to life, which, says the Baron de Sacy, (Notes on Sainte-Croix, ii. 86,) were the subject of the allegorical explanations altogether analogous to those which were given to the rape of Proserpine and the murder of Osiris.

The commencement of the mysteries was signalized by the consecration of the mysteries of an egg, in allusion to the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] from which all things were supposed to have sprung. The candidate having been first purified by water, and crowned with a myrtle branch, was introduced into the vestibule, and then clothed in the sacred habiiliments. he was then delivered to the conductor, who, after the mystic warning "Depart hence, all ye profane!" exhorted to the candidate to exert all his fortitude and courage in the dangers and trials through which he was about to pass. He was then led through a series of dark caverns, a part of the ceremonies which Stobaeus calls "a rude and fearful march through night and darkness." During this passage he was terrified by the howling of wild beasts, and other fearful noises; artificial thunder reverbated through the subterranean apartments, and transient flashes of lightning revealed monstrous apparitions of his sight. In this state of darkness and terror he was kept for three days and nights, after which he commenced the aphanism or mystical death of Bacchus. He was now placed on the pastos or couch, that is, he was confined in a solitary cell, where he could reflect seriously on the nature of the undertaking in which he was engaged. During this time, he was alarmed with the sudden crash of waters, which was intended to represent the deluge. Typhon, searching for Osiris, or Dionysus, for they are here identical, discovered the ark in which he had been secreted, and, tearing it violently asunder, scattered the limbs of his victims upon the waters. The aspirant now heard the lamentations which were instituted for the death of the god. Then commenced the search of Rhea for the remains of Dionysus. The apartments were filled with shrieks and groans; the initiated mingled with their howlings of despair the frantic dances of the Corybantes; everything was a scene of distraction, until at a signal from the hierophant, the whole drama changed; - the mourning was turned to joy; the mangled body was found; and the aspirant was released from his confinement, amid the shouts of "We have found it(truth); let us rejoice together." The candidate was now made to descend into the infernal regions (core), where he beheld the torments of the wicked and rewards of the virtuous. It was now that he recieved the lecture explanatory of the Rites, and was invested with the tokens which served the initiate as a means of recognition. He then underwent a lustration, after which he was intriduced into the holy place, where he recieved the name of epopt, and was fully instructed in the doctrine of the mysteries, which consisted in a belief in the existence of one God and a future state of rewards and punishments. These doctrines were inculcated by a variety of significant symbols. After the performance of these ceremonies, the aspirant was dimissed, and the Rites concluded with the pronunciation of the mystic words, Knox Ompax. Sainte Croix (Myst. du Pag., ii. 90,) says that the murder of Dionysus by the Titans was only an allegory of the physical revolutions of the world; but these were in part, in the ancient inittiations, significant of the changes of life and death and resurrection.

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The Cabiri were gods whose worship was first established in the island of Samothrace, where the Cabiric mysteries were practiced. The gods called the Cabiri were originally two, and afterwards four, im number, and are supposed by Bryant (Anal. Ant. Myth., iii. 342) to have referred to Noah and his three sons, the Cabiric Mysteries being a modification of the arkite worship. In these mysteries there was a ceremony called the "Cabiric Death," in which was represented, amid the groans and tears and subsequent rejoicings of the initiates, the death and restoration to life of Cadmillus, the youngest of the Cabiri. The legend recorded that he was slain by his three brethren, who afterwards fled with his virile parts in a mystic basket. His body was crowned with flowers, and was buried at the foot of Mount Olympus. Clement of Alexandria speaks of the legend as the sacred mystery of a brother slain by his brethren, "frater trucidatus a fratribus."

There is much perplexity connected with the subject of these mysteries, but it is generally supposed that they were instituted in honor of Atys, the son of Cybele or Demeter, of whom Cadmillus was but another name. According to Macrobius, Atys was one of the appellations of the sun, and we know that the mysteries were celebrated at the vernal equinox. they lasted three days, during which they represented in the person Atys, or Cadmillus, the enigmatical death of the sun in winter, and his regeneration in the spring. In all probability, in the initiation, the candidate passed through a drama, the subject of which was the violent death of Atys. The "Cabiric Death" was, in fact a type of Hiramic, and the legend, so far, as it can be understood from the faint allsuions of ancient authors, was very analogous in spirit and design to that of the third degree of Freemasonry.

