Filename: +quot;RC1013.TXT+quot; Source: +quot;Freemasonry + Catholicism+quot; by Max Hein
Filename: "RC1013.TXT"
Source: "Freemasonry & Catholicism" by Max Heindel
[PAGE 391]
AN EXPOSITION OF THE COSMIC FACTS UNDERLYING
THESE TWO GREAT INSTITUTIONS AS
DETERMINED BY OCCULT INVESTIGATION:
LUCIFER, THE REBEL ANGEL:
The Rosicrucian Fellowship aims to educate and construct, to be
charitable even to those from whom we differ, and never to vent the venom of
vituperation, spite, or malice even upon those who seem deliberately deter-
mined to mislead. We revere the Catholic religion; it is as divine in its
essence, as both were born to further the aspiration of the striving soul,
and both have a message and a mission in the world not apparent upon the
surface today, because man-made ceremonial as a scale has hidden the present
articles to remove that scale and show the Cosmic purpose of these two Great
Organizations, which are so bitterly antagonistic to each other. We do not
aim to reconcile them, however, for though they are both designed to further
the emancipation of the soul, their methods are different, and the at-
tributes of the soul fostered by one method will indeed be very different
from the quality of the soul nurtured in the other School. Therefore, the
strife must continue until the battle for the souls of men has been lost and
won. The issue is not, however, the persistence of the Masonic or Catholic
institutions; but the outcome will determine the nature of the training hu-
manity will receive in the remaining Periods of our evolution. We shall en-
deavor to show the cosmic root of both of these institutions, the purpose of
each and the training which each will inaugurate, if successful; also the
nature of the soul quality which may be expected to result from each method.
Our opposition is not fanatical, or blind to the merits of the Catholic
Religion, however. The Catholic is our brother as well as the Mason; we
would not say a disparaging, irreverent word against this faith, or those
who live by it, and should we seem to do so, in any passage, the wrong will
be due to inadvertence. The reader is requested to note that we distinguish
sharply between the Catholic Hierarchy and the Catholic Religion, but the
former are also our brothers; we would not throw stones either physically or
morally, for we know our own shortcomings too well to attack others.
[PAGE 392]
The great law of analogy is everywhere the master key of all spiritual
mysteries, and, although Masonry and Catholicism do not begin till we arrive
at the Earth Period, they have their prototype in the earlier Periods; we
shall therefore briefly touch upon the essential facts.
In the Saturn Period, the Earth-in-the-making was dark; HEAT, which is
the manifestation of the ever invisible fire, was the only element then
manifest; embryonic mankind was mineral-like, the only lower kingdom of
evolving life. Unity was everywhere observable, and the Lords of Mind who
were human then, were at one among themselves.
In the Western Wisdom Teaching we speak of the highest Initiate of the
Saturn Period as THE FATHER.
In the Sun Period the root of a new element, AIR, was evolved, and
coalesced with the true fire, which, mark again, is always invisible, and
which manifested as HEAT in the Saturn Period. Then fire burst into FLAMES,
and the dark world became a blazing ball of luminous firemist at the word of
power, "LET THERE BE LIGHT."
Let the student ponder well the relation of FIRE and FLAME; the former
lies sleeping, invisible in everything, and is kindled into light in various
ways: by a blow of a hammer upon a stone, by friction of wood against wood
and by chemical action, etc. This gives us a clue to the identity and state
of THE FATHER, "whom no man hath seen at any time" but who is revealed in
"The Light of the World," the Son, who is the highest Initiate of the Sun
Period. As the unseen fire is revealed in the flame, so also the fullness
of the Father dwelt in the Son, and they are one as fire is one with the
flame in which it manifests. This is the root of all true Sun and Fire wor-
ship. All look beyond the physical symbol and adore "Our Father Who art in
Heaven." The Mystic Masons of today hold this faith in fire as firmly as
ever.
Thus it will be seen that the Unity which prevailed in the Saturn Period
continued in the Sun Period. The ordinary humanity of that time has now
evolved to the glory of Archangels; some were more advanced than others, but
there was no antagonism among them. Our present humanity had advanced to a
plantlike stage, and was slightly above the new Lifewave started in the Sun
Period, and unity also here prevailed.
In the Moon Period contact of the heated sphere with cold Space generated
moisture, and the battle of the elements commenced in all its fierceness.
The heated ball of fire endeavored to evaporate the moisture, force it out-
wards and create a vacuum wherein to maintain its integrity and burn undis-
turbed; but there is and can be no void in nature, hence the outrushing
[PAGE 393]
steam condensed at a certain distance from the heated ball and was again
driven inwards by the cold of Space, to be again evaporated and propelled
outwards, in a ceaseless round for ages and ages, as a shuttlecock between
the separate Hierarchies of Spirits composing the various Kingdoms of Life,
represented in the Fire-Sphere and Cosmic Space which is an expression of
the Homogeneous Absolute Spirit. The Fire Spirits are actively striving to
attain enlargement of consciousness. But the Absolute rests ever clothed in
the invisible garment of Cosmic Space. In 'It' all powers and possibilities
are LATENT, and It seeks to discourage and check any attempt at expenditure
of latent power as dynamic energy required in the evolution of a solar sys-
tem. Water is the agent It used to quench the fire of active spirits. The
zone between the heated center of the separate Spirit Sphere, and the Point
where its individual atmosphere meets Cosmic Space, is a battleground of
evolving spirits at various stages of evolution.
The present Angels were human in the Moon Period, and the highest Ini-
tiate is The Holy Spirit, (Jehovah).
