Some Deeper Aspects Of Masonic Symbolism Annotated

THE subject which I am about to approach is one having certainobvious difficulties, because it is outside the usual horizon ofMasonic literature, and requires, therefore, to be put withconsiderable care, as well as with reasonable prudence. Moreover,it is not easy to do it full justice within the limits of a singlelecture. I must ask my Brethren to make allowance beforehand forthe fact that I am speaking in good faith, and where the evidencefor what I shall affirm does not appear in its fullness, andsometimes scarcely at all, they must believe that I can produce itat need, should the opportunity occur. As a matter of fact, somepart of it has appeared in my published writings.I will introduce the question in hand by a citation which isfamiliar to us all, as it so happens that it forms a good point ofdeparture:- "But as we are not all operative Masons, but ratherFree and Accepted or speculative, we apply these tools to ourmorals." With certain variations, these words occur in each of theCraft Degrees, and their analogies are to be found in a fewsubsidiary Degrees which may be said to arise out of the Craft-as, for example, the Honorable Degree of Mark Master Mason. Thatwhich is applied more specially to the working implements ofMasonry belongs to our entire building symbolism, whether it isconcerned with the erection by the Candidate in his ownpersonality of an edifice or "superstructure perfect in its partsand honorable to the builder, " or, in the Mark Degree, with ahouse not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, or again withSolomon's Temple spiritualized in the Legend of the Master Degree.

This early work by Arthur Edward Waite was originally published in the early 20th Century and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. 'Some Deeper Aspects of Masonic Symbolism' is one of Waite's writings on secret societies. Arthur Edward Waite was born on the 2nd of October, 1857 in America. After the death of his father, Waite and his mother returned to her native England, where he was raised in North London, attending St. Charles' College from the age of thirteen. Waite left school to become a clerk, but also wrote verse in his spare time. The death of his sister, Frederika Waite, in 1874 soon attracted him into psychical research. Waite became a prolific author with many of his works being well received in academic circles. He wrote occult texts on subjects including divination, esotericism, Rosicrucianism, Freemasonry and ceremonial magic, Kabbalism, and alchemy.

This most interesting and illuminative work is worthy a place on every Mason's bookshelf. '' It seems taken for granted," says the author, "that reception into the Order will automatically be accompanied by an ability to appreciate forthwith and at its full value all that one there finds. The contrary is the case, for Masonry is a veiled and cryptic expression of the difficult science of spiritual life, and the understanding of it calls for special and informed guidance on the one hand, and on the other a genuine and earnest desire for knowledge and no small capacity for spiritual perception on the part of those seeking to be instructed." In Freemasonry, as in all phases of life, many are called but few are chosen. Masonry is not a mere formalism but a life to be lived. If you do not live the life you cannot know the doctrine. Masonry is an effort to perpetuate the essential doctrines of the Ancient Mysteries, but, alas, it does so in a very perfunctory manner. So veiled are its allegories and symbols that it is almost impossible to penetrate into the Holy of Holies.

Of the various modes of communicating instruction to the uninformed, the masonic student is particularly interested in two; namely, the instruction by legends and that by symbols. It is to these two, almost exclusively, that he is indebted for all that he knows, and for all that he can know, of the philosophic system which is taught in the institution. All its mysteries and its dogmas, which constitute its philosophy, are intrusted for communication to the neophyte, sometimes to one, sometimes to the other of these two methods of instruction, and sometimes to both of them combined. The Freemason has no way of reaching any of the esoteric teachings of the Order except through the medium of a legend or a symbol. Contents: Preface. I. Preliminary. II. The Noachidæ. III. The Primitive Freemasonry of Antiquity. IV. The Spurious Freemasonry of Antiquity. V. The Ancient Mysteries. VI. The Dionysiac Artificers. VII. The Union of Speculative and Operative Masonry at the Temple of Solomon. VIII. The Travelling Freemasons of the Middle Ages. IX. Disseverance of the Operative Element. X. The System of Symbolic Instuction. XI. The Speculative Science and the Operative Art. XII. He Symbolism of Solomon'S Temple. XIII. The Form of the Lodge. XIV. The Officers of a Lodge. XV. The Point Within a Circle. XVI. The Covering of the Lodge. XVII. Ritualistic Symbolism. XVIII. The Rite of Discalceation. XIX. The Rite of Investiture. XX. The Symbolism of the Gloves. XXI. The Rite of Circumambulation. XXII. The Rite of Intrusting, and the Symbolism of Light. XXIII. Symbolism of the Corner-Stone. XXIV. The Ineffable Name. XXV. The Legends of Freemasonry. XXVI. The Legend of the Winding Stairs. XXVII. The Legend of the Third Degree. XXVIII. The Sprig of Acacia. XXIX. The Symbolism of Labor. XXX. The Stone of Foundation.216 XXXI.

DigiCat Publishing presents to you this special edition of "The Symbolism of Freemasonry" (Illustrating and Explaining Its Science and Philosophy, Its Legends, Myths and Symbols) by Albert Gallatin Mackey. DigiCat Publishing considers every written word to be a legacy of humankind. Every DigiCat book has been carefully reproduced for republishing in a new modern format. The books are available in print, as well as ebooks. DigiCat hopes you will treat this work with the acknowledgment and passion it deserves as a classic of world literature.