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QUESTIONS AND P.W. Those of our Brethren who have read the previous two books of this series will not need much help in understanding the significance of the questions which are put to the Cand. before being raised. Practically every question has been dealt with in detail in the previous books; the majority of them are taken from incidents in the Lectures and Tracing Board, and since the latter was explained at some length we shall not now detain our readers long. The manner of preparation for the second degree stressed the masculine side, which is characteristic of it. The admission on a S. indicated that the Cand. had profited by the moral training rcceived in the First degree, and that his conduct had always been on the S.. There is, however a deep esoteric meaning in the apparent platitude that it is the fourth part of a circle. Among all the ancient nations the circle is a symbol of God the Infinite, Whose name we discovered in the second degree in the M.Ch., where we leamt that it consisted of four letters. Thus the Cand. was admitted on one letter of the Mystic Name, and if the four Sq.s are united with the circle in a peculiar way they form the cosmic cross, emblem of matter, within the circle of the Infinite. We have in the last book considered at such length what is implied by the words "Hidden mysteries of nature and science," that we need here only refer our readers to that section, wherein we saw that in former times these hidden mysteries undoubtedly referred to certain occult powers, which would be dangerous if acquired by a man who had not proved himself to be of the highest moral character. The "wages" we receive consist of the power to comprehend the nature of God, Who resides in the M.Ch. of the Soul of every Mason. The F.C. receives his wages without scruple or diffidence because the Spiritual benefit he receives from Freemasonry is in exact proportion to his desire, and ability, to comprehend its inner meaning. He cannot receive either more or less than he has earned, for if he has not understood the profound lesson of the Divinity within him, naturally he cannot benefit therefrom. His employers are the Divine Trinity, of Whom Justice is one of the outstanding attributes. God could not be unjust and remain God. This conception is almost a platitude, but the average man, while realising that God will not withhold any reward earned, is at times apt to assume that because God is love He will reward us more than we deserve. This is clearly a mistake, for God could not be partial without ceasing to be God, therefore the F.C. receives exactly the Spiritual wages he has earned, and neither more nor less, but some F.C.'s will nevertheless obtain a greater reward than others, because spiritually they have earned it. The significance of the names of the P....rs was explained in the last book, but in view of the nature of the third degree it seems advisable to point out once more that their secret Kabalistic meaning is (1) Being fortified by every moral virtue, (2) you are now properly prepared, (3) to undergo that last and greatest trial which fits you to become a M M.. Thus we see that even the w..ds of the preceding degrees lead up to this, the last and greatest. As in the former case, the remark of the W.M. that he will put other questions if desired indicates the possibility of members of the Lodge asking qucstions based on the Lectures of the Second Degree, or even on the Tracing Board. It is, indeed, a pity that this right is practically never exercised. For example, a particularly appropriate question would be "What was the name of the man who cast the two great p....rs ? " As it is, the Cand. in a dramatic way represents the closing incidents in the life of this great man, whose importance till then he has hardly had any opportunity of realising. Having answered these test questions, the cand. is again entrusted with a P.W., etc., to enable him to enter the Lodge after it has been raised to the Third degree during this temporary absence. We have in the previous book explained that the raising of a Lodge should alter the vibrations of those present by a process well recognised in the ceremonies of Magic, and, to enable the Cand. quickly to become in ttme with these higher spiritual vibrations, a word of "power" is given him, which in a moment places him on the same plane as the other members of the Lodge. This word he has to give, not only outside the d....r of the Lodge, but also immediately before his presentation by the S.W. as "Properly prepared to be raised to the Third Degree." It is only after this has been done that the real ceremony of the Third Degree, so far as the c. is concerned, begins, and therefore that the full force of the vibrations of the M.M.'s come into play. The P.W. itself is of the greatest significance, more especially when combined with the P.W. leading from the First to the Second degree. At one time the P.W.'s were reversed. T.C. being the W. leading to the Second, and Sh... . the W. leading to the Third. This is still the case in those foreign Grand Lodges, such as the Dutch and the French, which derive from us before 1740, when the W.s were altered owing to certain un-authorised revelations. This alteration was one of the just grievances which brought about the secession of the so-called "Ancients," who charged Grand Lodge with altering the Ancient Landmarks. When the Irish followed our example they continued the prohibition of the introduction of m..ls until the Third degree, which is a logical procedure, for clearly you have no right to bring them into Lodge until you have been symbolically introduced to the first artificer in that material. As the W.s now stand they convey the following spiritual lesson:- the F.C. is one who finds the simple necessities of life, such as C. and W., sufficient for his requirements. They are plenty to the spiritually minded man, whose soul becomes clogged and hampered by the acquistion of worldly possessions and since it is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, immediatdy the Cand. has symbolically received W.P. he is Sl....n. T.C. conveys the lesson that W.P. in themselves bring death to the soul and prevent its upward progress. To-day, the river of death connected with the P.W. leading to