As our humanity and the other Kingdoms of Life on earth are variously af-
fected by the present elements, so that some like heat, others prefer cold,
some thrive on moisture and others require dryness, so also in the Moon
Period among the Angels, some had affinity for water, others abhorred it and
loved fire.
The continued cycles of condensation and evaporation of the moisture sur-
rounding the fiery center eventually caused incrustation, and it was the
purpose of Jehovah to mold this "red earth," translated ADAM, into forms
wherein to imprison and QUENCH THE SPIRITS OF THE FIRE. To this end, He is-
sued the creative fiat, and the prototypes of fish, fowl and every living
thing appeared, even including the primitive human form, which were created
by His Angels; thus He hoped to make all that lives and moves subservient to
His will. Against this plan a minority of the Angels rebelled; they had too
great an affinity for FIRE to bear contact with water, and refused to create
the forms as ordered; but thereby they at the same time deprived themselves
of an opportunity of evolution along the conventional lines, and became an
anomaly in nature; furthermore, having repudiated the authority of Jehovah,
they must work out their own salvation in their own manner. How this has
been accomplished by LUCIFER, their Great Leader will be made plain in the
following articles; for the present, suffice it to say, that in the Earth
Period, when various planets were differentiated to provide proper evolu-
tionary environment for each class of Spirits, the Angels under Jehovah were
set to work with the inhabitants of ALL PLANETS HAVING MOONS; while the
Lucifer Spirits have their abode upon the planet Mars. The Angel GABRIEL is
[PAGE 394]
representative on earth, of the Lunar Hierarchy, presided over by Jehovah;
the Angel SAMAEL is ambassador of the Martial forces of Lucifer. Gabriel
(who announced the coming birth of Jesus to Mary,) and his lunar angels are
therefore the givers of physical life, while Samael and the hosts of Mars
are the Angels of Death.
Thus originated the feud in the dim dawn of this Cosmic day, and that
which we see as Free Masonry today is an attempt by the HIERARCHS OF FIRE,
the Lucifer Spirits, to bring us the imprisoned spirit "LIGHT," that by it
we may SEE and KNOW. Catholicism is an activity of the HIERARCHS OF WATER,
and places "HOLY WATER" at the Temple door to quench the spirits seeking
light and knowledge and to inculcate FAITH in Jehovah.
As the vernal equinox is said to be at the first point of Aries, no mat-
ter where in the constellations it falls by precession, so the point where
the human seed-atom comes from the invisible world and is taken in hand by
the Lunar God of Generation, Jehovah, through his ambassador, the Angel
Gabriel, is esoterically the first point of Cancer. This is the Cardinal
sign of the watery Triplicity, and is ruled by the Moon. There Conception
takes place; but were the form built of water and its concretions alone, it
could never come to birth, so four months later when the foetus has reached
the stage of development corresponding to the second sign of the watery tri-
plicity, Scorpio, the eighth sign, which corresponds to the house of death,
Samael, the dauntless ambassador of the Lucifer Spirits, invades the watery
domain of the Lunar Hierarchy and introduces the fiery spark of the spirit
into the inert form, to leaven, quicken and mould it into an expression of
itself.
There the Silver Cord which has grown from the seed-atom of the dense
body (located in the heart) since conception, is welded to the part that has
sprouted from the central vortex of the desire body, (located in the liver,)
and when the Silver Cord is tied by the seed-atom of the vital body, (lo-
cated in the solar plexus,) the spirit DIES to life in the super-sensible
world, and quickens the body it is to use in its coming earth life. This
life on earth last until the course of events foreshadowed in the wheel of
life, the horoscope, has been run; and when the spirit again reaches the
realm of Samael, the Angel of Death, the mystic eighth house, the silver
cord is loosed, and the spirit returns to God who gave it, until the dawn of
another Life-day in the School of earth beckons it to a new birth that it
may acquire more skill in the arts and crafts of temple-building.
About five months after the quickening, when the last of the watery
signs, Pisces, has been passed, the representative of the Lucifer Spirits,
Samael, focuses the forces of the fiery sign, Aries, where Mars is
positively polarized, so that under the impulse of their dynamic energy the
waters of the womb are voided, and the imprisoned spirit is liberated into
[PAGE 395]
the physical world, to fight the battle of life. It may blindly butt its
head against the Cosmic forces typified by the first of the fiery signs, Ar-
ies, the Ram, which is a symbol of the brute strength brought to bear upon
the problems of life by the most primitive races; or it may adopt the more
modern method of cunning, as a means of attaining mastery over others, which
characteristic is indicated in the second of the fiery signs, Leo, the Lion,
the king of beasts; or perchance it may rise above the animal nature, and
aim at the stars with the bow of spiritual aspiration, typified by the last
of the fiery signs, Sagittarius, the Centaur. The Centaur is just ahead of
the watery sign Scorpio, a warning that one who tries to reach that pre-
rogative as "PHREE MESSEN," a son of Fire and Light, will surely feel the
sting of the Scorpion in his heel, which will goad him onward upon the path
where men become "wise as serpents." It is from this class that Mystic Ma-
sonry is recruited with men who have the indomitable courage TO DARE, the
unflagging energy TO DO and the diplomatic discrimination TO BE SILENT.
THE MASONIC LEGEND:
Every mystic movement has its legend, which tells in symbolic language
its status in the cosmic order and the ideal which it tries to realize.