Many persons annually resorted to Samothrace to be initiated into the celebrated mysteries, among whom are mentioned Cadmus, Orpheus, Hercules, and Ulysses. Jamblichus says, in his life of Pythagoras that from those of Lemnos that sage derived much of his wisdom. The mysteries of the Cabiri were much respected among the common people, and great care was taken in their concealment. The priests made use of a language peculiar the rites.

The mysteries were in existence at Samothrace as late as the eighteenth year of the Christian era, at which time the Emperor Germanicus embarked for that island, to be initiated, but was prevented from accomplishing his purpose by adverse winds.

Among the many evidences of a former state of civilization among the aborigines(out of the original) of this country which seem to prove their origin from the races that inhabit the Eastern hemisphere, not the least remarkable is the existence of Fraternities bound by mystic ties, and claiming, like the Freemasons, to possess an esoteric knowledge, which[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] they carefully conceal from all but the initiated. De Witt Clinton relates, on the authority of a respectable native minister, who had received the signs, the existence of such a society among the Iroquois. The number of the members was limited to fifteen, of whom six were to be of the Seneca tribe, five of the Oneidas, two of the Cayugas, and two of the St. Regis. They claim that their institution has existed from the era of the creation. The times of their meeting they keep secret, and throw much mystery over all their proceedings.

Brinton tells us in his interesting and instructive work on The Myths of the New World, (p. 285,) that among the red race of America "the priests formed societies of different grades of illumination, only to be entered by those willing to undergo trying ordeals, whose secrets were not to be revealed under the severest penalties. The Algonkins had three such grades - the waubeno, the meda, and the jossakeed, the last being the highest. To this no white man has ever admitted. All tribes appear to have been controlled by these secret societies. Alexander von Humboldt mentions one, called that of Botuto, or Holy Trumpet, among the Indians of the Orinoko, whose members must vow celibacy, and submit to severe scourgings and fasts. The Collahuayas of Peru were a guild of itinerant quacks and magicians, who never remained permanently in one spot."(Roma)

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Egypt has been considered as the birthplace of the mysteries. It was there that the ceremonies of initiation were first established. It was there that truth was first veiled in allegory, and the dogmas of religion were first imparted under symbolic forms. From Egypt - "the land of the winged globe" - the land of science and philosophy, "peerless for stately tombs and magnificent temples - the land whose civilization was old and mature before other nations, since called to empire, had a name" - this system of symbols was disseminated through Greece and Rome and other countries of Europe and Asia, giving origin, through many intermediate steps, to that mysterious association which is now represented by the Institution of Freemasonry.

To Egypt, therefore, Masons have always looked with peculiar interest, as the cradle of the mysterious science of symbolism whose peculiar modes of teaching they alone, of all modern institutions, have preserved to the present day.

The initiation into the Egyptian mysteries was, of all the systems practiced by the ancients, the most severe and impressive. The Greeks at Eleusis imitated it to some extent, but they never reached the magnitude of its forms nor the austerity of its discipline. The system had been organized for ages, and the priests, who alone were the hierophants, - the explainers of the mysteries, or, as we should call them in Masonic language, the Masters of the Lodges, - were educated almost from childhood for the business in which they were engaged. The "learning of the Egyptians," in which Moses is said to have been skilled, was all imparted in these mysteries. It was confined to the priests and to the initiates; and the trials of initiation through which the latter had to pass were so difficult to be endured, that none but those who were stimulated by the most ardent thirst for knowledge dared to undertake them or succeeded in submitting to them.

The priesthood of Egypt constituted a sacred caste, in whom the sacerdotal functions were hereditary. They exercised also an important part in the government of the state, and the kings of Egypt were but the first subjects of its priest. They had originally organized, and continued to control, the ceremonies of initiation. Their doctrines were of two kinds - exoteric or public, which were communicated to the multitude, and esoteric or secret, which were revealed only to a chosen few; and to obtain them it was necessary to pas through an initiation which was characterized by the severest trials of courage and fortitude.

The principal seat in the mysteries was at Memphis, in the neighborhood of the great Pyramid. There were two kinds the greater and the less; the former being the mysteries of Osiris and Serapis, the latter those of Isis. The mysteries of Osiris were celebrated at the autumnal equinox, those of Serapis at the summer solstice, and those of Isis at the vernal equinox.

The candidate was required to exhibit proofs of a blameless life. For some days previous to the commencement of the ceremonies of the initiation, he abstained from all unchaste acts, confined himself to an exceedingly light diet, from which animal food was rigorously excluded, and purified himself by repeated ablutions.