the Second degree has largely lost its significance, whereas when it was a P.W. leading to the Third, it was in itself a fine allegory. We must remember that Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was well known and widely read at the beginning of the 18th Century, and those who were re-organising our rituals at that time could not have been blind to the similarity of the allegory hidden in the w. Sh. and the account by Bunyan of Christian's fording the river of death on the way to the Holy City. The change of about 1740 destroyed this allegory, and its survival in the Tracing Board is now merely one of those numerous footnotes which, to the careful student, are invaluable indications of the various transformations though which our ritual has passed during the course of years. Nevertheless, I do not regret the change, as I think the present spiritual lesson is even finer than the former one, but the other arrangement was more logical. Firstly, from the practical point of view the F.C. required the use of m..1 tools to perform his operative tasks, and in the process of his work acquired W.P., in contradiction to the E.A., who did only rough work and received only maintenance: i.e., corn, wine , and oil. Secondly, from the symbolical standpoint the sequence was also more logical, for the F.C., having acquired wealth by means of his skill, was brought to the river of d., and passed through it in the Third Degree. According to Bro. Sanderson, in his "Examination of the Masonic Ritual," the actual translation of the Hebrew w. Sh. is an " e. of c., or a f. of w."- hence the manner in which it is depicted in a F.C.'s Lodge-while the w. T.C. in Hebrew means only a blacksmith, though another w. similarly pronounced means acquisition. Hence, as he points out, " an allegorical title has, in translating the Old Testament, been mistaken for the name of an actual person, for the name itself means `A worker in M...t...ls'" Therefore the connection with H.A.B. is obvious. Bro. Sanderson, quoting from the "Secret Discipline," by S. L. Knapp, says, "In a work on ancient ecclesiastical history the following occurs, 'By a singular plasus linguae the moderns have substituted T.C. in the Third Degree for tymboxein-to be entombed.' " While I am unable to say whether Knapp is justified in this statement, it is quitee probable that this P.W., and indeed all the P.W.s are comparatively modern substitutes, taken from the Bible to replace ancient W.s of power whose full meaning was lost and whose form in consequence had become corrupt and unintelligible. The Greek word tymboxein would be peculiariy suitable for a P.W. leading to the Third Degree, in view of its meaning, and mediaeval magical ceremonies are full of corrupt Greek words indiscriminately mingled with equally corrupt Hebrew and Arabic. There is, therefore, nothing intrinsically improbable in the suggestion that this ancient Greek word was the original from which T.C. has been evolved. We know as a fact that large pieces of Biblical history were imported wholesale into our rituals in the 18th Century, and what is more likely than that an unintelligible work, already so corrupt as not even to be recognisable as Greek, should be amended into a well known Biblical character? However, the word as it stands, because of its Hebrew meaning of acquisition, can correctly be translated as W.P., while as meaning an artificer in M. it clearly refers to H.A.B., who made the two p.....rs, and whom the Cand. is to represent. Thus, following this line of interpretation, we perceive that the Cand. really represents H.A.B. when he enters the Lodge, although under the disguised title conveyed by the P.W.. In dealing with these P.W.s I have endeavoured to show that there are meanings within meanings, and the same is true of practically every important incident in the whole ceremony. In a book of thissize it is obviously impossible to attempt to give all of these meanings, and even if one did the result would be to befog the young reader and so prevent him from getting a clear and connected interpretation of the ceremony. It is for this reason that, in the main, I am concentrating on one line of interpretation, but I have thought it desirable in this section to give a hint to more advanced students, so that they can follow up similar lines of investigation for themselves. PREPARATION In English and Scotch workings there is no c.t. around the Cand. in preparation for the Third Degree, but in the Irish working it is wound once around his n., in the Second degree twice, and the First three times. If we regard the c.t. as symbolising those things which hamper a man's spiritual progress, the gradual unwinding of it as used in Irish workings becomes of great significance. This interpretation implies that the Cand. is hampered in Body, Soul and Spirit in the First Degree, whereas by the time he has reached this point in the Third Degree the Body and Soul have triumphed over the sins which peculiarly assail them, and in that stage symbolised by the Degree itself the Spirit has only to triumph over Spiritual sins, such as Spiritual Pride. With this exception the manner of preparation is the same in all these British workings, and indicates that the Cand. is now about to consecrate both sides of his nature, active and passive, creative and preservative, etc., to the service of the Most High. The explanation already given in the previous books of the various details, such as being s.s., holds here, and a brief glance at the other volumes will render it unnecessary for me to take up valuable space therewith in this third book. The Can. is then brought to the Lodge door and gives the Kn.s of a F.C. These Kn's indicate that Soul and Body are in union, but the Spirit is still out of contact whereas the proper Kn's of a M.M. (2/1) indicates that the Spirit dominates the Soul and is in union with it, the body having fallen away into significance. It will be remembered that in the first book of this series I pointed out that the three separate kn's of an E.A. symbolise that in the uninitiated man, Body, Soul and Spirit are all at variance. Meanwhile the Lodge has been raised to a Third Degree by a ceremony whose profound significance demands consideration in a separate chapter. |
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