From the Old Testament, containing the Atlantean Mystery teaching, we learn
that mankind was created male-female, bi-sexual, and that each one was ca-
pable of propagating his species without the co-operation of another as is
the case with some plants today. Later on, we are informed, Jehovah removed
one pole of the creative force from ADAM, the early humanity, and that there
were henceforth two sexes. The esoteric teaching supplements this informa-
tion by stating that the purpose of this change was to use one pole of the
creative force for the building of a brain and larynx wherewith mankind
might acquire knowledge and express itself in speech. The intimate connec-
tion between the organs, brain, larynx and genitals is evident to anyone
upon the slightest examination of facts. The boy's voice changing at pu-
berty, the mental deficiency resulting from over-indulgence of the passional
nature, and the inarticulate speech of the mentally defective with many
[PAGE 396]
other facts which might be added prove this assertion.
According to the Bible, our earliest parents were forbidden to eat of THE
TREE OF KNOWLEDGE, but Eve, seduced by the serpent, did eat and later in-
duced the man to follow her example. Who the serpents are and what the Tree
of Knowledge is may also be determined from certain passages in the Bible.
We are told, for instance, that Christ exhorted his disciples to be "wise as
serpents and harmless as doves." The so-called curse pronounced upon Eve
after her confession declares that she must bear her children in sorrow and
pain and that the race will die. It has always been a great stumbling block
to Bible commentators as to what connection there could be between the eat-
ing of an apple, death, and painful parturition; but when we are acquainted
with the chaste expressions of the Bible, which designates the creative act
by such passages as "Adam KNEW Eve and she bore Abel," "How can I bear a
child seeing I KNOW not a man?" et cetera, it is very evident that the Tree
of Knowledge is a symbolical expression for the creative act. Then it is
plain that the serpents taught Eve how to perform the creative act and that
Eve instructed Adam. Therefore, Christ designated the serpents as harmful
while admitting their wisdom. To get at the identity of the serpent it is
necessary to invoke the esoteric teaching, which points them out as the
martial Lucifer Spirits, rulers of the serpentine sign Scorpio. Their Ini-
tiates, even so late as the Egyptian Dynasty, wore the URAEUS or serpent
symbol in the forehead as a sign of the source of their wisdom.
As a consequence of this unauthorized use of the creative force, humanity
ceased to be ethereal and crystallized into the COATS OF SKIN or physical
body which now hides from them the gods who dwell in the invisible realms;
and great was their sorrow at this loss.
GENERATION had been originally established by the Angels under Jehovah.
It was then performed in great temples under propitious planetary conditions
and parturition was then painless, as it is today among wild animals where
the creative function is not abused for the purpose of gratifying the
senses.
DEGENERATION resulted from the ignorant and unauthorized abuse inaugu-
rated by the Lucifer Spirits.
REGENERATION must be undertaken in order to restore man to his lost es-
tate as a spiritual being and to free him from this body of death wherein he
is now encrusted. Death must be swallowed up in Immortality.
To attain this object, a covenant was made with humanity when it was ex-
pelled from the garden of God to wander in the wilderness of the world. Ac-
cording to that plan, a Tabernacle was built after a pattern planned by God,
Jehovah, and an ark symbolical of the human spirit was placed in it. Its
staves were never taken out of their place, to show that man is a pilgrim on
[PAGE 397]
the earth and may never rest until he reaches the goal. There was within it
a golden pot with "MANNA" (man) "FALLEN FROM HEAVEN," together with a state-
ment of the divine laws which man must learn in his pilgrimage through the
wilderness of matter. This symbolic ark contained also a magic wand, an em-
blem of the spiritual powers, called AARON'S ROD, which are now latent in
everyone on his way to the haven of rest--the mystic temple of Solomon. The
Old Testament also tells how humanity was miraculously led and provided for,
how after the warfare with the world it was given peace and prosperity by
the before mentioned King Solomon; in short, stripped of all embellishments
the story relates the salient facts of man's descent from heaven, his prin-
cipal metamorphoses, his transgression of the laws of the God Jehovah would
wish to guide him in the future till he reaches the Kingdom of Heaven--the
land of peace--and again docilely follows the lead of the Divine Ruler.
THE MASONIC LEGEND has points of variance from as well as agreement with
the Bible story. It states that Jehovah created EVE, that the Lucifer
Spirit SAMAEL united with her but that he was ousted by Jehovah and forced
to leave her before the birth of her son Cain, who was thus THE SON OF A
WIDOW. Then Jehovah created ADAM, to be the husband of Eve, and from their
union Abel was born. Thus from the beginning there have been two kinds of
people in the world. One begotten by the Lucifer Spirit Samael and
partaking of a semi-divine nature imbued with the dynamic martial energy in-
herited from this divine ancestry, is aggressive, progressive, and possessed
of great initiative, but impatient of restraint or authority whether human
or divine. This class is loath to take things on faith and prone to prove
all things by the light of reason. These people BELIEVE IN WORKS rather
than faith, and by their dauntless courage and inexhaustible energy they
have transformed the trackless wilderness of the world to a garden full of
life and beauty, so lovely in fact that THE SONS OF CAIN have forgotten the
garden of God, the Kindgom of Heaven, whence they were expelled by the de-
cree of the lunar God Jehovah. Against Him they are in constant rebellion
because He has tied them by THE UMBILICAL "CABLE TOW." They have lost their
spiritual sight and are imprisoned in the forehead of the body where it is
said Cain was marked; they must wander as prodigal sons in the comparative
darkness of the material world, oblivious to their high and noble estate un-
til they find the door of the temple, and ask and receive LIGHT; then as
"PHREE MESSEN" or children of light they are instructed in methods of build-
ing a new temple without sound of hammer, and when the spirit realizes that
it is far from its heavenly home, a prodigal, feeding upon the unsatisfac-
tory husks of the material world, that apart from the Father it is "POOR,
[PAGE 398]
NAKED AND BLIND," when it knocks at the door of a mystic temple like that of
the Rosicrucians and asks for light, when it receives the desired instruc-
tion after due qualification by building and ethereal soul-body, a temple or
house eternal in the heavens, not made with hands, and without sound of ham-
mer, when its nakedness is clothed with that house (see Cor. 4.5,) then the
neophyte receives "THE WORD," the open sesame to the inner worlds and learns
to travel in foreign parts in the invisible worlds. There he takes
soul-flights into heavenly regions and qualifies for higher degrees under
more direct instruction from THE GRAND ARCHITECT OF THE UNIVERSE, who fash-
ioned both heaven and earth.