Apuleius, (Met., lib. xi.,) who had been initiated in all of them, thus alludes, with cautious reticence, those of Isis: "The priest, all the profane being removed to a distance, taking hold of me by the hand, brought me into the inner recesses of the sanctuary itself, clothed in a new linen garment. Perhaps, curious reader, you may be eager to know what was then said and done. I would tell you were it lawful for you to hear. But both the ears that heard those things and the tongues that told them would reap the evil results of their rashness. Still, however, kept in suspense, as you probably are, with religous longing, I will not torment you with long-protracted anxiety. Hear, therefore, but believe what is the truth. I approached the confines of death, and, having trod on the threshold of Proserpine, I returned there from, being borne through all the elements. At midnight I saw the sun shining with its brillant light; and I approached the presence of the gods beneath and the gods above, and stood near and worshipped them. Behold, I have related to you things of which, though heard by you, you must necessarily remain ignorant."

The first degree, as we may term it, of Egyptian initiation was that into the mysteries of Isis. What was it peculiar import, we are unable to say. Isis, says Knight, was, among the later Egyptians, the personification of universal nature. To Apuleius she says: "I am nature - the parent of all things, the sovereign of the elements, the primary progeny of time." Plutarch tells us that on the front of the temple of Isis was placed this inscription: I, Isis, am all that has been, that is, or shall be, and no mortal has ever unveiled me." Thus we may conjecture that the Isiac mysteries were descriptive of the alternate decaying and renovating powers of nature. Higgins, (Anacol., ii. 102) it is true, says that during the mysteries of Isis were celebrated the misfortunes and tragical death of Osiris in a sort of drama; and Apuleius asserts that the initiation into her mysteries is celebrated as bearing a close resemblance to a voluntary death, with a precarious chance of recovery. But Higgins gives no authority for his statement, and that of Apuleius cannot be constrained into any reference to the enforced death of Osiris. It is, therefore probable that the ceremonies of this initiation were simply prepatory to that of the Osirian, and taught,by instructions in the physical laws of nature, the necessity of moral purification, a theory which is not incompatible with all the mystical allusions of Apuleius when he describes his own initiation.

The mysteries of Serapis constituted the second degree of the Egyptian initiation. Of these rites we have but a scanty knowledge. Herodotus is entirely silent concerning them, and Apuleuis, calling them "the nocturnal orgies of Serapis, a god of the first rank," only imitates that they follow those of Isis, and were prepatory to the last and greatest initiation. Serapis is said to have been only Osiris while in Hades; and hence the Serapian initiation might represented the death of Osiris, but leaving the lesson of resurrection for a subsequent initiation. But this is merely a conjecture.

In the mysteries of Osiris, which were the consumation of the Egyptian system, the lesson of death and resurrection was symbolically taught; and the legend of the murder of Osiris, the search for the body, its discovery and restoration to life is scenically represented. The legend of initiation was as follows. Osiris, a wise king of Egypt, left the care of his kingdom to his wife Isis, and travelled for three years to communicate to other nations the arts of civilization. During his absence, his brother Typhon formed a secret conspiracy to destroy him and usurp his throne. On his return, Osiris was invited by Typhon to an entertainment in the month of November, at which all the conspirators were present. Typhon produced a chest inlaid with gold, and promised to give it to any person present whose body would most exactly fit it. Osiris was tempted to try the experiment; but he had no sooner laid down in the chest, than the lid was closed and nailed down, and the chest thrown into the river Nile. The chest containing the body of Osiris was, after being for a long time tossed about the waves, finally cast up at Byblos in Phoenicia, and left at the foot of a tamarisk tree. Isis, overwhelmed with grief for the loss of her husband set out on a journey, and traversed the earth in search of the body. After many adventures, she at length discovered the spot whence it had been thrown up by the waves, and returned with it in triumph to Egypt. It was then proclaimed, with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, that Osiris has risen from the dead and had become a god. Such, with slight variations of details by different writers, are the general outlines of the Osiric legend which was represented in the drama of initiation. Its resemblace to the Hiramic legend of the Masonic system will be readily seen, and its symbolism will easily understood. Osiris and Typhon are the representatives of the antagonistics principles - good and evil, light and darkness, life and death.


There is also an astronomical interpretation of the legend which makes Osiris the sun and Typhon the season of winter, which suspends the fecundating and fertilizing powers of the sun or destroys its life, to be restored only by the return of invigorating spring.