Such is the temperament of THE WIDOW'S SONS inherited from their divine
progenitor Samael and given by him to their ancestor Cain. Their past his-
tory is a struggle with adverse conditions, their achievement is victory
wrested from all opposing forces by indomitable courage nad persistent ef-
fort, unchecked by temporary defeat.
On the other hand while Cain, governed by divine ambition, toiled and
tilled the soil to make two blades of grass grow where there was only one,
ABEL, THE HUMAN PROGENY OF HUMAN PARENTS, felt no urge or unrest, himself a
creature of Jehovah through Adam and Eve; he was perfectly contented to tend
the flocks also created by God and to accept a livelihood from their di-
vinely begotten increase without labor or exercising initiative. This
docile attitude was most pleasing to the God Jehovah, who was extremely
jealous of His prerogative as Creator. Therefore He cordially accepted the
offering of Abel obtained without effort or initiative, but scorned the of-
fering of Cain because derived through his own divine creative instinct akin
to that of Jehovah. Cain then slew Abel, but did not thereby exterminate
the docile creatures of Jehovah, for we are told ADAM KNEW EVE AGAIN AND SHE
BORE SETH. Seth had the same characteristics as Abel and transmitted them
to his descendants, who to this day, continue to trust to the Lord for ev-
erything, and WHO LIVE BY FAITH AND NOT BY WORK. By arduous and energetic
application to the world's work the Sons of Cain have acquired worldly wis-
dom and temporal power. They have been captains of industry and masters of
STATECRAFT, while the Sons of Seth, looking to the Lord for guidance, have
become the avenue for divine and spiritual wisdom. They constitute the
PRIESTCRAFT. The animosity of Cain and Abel has been perpetuated from gen-
eration to generation among their respective descendants. Nor could it be
otherwise, because one class as temporal rulers aim to lift humanity to
physical well-being through conquest of the material world, while the
Priesthood is their role as spiritual guides urge their followers to forsake
the wicked world, the vale of tears, and look to God for comfort. One
school aims to turn out MASTER workmen, skilled in the use of tools where-
with they may wrest a livelihood from the earth, which was cursed by their
[PAGE 399]
divine adversary Jehovah. The other produces MASTER MAGICIANS, skilled in
the use of the tongue in invocation, and by the use of the tongue they gain
support from the toilers here and pray themselves and their charges into
heaven hereafter.
After the future in store for the Sons of Cain and their followers, the
temple legend is also most eloquent. It states that from Cain descended
Methuselah, who invented writing, Tubal Cain, a cunning worker in metals,
and Jubal, who originated music. In short, THE SONS OF CAIN ARE THE
ORIGINATORS OF THE ARTS AND CRAFTS. Therefore when Jehovah chose Solomon,
the scion of the race of Seth, to build a house for his name, the sublime
spirituality of a long line of divinely guided ancestors flowered into the
conception of the magnificent temple called Solomon's Temple, though Solomon
has only the instrument to carry out the divine plan revealed by Jehovah to
David. But Solomon was unable to execute the divine design in concrete
form. Therefore it became necessary for him to apply to King Hiram of Tyre,
the descendent of Cain, who selected HIRAM ABIFF, THE SON OF A WIDOW, (as
all Free Masons are called because of the relation of their divine pro-
genitor with Eve.) Hiram Abiff then became Grand Master of the army of con-
struction. In him the arts and crafts of all the Sons of Cain who had gone
before had flowered. He was skilled beyond all others in the work of the
world, without which the plan of Jehovah must have remained forever a divine
dream, and could never have become a concrete reality. The worldly acumen
of the Sons of Cain was as necessary to the completion of this temple as the
spiritual conception of the Sons of Seth, and, therefore, during the period
of construction the two classes joined forces, the underlying enmity being
hidden under a superficial show of amity. It was, indeed, the first attempt
to unite them, and had that been accomplished the world history from then on
would have been altered in a very material manner.
The Sons of Cain, descended from the fiery Lucifer Spirits, were
naturally proficient in the use of FIRE. By it the metals hoarded by
Solomon and his ancestors were melted into altars, lavers and vessels of
various kinds. Pillars were fashioned by workmen under the direction of
Hiram Abiff, and arches to rest upon them. The great edifice was nearing
completion when he made ready to cast the "molten sea," which was to be the
crowning effort, his masterpiece. It was in the construction of this great
work that the treachery of the Sons of Seth became manifest and frustrated
the divine plan of reconciliation. They tried to quench the fire used by
Hiram Abiff with their natural weapon, WATER, and almost succeeded. The
incidents which led up to this catastrophe, their meaning, and the sequel
will be related in the next chapter.
[PAGE 400]
THE QUEEN OF SHEBA:
The Masonic Legend is voluminous, circumstantial, even trivial, and seem-
ingly far-fetched and fantastic to the uninitiated who fail to see the im-
portant hidden meaning underlying every word; but we will give only such
fragments as have a bearing upon our main subject and the explanation neces-
sary to link them together.