The sufferings and death of Osiris were the great mystery of the Egyptian religion. His being the abstract idea of the divine goodness, his manifestations upon earth, his death, his resurrection, and his subsequent office as judge of the dead in a future state, look, says Wilkinson, like the early revelation of a future manifestations of the deity converted into a mythological fable.

Into these mysteries Herodotus, Plutarch, and Pythagoras were initiated, and the former two have given brief accounts of them. But their own knowledge must have been extremely limited, for, as Clement of Alexandria (Strom., v. 7,) tells us, the more important secrets were not revealed even to all the priests, but to a select number of them only.

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Literally, "a flowing forth." The doctrine of emanations was a theory predominant in many of the Oriental religions, such, especially, Brahmanism and Parseeism, and subsequently adopted by the Kabbalists and the Gnostics, and taught by Philo and Plato. It is assumed that all things emanated, flowed forth, (which is the literal meaning of the word,) or were developed and descended by the degrees from the Supreme Being. Thus, in the ancient religion of India, the anima mundi, or soul of the word, the myserious source of all life (DNA), was identified with Brahma, the Supreme God. The doctrine of Gnosticism was that all beings emanated from the Deity(hermaphrodite); that there was a progressive degeneration of these beings from the highest to the lowest emanation, and a final redemption and return of all to the purity of the Creator(neanderthal). Philo taught that the Supreme Being was the Primitive Light or Archetype of Light, whose rays illuminate, as from a common source, all souls. The theory of emanation is interesting to the Mason, because the reference in many of the higher degrees to the doctrine of Philo, the Gnostics, and the Kabbalists.

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The ancient Scandinavian or older German divinity. The hero of one of the most beautiful and interesting of the myths of the Edda; the second son of Odin and Frigga, and the husband of the maiden Nanna. In brief, the myth recites that Balder dreamed that his life was threatened, which being told to the gods, a council was held by them to secure his safety. The mother proceeded to demand and receive from every inanimate thing, iron and all metals, fire and water, stones, earth, plants, beasts, birds, reptiles, poisons, and diseases, that they would not injure Balder. Balder then became subject of sport with the gods, who wrestled, cast darts, and in innumerable ways playfully tested his invulnerability. This finally displeased the mischievous, cunning Loki, the Spirit of Evil, who, in the form of an ld woman, sought out the mother, Frigga, and ascertained from her that there had been excepted or omitted from the oath the little shrub Mistletoe. In haste Loki carried some of this shrub to the assembly of the gods, and gave to the blind Hoder, the god of war, selected slips, and directing his aim, Balder fell pierced to the heart.

Sorrow among the gods was unutterable, and Frigga inquired who, to win her favor, - would journey to Hades and obtain from the goddess Hel the release of Balder. The heroic helmond or Hermoder, son of Odin, offered to undertake the journey. Hel consented to permit the return if all things animate and inanimate should weep for Balder.

All living beings and all things wept, save the witch or giantess Thock (the stepdaughter of Loki), who refused to sympathize in the general mourning. Balder was therefore obliged to linger in the lingdom of Hel until the end of the world.

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[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]The symbolism of the rose among the ancients was twofold. First, as it was dedicated to Venus as the goddess of love, it became the symbol of secrecy, and hence came the expression "under the rose," to indicate that which was spoken in confidence. Again, as it was dedicated to Venus as the personification of the generative energy of nature, it became the symbol of immortality. In this latter and more recondite sense it was, it was in Christian symbology, transferred to Christ, through whom "life and immortality were brought to light." The rose of Sharon" of the Book of Canticles is always applied to Christ, and hence Fuller (Pisgah Sight of Palestine) calls him that prime rose and lily." Thus we see the significance of the rose on the cross as part of the jewel of the Rose Croix degree. Reghellini, (vol. i., p. 358,) after showing that anciently the rose was the symbol of secrecy, and the cross of immortality, says that the two united symbols of a rose resting on a cross always indicate the secret of immortality. Ragon agrees with him in opinion, and says that it is the simplest mode of writing that dogma. But he subsequently gives a different explanation, namely, that as the rose was the emblem of the female principle, and the cross or triple phallus of the male, the two together, like the Indian lingam, symbolized universal generation. But Ragon, who has adopted the theory of the astronomical origin of Freemasonry, like all theorists, often carries his speculations on this subject to an extreme point. A simpler allusion will better suit the character and teachings of this degree in its modern organization. The rose is the symbol of Christ, and the cross, the symbol of his death, - the two united, the rose suspended on the cross, whereby the secret of immortality was taught to the world. In a word, the rose on the cross is Christ crucified.