The events which led up to the conspiracy against the Grand Master, Hiram
Abiff, mentioned in our last chapter, and which culminated in his murder,
commenced with the arrival of the Queen of Sheba who had been attracted to
the court of Solomon by tales of his wonderful wisdom and of the splendor of
the temple he was engaged in building. She is said to have come laden with
gorgeous gifts and it is stated that at first she was much impressed with
the wisdom of Solomon. But even the Bible, which is written from the stand-
point of the Jehovistic Hierarchies, hints that she saw at the court of
Solomon one that was fairer than he, and there the Bible narrative leaves
her. Her marriage with Solomon was never consummated or the name of Mason
would have faded from memory long ere the present day and humanity at large
would now be docile children of the dominant church, without free will,
choice or prerogative. Nor could she be permitted to wed Hiram, who repre-
sented the temporal power, or Religion would have been stamped out; she must
wait for the bridegroom who shall embody within himself the combined good
qualities of Solomon and Hiram, but who is purified from their weaknesses.
For the Queen of Sheba is the COMPOSITE SOUL OF HUMANITY, and at the consum-
mation of the work of our evolutionary era she will be the bride, while
Christ, whom Paul called a High Priest after the order of Melchisedec, will
fill the dual office of both spiritual and temporal head, where He will be
both king and priest, to the eternal welfare of mankind at large who are now
in bondage either to church or state but waiting, whether they realize it or
not, for the day of emancipation, symbolically represented as the Millenium,
when there will be a wonderful city, a new Jerusalem, A CITY OF PEACE. And
the earlier this amalgamation can be brought about, the better for humanity.
Therefore, an attempt was made at the time and is the place which is said in
the Legend to be the scene of Solomon's and Hiram's love episode. There the
two Initiatory Orders met for the consummation of a definite work of amal-
gamation symbolically called THE MOLTEN SEA, a work which was then attempted
for the first time. It could not have been wrought at any earlier period,
for man was not sufficiently advanced. At that time, however, it seemed as
if the united efforts of the two schools might accomplish the task, and had
it not been for the desire of each to oust the other from the affections of
the symbolic Queen of Sheba, the soul of humanity, they might have suc-
ceeded, an equitable union between Church and State might have been effected
and human evolution might have been greatly furthered. But both Church and
State were jealous of their particular prerogative; the Church would only
amalgamate upon condition that she retain all her ancient power over man-
kind, and take in addition those of the temporal government. The State was
selfish in a similar manner and the Queen of Sheba, humanity at large, is
still unwed. The Masonic Legend tells the story of the attempt and its
failure as follows:
When the Queen of Sheba had been shown the gorgeous palace of Solomon and
had bestowed her choice gifts of gold and wrought work, she asked also to be
shown the great Temple which was nearing completion. She marveled much at
the magnitude of the work but wondered at the seeming absence of workmen,
and the stillness about the place. And she therefore requested Solomon to
call the workmen that she might see who had wrought this wonder; but though
the servants of Solomon at the palace obeyed the slightest wish of the mon-
arch, and although he had been appointed by the God Jehovah to build the
temple, these workmen were not subject to his authority; they only yielded
obedience to one who had "THE WORD" and "THE SIGN." Therefore no one
appeared at the call of Solomon, and the Queen of Sheba could not escape the
conclusion that this marvelous miracle was wrought by another and one who
was greater than Solomon. And so she insisted on knowing and seeing this
KING OF CRAFTS and his wonderful workmen, much to the chagrin of Solomon,
who felt that he had fallen in her estimation.
The temple of Solomon is our Solar Universe which forms the great school
of life for our evolving humanity; the broad lines of its history, past,
present and future, are written in the stars, its main outlines being dis-
cernible to anyone of average intelligence. In the Microcosmic scheme, the
temple of Solomon is also the body of man wherein the individualized spirit
or ego is evolving, as God is in the great universe. Work on the true
temple, as we are told in 2nd Corinthians, fifth chapter, is wrought by in-
visible forces working in silence, building the temple without sound of ham-
mer. As the temple of Solomon was visible in all its glory to the Queen of
Sheba, so the evidence of the toil of these invisible forces is easily per-
ceived, both in the universe and in man, but they themselves keep in the
background and work without ostentation; they hide from all who have not the
right to see them or to command them. The relation of these nature forces
to the work they do in the universe may perhaps be better understood when we
use an illustration: Let us suppose that a carpenter wishes to build a
[PAGE 401]
house wherein to live. He selects a place whereon to build and brings the
materials thither, then with the tools of his trade he commences to lay the
foundation. Gradually the walls are put up, the roof put on, the inside
completed and the structure finished. During all the time while he is work-
ing, a dog, which is an intelligent spirit belonging to another and later
life-wave of evolution, watches his actions and the whole process of con-
struction and sees the house gradually take shape and reach completion. But
it lacks the proper understanding of what he is doing and of what is the ul-
timate purpose in his mind. Let us now suppose that the dog were unable to
see the carpenter or to hear the noise made by his hammer and other tools.
Then it would be in the same relation to this builder, as humanity at large
is to the Architect of the Universe and the forces which work under His com-
mand. For the dog would then see only the materials coming together slowly
and taking shape, finally forming a finished structure. Humanity also sees
the silent growth of plant, of beast and of bird, but is unable to under-
stand what causes this physical growth and the changes in the visible uni-
verse, for it does not see the immense army of invisible workmen who are si-
lently toiling in the soundless silence to bring about these results. Nor
do they respond to the call of anyone who has not the sign and the word of
power, no matter how high his standing or station in the world.