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Acacia. An interesting and important symbol in Freemasonry. Botanically, it is the acacia vera of Tournefort, and the mimosa nilotica of Linnaeus. It grew abundantly in the vicinity of Jerusalem, where it is still to be found, and is familiar in its modern use as the tree from which the gum arabic of commerce is derived.

Oliver, it is true, says that "there is not the smallest trace of any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem," (Landm. ii. 149;) but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch, who saw it growing in great abundance in Jericho, and still farther north. (Exped. to Dead Sea, p. 262.) The rabbi Joseph Schwarz, who is excellent authority, says: "The Acacia (Shittim) tree, Al Sunt, is found in Palestine of different varieties; it looks like the Mulberry tree, attains a great height, and has hard wood. The gum which is obtained from it is the gum arabic." (Descriptive Geography and Historical Sketch of Palestine, p 308, Leeser's translation. Phila.m., 1850.) Schwarz was for sixteen years a resident of Palestine, and wrote from personal observation. The testimony of Lynch and Schwarz should, therefore, forever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in Palestine.

The acacia, which, in scripture, is always called Shittah, and in the plural Shittim, was esteemed a sacred wood among the Hebrews. Of it Moses was ordered to make the tabernacle, the ark of the covenant, the table for the shewbread, and the rest of he furniture. Isaiah, in recounting the promises of God's mercy to the Israelites on their return from the captivity, tells them that, among other things, he will plant in thee wilderness, for their relief and refreshment, the cedar, the acacia, (or, as it is rendered in our common version, the shittah,) the fir, and other trees. The first thing, that we notice in the synbol of the acacia, is that it had been always consecrated from among the other trees of the forest by the sacred purposes to which it was devoted. By the Jew, the tree from whose wood the sanctuary of the tabernacle and the holy ark had been constructed would ever be viewed as more sacred than ordinary trees. The early Masons, therefore, very naturally appropiated this hallowed plant to the equally sacred purpose of a symbol, which was to teach an imporatnt divine truth in all ages to come.

Having thus briefly disposed of the natural history of this plant, we may now proceed to examine it in its symbolic relations.

First. The acacia, in the mythic system of Freemasonry, is preeminently the symbol of the IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL - that important doctrine which it is the great design of the Institution to teach. As the evanescent nature of the flower, which "cometh forth and is cut down," reminds us of the transitory nature of human life, so the perpetual renovation of the evergreen plant, which uninterruptedly presents the appearance of youth and vigor, is aptly compared to that spiritual life in which the soul, freed from the corruptible companionship of the body, shall enjoyeternal spring and an immortal youth. Hence, in the impressive funeral service of our Order, it is said that "this evergreen is an emblem of our faith in the immortality of the soul. By this we are reminded that we have an immortal part within us, which shall survive the grave, and which shall never, never, never die." And again, in the closing sentences of the monitorial lecture of the third degree, the same sentiment is repeated, and we are told that by "the ever-green and ever-living sprig" the Mason is strengthened "with confidence and composure to look forward to a blessed immortality." Such an interpretation of the symbol is an easy and a natural one; it suggests itself at once to the least reflective mind; and consequently, in some one form or another, is to be found existing in all ages and nations. It was an ancient custom, - which is not, even now, altogether disused, - for mourners to carry in their hands at funerals a sprig of some evvergreen, generally the cedar or the cypruss, and to deposit it in the grave of the deceased. According to Dalcho,* the Hebrews always planted a sprig of the acacia at the head of the grave of a departed friend. Potter tells us that the ancient Greeks "had a custom bedecking tombs with herbs and flowers." All sorts of purple and white flowers were acceptable to the dead, but principally the amaranth and the myrtle. The very name of the former of these plants, which signifies "never fading," would seem to indicate the true symbolic meaning of the usage, although archaeologists have generally supposed it to besimply an exhibition of love on the part of the survivors. Ragon says, that the ancients substituted the acacia for all other plants because they believed it to be incorruptible, and not liable to injury from the attacks of any kind of insect or other animal - thus symbolizing the incorruptible nature of the soul.

hence we see the propriety of placing the sprig of acacia, as an emblem of immortality, among the symbols of that degree, all of whse ceremonies are intended to teach us the great truth that "the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, andjustice, will be rewarded at its closing hour by the prospect of Eternal Bliss." So, therefore, says Dr. Oliver, when the Master Mason exclaims "my name is Acacia," it is equivalent to saying, "I have been in the grave - I have triumphed over it by rising from the dead - I have triumphed over it by rising from the dead - and being regenerated in the process, I have a claim to life everlasting."