The Churchman always emphasizes the necessity of faith, while the
Statesman emphasizes, and places his reliance on, WORK. But when faith
flowers into work we reach the highest ideal of expression. Humanity may,
and does, admire lofty sentiment and brilliant oratory; but when a Lincoln
unbinds the shackles of a downtrodden race or when a Luther revolts in be-
half of the fettered spirits of humanity and secures religious freedom for
them, the outward action of these emancipators reveals a beauty of soul
never discernible in those who soar in cloudland, but fear to soil their
hands by actual work in the temple of humanity. The latter are not true
temple-builders and would be unable to gain inspiration from the sight of
that wonderful temple described by Manson in "The Servant in the House."
The author calls him "Man-son;" this may mean that he regards him as the Son
of Man, but it may also be that he meant Mason, for the Servant in the House
was also a temple-builder. It is wonderful what insight the author of the
play must have had when he planned the scene where his servant, the workman
in love with his work, tells the worldly minded Churchman, who is full of
platitudes and as vile as a whited sepulcher, of the temple which he, the
workman, built. This conception is a mystic gem and we append it for the
reader's meditation:
"I am afraid you may not consider it an altogether substantial concern.
It has to be seen in a certain way, under certain conditions. SOME PEOPLE
NEVER SEE IT AT ALL. You must understand this is no dead pile of stones and
[PAGE 402]
unmeaning timber; IT IS A LIVING THING.
"When you enter it you hear a sound--a sound as of some mighty poem
chanted. Listen long enough and you will hear that it is made up of the
beating of human hearts, of the nameless music of men's souls, that is, if
you have ears. If you have eyes you will presently see the church itself, a
looming mystery of many shapes and shadows leaping sheer from floor to dome,
the WORK OF NO ORDINARY BUILDER.
"The pillars of it go up like the brawny trunks of heroes; the sweet hu-
man flesh of men and women is moulded about its bulwarks, strong, impreg-
nable. The faces of little children laugh out from every cornerstone; the
terrible spans and arches of it are the joined hands of comrades; and up in
the heights and spaces are inscribed the numberless musings of all the
dreamers in the world.
It is yet building, building and built upon. Sometimes the work goes
forward in deep darkness, sometimes in blinding light, now beneath the bur-
den of unutterable anguish, now to the tune of great laughter and heroic
shoutings like the cry of thunder. Sometimes in the silence of the night
time one may hear the tiny hammerings of the comrades at work in the
dome--THE COMRADES THAT HAVE GONE ALOFT."
It is such a temple that the Mystic Mason is building. He endeavors to
WORK on the temple of Humanity at large, but since "when the rose adorns it-
self, it adorns the garden," he aims also to cultivate his own spiritual
powers, as foreshadowed in THE MOLTEN SEA.
Solomon had already sued for the hand of the Queen of Sheba, and had been
accepted, so, feeling that the meeting with Hiram Abiff might change her af-
fections, he endeavored to consummate their marriage before granting her
wish to meet the Grand Master. But the Queen was obstinate, she sensed the
grandeur of the Master Workman whose skill had wrought the marvelous Temple
and she felt intuitively drawn towards this man of action, as she had never
been moved by the wisdom of Solomon, which only found verbal expression in
flowery speeches and high ideals which he was unable to carry into realiza-
tion. Therefore the reluctance of Solomon to let her meet Hiram Abiff made
the Queen all the more anxious and importunate, so that at last Solomon was
forced to accede to her request, and he grudgingly sent for the Grand Mas-
ter. When Hiram Abiff appeared, and Solomon saw the lovelight kindle in the
eyes of the Queen of Sheba, jealousy and hatred took root in his heart; he
was, however, too wise to betray his feelings. But from that moment the
plan of reconciliation and amalgamation of the Sons of Seth and the Sons of
Cain which had been mapped out by the divine Hierarchies was doomed to fail-
ure, wrecked upon the rocks of jealousy and selfseeking.
The Queen of Sheba, according to the Masonic Legend, then requested Hiram
Abiff to show her the workmen on the Temple. The Grand Master struck a
[PAGE 403]
nearby ROCK with his HAMMER so that the fire sparks flew, and at the sign of
FIRE coupled with the work of power, the toilers of the Temple flocked
around their Master in a great multitude, which no one could count, all
ready and anxious to do his bidding. And this spectacle so impressed the
Queen of Sheba with the wonderful power of this man that she determined to
jilt Solomon and win the heart of Hiram Abiff. In other words, Humanity,
when its eyes are opened to the impotence of the Churchmen, the Sons of
Seth, who are themselves dependent upon divine favor, and when it sees the
power and potency of the rulers of temporal fame is then ready to rush to
them, and leave the spiritual for the material. This from the Microcosmic
angle of matter.
From the Cosmic angle or view point we note again that Solomon's Temple
is the Solar Universe and Hiram Abiff, the Grand Master, is the Sun which
travels around the twelve signs of the Zodiac, enacting there the mystic
drama of the Masonic Legend. At the Vernal Equinox the Sun leaves the WA-
TERY SIGN OF PISCES, which is also feminine and docile, for the belligerent,
martial, energetic, FIERY SIGN ARIES, the ram or lamb, where it is exalted
in power. It fills the universe with a creative fire which is immediately
seized upon by the innumerable billions of nature spirits who therewith
build the Temple of the coming year in forest and fen. The forces of fecun-
dation applied to the countless seeds slumbering in the ground causes them
to germinate and fill the earth with luxuriant vegetation while the group
spirit mate the beasts and birds in their charge so that they may bring
forth and increase sufficiently to keep the fauna of our planet at normal.
According to the Masonic Legend, Hiram Abiff, the Grand Master, used a ham-
mer to call his workmen, and it is significant that the symbol of the sign
Aries, where this wonderful creative activity commences, is shaped like a
double ram's horn, which also resembles a hammer. It is also worthy of no-
tice that in the ancient Norse Mythology, the Vanir or water deities are
said to have been conquered by the Assir, or fire gods. The hammer where-
with the Norse God Thor struck fire from the sky finds its counterpart in
the thunderbolt of Jove; like Hiram, the Assir belong to the Hierarchy of
Fire, the Lucifer Spirits, THE SONS OF CAIN, striving for positive Master-
ship through individual effort, and therefore upholding the MALE ideal,
which is diametrically opposite to that of the hierarchy which works in the
plastic element Water. In the present day Temples of the latter Order,
magic water stands at the door, and all who enter are required to apply this
lethal liquid to the point in the forehead where the Spirit resides; their
reason is drowned in dictums and dogmas, and the FEMALE ideal is worshipped
in the Virgin Mary. Faith is the prime factor in their salvation, the at-
titude of unquestioning childlike obedience being cultivated.
It is different in the Temple of the other Order; when the candidate en-
ters there, "poor," "naked" and "blind," he is asked at once what he is
[PAGE 404]
seeking, and when he answers "LIGHT," it is the duty of the Master to give
what he asks and make him a PHREE MESSEN--a Child of Light. It is his duty
also to teach him to work, and A MALE IDEAL, HIRAM ABIFF, the Master Work-
man, is presented for emulation. He is taught to be always ready to give a
reason for his faith. As he qualifies in the work, he rises step by step,
and at each degree more light is given. There are 3x3 degrees in the lesser
Mysteries; when the candidate has passed the 9th Arch, he is in the Holy of
Holies, which forms the gate to greater fields beyond the scope of Masonry.
For further elucidation of that subject the student is referred to the chap-
ters on Initiation, Volcanic Eruption and the number 9 in the Rosicrucian
Cosmo-Conception.
Advancement and promotion in Mystic Masonry is not dependent on favor; it
cannot be given till it has been earned and the candidate has stored in him-
self the power to rise, any more than a pistol can be fired till it has been
loaded. INITIATION IS MERELY LIKE PULLING THE TRIGGER, and consists in
showing the candidate how to use the power latent within himself.
There were some among the workmen on the Temple who thought they ought to
be promoted to a higher degree, but who had not the power within; therefore
Hiram Abiff could not initiate them, and as they were unable to see that the
lack was in themselves, they felt provoked at Hiram, as over-ambitious can-
didates of today feel slighted and stamp a spiritual teacher a fraud who
is unable to give them immediate illumination and induction into the invis-
ible, while they are still eating of the "flesh-pots of Egypt," and unwill-
ing to sacrifice themselves upon the altar of self-denial. The dissatisfied
among Hiram's men entered into a conspiracy to spoil his great Masterpiece,
the Molten Sea.
CASTING THE MOLTEN SEA:
As the spiritual gifts of the SONS OF SETH flowered in Solomon, the wis-
est of men, and enabled him to conceive and design a marvelous temple, ac-
cording to the plan of his creator, Jehovah, so Hiram, the clever craftsman,
embodied within himself the consummate skill of a long line of ancestral ar-
tificers. He possessed the concentrated quintessence of the material knowl-
edge gained by the SONS OF CAIN, while they wrought from the wilderness of
the world a concrete civilization; and in the execution of the wonderful
Temple of Solomon this superlative skill found full fruition.
Thus this glorious edifice was the chef d'oeurve of both lines, an em-
bodiment of the sublime spirituality of the CHURCHMEN, the SONS OF SETH,
combined with the superlative skill of THE CRAFTSMEN, THE SONS OF CAIN. So
far, the honors were even, the achievement equal. Solomon was contented; he
had carried out the design transmitted to him,he had a place of worship wor-
thy of the Lord he revered; but the soul of Hiram was not satisfied. Armed
with the art of ages, he had constructed an incomparable masterpiece in
architecture. BUT THE DESIGN HAD NOT BEEN HIS OWN; he had been merely the
tool of an unseen architect, Jehovah, working through an intermediary
Solomon. This rankled in his heart, for it was as necessary for him to
originate as to breathe.
In that ancient age when Cain and Abel first found themselves upon earth,
Abel contentedly cared for the flocks CREATED like himself and his parents,
Adam and Eve, by Jehovah; but in Cain, semi-divine progeny of the Lucifer
Spirit, Samael, and Eve, the creature of Jehovah, divine incentive to
ORIGINAL EFFORT burned; he tilled the field and made two blades of grass
grow where one grew before; the creative instinct must have expression.
Hiram, being the focus of and having inherited all the CRAFTS OF CAIN,
was also invested with the Spirit of Samael intensified in commensurate ra-
tio; therefore he was consumed by an overpowering urge to add something to
the Temple that would eclipse the rest of the structure in beauty and impor-
tance. Out of the travail of his spirit was born the conception of THE MOL-
TEN SEA, and this great ideal he proceeded to carry into execution, though
heaven and earth held their breath in awe at the audacity of his purpose.