The srig of acacia, then, in its most ordinary signification, presents itself to the Master Mason as a symbol of the immortality of the soul, being intended to remind him, by its evergreen and unchanging nature, of that better and spritual part within us, which, as an emanation from the Grand Architect of the Universe, can never die. And as this the most ordinary, the most generally accepted signification, so also is the most important; for thus, as the peculiar symbol of immortality, it becomes the most appropiate to an Order all of whose teachings are intended to inculcate the great lesson that life rises out of the grave." But incidental to this the acacia has two other interpretations which are well worthy of investigation.

Secondly, then the acacia is a symbol of INNOCENCE. The symbolism here is of peculiar and unusual character, depending not on any real analogy in the form or use of the symbol to the idea symbolized, but simply on a double or compound meaning of the word. For akakia, in the Greek language, signifies both the plant in question and the moral quality of innocence or purity of life. In this sense the symbol refers, primarily, to him over whose solitary grave the acacia was planted, and whose virtuous conduct, whose integrity of life and fidelity to his trusts have ever been presented as patterns to the craft, and consequently to all Master Masons, who, by this interpretation of the symbol, are invited to emulate his example.

Hutchinson, indulging in his favorite theory of Christianizing Masonry, when he comes to the signification of the symbol, thus enlarges on the interpretation: "We Masons, describing the deplorable estate of religion under the Jewish law, speak in figures: - 'Her tomb was in the rubbish and filth cast forth of the temple, and Acacia wove its branches over her monument;' akakia being the Greek word for innocence, or being free from sin; implying that the sins and corruption of the old law and devotees of the Jewish altar had hid religion from those who sought her, and she was only to be found where innocence survived, and under the banner of the divine Lamb; and as to ourselves, professing that we were to be distinguished by our Acacy, or as true Acacians in our religous faith and tenets."*

But, lastly the acacia is to be considered as the symbol of INITIATION. This is by far the most interesting of its interpretations, and was, we have every reason to believe, the primary and original; the others being but incidental. It leads us at once to the investigation of the significant fact, that in all the ancient initiations and religous mysteries there was some plant peculiar to each, which was consecrated by its own esoteric meaing, and which occupied an important position in the celebration of the rites, so that the plant, whatever it might be, from its constant and prominent use in the ceremonies of initiation, came at length to be adopted as the symbol of initiation.

Thus, the lettuce was the sacred plant which assumed of Adonis.[See Lettuce.] The lotus was that of the Brahminical rites of India, and from them adopted by the Egyptians. [See Lotus.] The Egyptians also revered the erica or heath; and the mistletoe was a mystical plant among the Druids. [See Erica and Mistletoe.] And, lastly, the myrtle performed the same office of symbolism in the mysteries of Greece that the lotus did in Egypt or the mistletoe among the Druids. [See Myrtle.]

In all of these ancient mysteries, while the sacred plant was symbol of initiation, the initiation itself was symbolic of the resurrection to a future life, and of the immortality of the soul. In this view, Freemasonry is to us now in the place of ancient initiations, and the acacia is substituted for the lotus, the erica, the ivy, the mistletoe, and the myrtle. The lesson of wisdom is the same - the medium of imparting it is all that has been changed.

Returning, then, to the acacia, we find that it is capable of three explanations. It is a symbol of immortality, of innocence, and of initiation. But three significations are closely connected, and that connection must be observed, if we desire to obtain a just interpretation of the symbol. Thus, in this one symbol, we are taught that in the initiation of life, of which the initiation in the third degree is simply emblematic, innocence must for a time lie in the grave, at length, however, to be called, by the word of the Grand Master of the Universe, to a blissful immortality. Combine with this the recollection of the place where the sprig of acacia was planted, - Mount Calvary, - the place of sepulture of him who "brought life and immortality," and who, in Christian Masonry is designated, as he is in scripture as "the lion of the tribe of Judah;" and remember, too, that in the mystery of his death, the wood of the cross takes the place of the acacia, and in this little and apparently insignificant symbol, but which is really and truly the most important and significant one in Masonic science, we have a beatiful suggestion of all the mysteries of life and death, of time and eternity, of the present and of the future.


Acacia. Acacia vera or Nilotica, in Africa, called babul tree in India, and its gum babul, which is similar to gum-arabic. The bark of Acacia Arabica is a powerful tonic in India.

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