The Bible gives very little information about the molten sea. In Second
Chronicles, the fourth chapter, we learn that Hiram made such a vessel, that
it was of considerable size, that it stood upon 12 oxen arranged so that
their heads were at the periphery of this circular basin and their hind
[PAGE 405]
parts were towards its center. It was intended solely for use by the
priests. Much is said of a nature to bewilder the reader, but the above
salient points prove the signal importance of this instrument, as we shall
see when we study and compare the Masonic account with this veiled word of
the Bible. The Masonic story runs as follows:
When Hiram had about completed the Temple, he commenced to cast the
various vessels required in the service according to designs made by Solomon
as agent of Jehovah. Chief among these was the great laver, intended to
hold the bath of purification, through which all priests must pass to enter
the service of the Lord. This, and all the lesser vessels were successfully
cast by Hiram, as recorded in the Bible. But there is an important distinc-
tion between the vessel and the molten sea which it was designed by Hiram to
contain, and until that had been successfully poured, the vessel was without
virtue, so far as purifying properties were concerned; until then it could
no more cleanse the sin-stained soul than could a dry basin be utilized to
cleanse the body. Nor could Solomon speak the Word, the formula for this
wonderful work. None but Hiram knew it. This work was to be his Master-
piece, and IF HE SUCCEEDED, HIS ART WOULD HAVE LIFTED HIM ABOVE THE HUMAN,
and made him divine like the Elohim Jehovah. In the garden of Eden, his di-
vine progenitor Samael, has assured his mother, Eve, that she might become
"as the Elohim," if she ate of the tree of knowledge. For ages his ances-
tors had wrought in the world; through the accumulated skill of the Sons of
Cain, an edifice had been reared, wherein Jehovah hid himself "behind the
veil" and communed only with his chosen priests, the Sons of Seth. THE SONS
OF CAIN WERE THRUST OUT OF THE TEMPLE WHICH THEY HAD BUILT, as their father,
Cain, had been driven from the garden which he had tilled. This Hiram felt
to be an outrage and an injustice; so he applied himself to prepare the
means whereby the Sons of Cain might "rend the veil" and open the way to God
for "whosoever will."
To this end he sent messengers over the world to collect all the metals
with which the Sons of Cain had ever wrought. With his hammer he pulverized
them and placed them in a fiery furnace to extract by alchemistry, from each
particle, the quintessence of knowledge derived in the experience of working
with it. Thus the combined quintessence of these various BASE METALS would
form a SPIRITUAL SUBLIMATE OF KNOWLEDGE incomparable in potency, valuable
beyond all earthly things. Being of ultimate purity it would contain no
color, but resemble a "sea of glass." Whoever should lave in it would find
himself endowed with perpetual youth. No philosopher could compare with him
in wisdom; this "white stone" knowledge would even enable him to lift the
veil of invisibility and meet the superhuman Hierarchs, who work in the
[PAGE 406]
world with a potency undreamt of by the masses.
Masonic traditions tell us that Hiram's preparations were so perfect that
success would have been assured, had not treachery triumphed. But the in-
competent craftsmen whom Hiram had been unable to initiate into the higher
degrees, conspired to pour WATER into the vessel cast to receive the Molten
Sea; for they knew that the Son of Fire was unskilled in the manipulation of
the watery element, and could not combine it with his wonderful alloy.
Thus, by frustrating Hiram's cherished plan and spoiling his Masterpiece,
they aimed to revenge themselves upon the Master. Solomon had been pri-
vately informed of the nefarious plot, but jealousy on account of the Queen
of Sheba bound his tongue and stayed his arm, for he hoped that when the am-
bitious plan of Hiram failed, the affections of the queen would turn from
his humiliated rival to himself. He therefore closed eyes and ears to plot
and plotters.
When Hiram confidently PULLED THE PLUGS, the liquid fire rushed out, was
met by the water, and there was a roar that seemed to shake heaven and
earth, while the elements boiled and battled. All but Hiram hid their faces
at the awful havoc; then from the center of the rafing fire he heard the
call of Tubal Cain, bidding him jump into the Molten Sea. Full of faith in
his ancestor, who had gone before him upon the path of fire, Hiram obeyed
and plunged fearlessly into the flames. Sinking through the disintegrated
bottom of the vessel, he was conducted successfully through NINE-ARCH-LIKE
layers of the earth to the Center, where he found himself in the presence of
Cain, the founder of his family, who gave him instructions relative to
blending Water and Fire, and who furnished him with a NEW HAMMER AND A NEW
WORD, which would enable him to produce these results. Cain looked into the
future and uttered a prophecy which has been partially fulfilled; what re-
mains is in process of realization day by day, and as surely as time goes on
all will come to pass.
"You, Hiram," said Cain, "are destined to die with hopes unfulfilled, but
many sons will be born to the widow and keep your memory green through the
ages, and at length one will come who is greater than you. You shall not
wake till the Lion of Judah raises you with the powerful grip of His paw.
This day you have received your BAPTISM OF FIRE, but He shall BAPTISE YOU
WITH WATER AND WITH SPIRIT; you, and every son of the widow, who will come
to Him. Greater than Solomon, he will build a new city and a Temple wherein
the nations may worship. The Sons of Cain and the Sons of Seth shall there
meet in Peace, at the sea of glass. And as Melchisedec, King of Salem (Sa-
lem means Peace,) and Priest of God, ministered to Abraham, the father of
nations, when mankind was yet in its infancy,so shall this new Light combine
in Himself the dual office of King and Priest after the order of
that overcometh will be given a White Stone with a name that will serve as
passport to the temple. There he may meet the king FACE TO FACE.
Hiram was again conducted to the surface of the earth and as he walked
from the scene of his shattered ambition, the conspirators set upon and fa-
tally wounded him; but before he expired, he hid the hammer and disc upon
which he had inscribed the Word. This was never found until ages later when
Hiram, "the widow's Son," was reborn as Lazarus and became the friend and
pupil of the Lion of Judah, who raised him from death through initiation.
When the hammer was found it had the shape of a CROSS, and the disc had be-
come a ROSE. Therefore Hiram took his place among the immortals under the
new and symbolical name
Christian Rosenkreuz.
He founded the Order of Temple-Builders which bears his name; in that Or-
der aspiring souls are still instructed how to fuse the base metals and make
the White Stone.
The symbology of the foregoing will be explained in the following chap-
ters.
Continued with "RC1014.TXT"
End of File
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