H I S T O RY O F T H E

S E C R ET D O C TR I N E S an d M Y S TI C
R I TE S o f A N C I EN T
R ELI GI O N S

AND

M e d i e val an d M o d e rn
S ec re t O rd e rs

By

DR . O T T O HENNE AM
S ta t e A r c h i v i s t f S t Ga l l
o .

S S SS S S S S S S S

ST O C K H A M P UB LI S H I NG C O M PA NY , I nc .

C H I CA G O I
, L LI N OS
I
 TR A N S LA TOR S ’
,
N O TE .

The Mysteries o f the Ancient Grecian religions ; th e

cryptic teachi n gs and o ccult interp retatio ns of the
po pu
lar religious b eliefs communicated to disciples by the
p riests in the temples of ancient Egypt Assyria , and ,

I ndia : th e interesting half fabulous half historical epi

, ,

sode of Pythagoras and the Pythagorean League in

M a gn a Grae c i a ; the mystic ascetic and semi monasti c
, ,
-

communiti es o f the Th erap eutae and the Essenes in Pal

e s t i n e a century before the bi rth of Jesus Chri st ; the

later develop ments of Mystici sm in th e time of t h e

Roman Empire as seen in the histo ry o f Apollonius o f
,

Tya n a and in I sis worship M ithras wo rship worship o f

, ,

the Great Mother etc ; th e secret cre ed and rites o f th e

,
.

Knights Templar and the usages o f th e lodges o f the .

Stonemasons in the M iddle Age ; th e constitution an d

pro cedure o f the F e m g eri c h te o f Westphalia in th e fo ur
t e e n th and fifteenth c enturi es ; th e origi n and hi sto ry and

the aims o f Freemason ry Ro si c ruci anism Illuminis m

, , ,

and a swarm of honest and fraudulent se c ret organiza

tions in modern times : all these top i c s have b efore bee n
‘

made subj ect matter of numerou s l earned tra c tates or of

-

po p ular com p ends ; but hitherto these doctrin es rites , ,

asso ciati ons hav e not b e ea ; s tud i ed in their unity in

, ,
iv TRAN S L A TOR S N OTE
’

their mutual relation O ne servi c e whi c h the author of

.

this wor k renders to t h estudent o f this parti cular phase

—
o f human p sy c ho logy the longing fo r mystery and
—
secret asso ciations is th at he develop s this relationship ,

thus enabling the reader to get a clear understanding o f

the whole subj ect .

B ut th e author does very m uc h more than to c o

o rdinate th e facts o f mystic associations H e is b oth a
.

s c holar and an artist . H aving amassed whatever i n

formatio n regarding th e Mysteries and allied phe
n o m e n a i s ac c es sible i n universal literature h e han d le s
,

his materials with the skill o f a c o nsummate master of

style and o f the art o f popular exp osition The result .

is a history of th e an c ient Mysteri e s and o f their counter

p arts and imitations i n later ti me s as authentic as the
,

most p ainstaking research could m ake it yet po ssessing

,

all the charm and grace o f a literary masterpiece .

J O S E P H FITZ GE R ALD .
 C ON TEN TS .

PART FI RST — M Y ST ERI ES O F T H E EAST AN D

.

O F B ARBAR O US NATI O N S .

Intro d u ction
The Go d s

The Higher D evelopment o f Egyptia n Re e

l i gi o n
A Reformation in the La nd o f Nile
'

The Eg yp tian Real m o f th e D ead

Th e Se c ret Teachin g o f the Priests o f Nile
20

8 B abylon and Ninive

. 26

9 Zoroaster and the Persian s

.
3
IO B lrah m an s an d! B uddhi st s
.
33
I I Secret League s o f B arbarous Peop les
.
36
—
PART S EC O N D TH E GRECIAN M Y STERI ES
AN D TH E R O MAN BAC CHANALIA .

I H ellas
.

2 H elleni c D ivine Worshi p

.

3 T
.h e H e l l e n i c Mysteries
4 T
. h le Ele u sinian M ysteri es

5 Th
. e Mysteri es of Samothrace
6 Th e Mysteries o f Crete
.

7 The
. D ionysia
8 The Ro man B acchanalia
.

9 D eb a s ed My s teries from the East

.

V D ! .
 vi CON TE NTS

PART TH I R D —TH E P Y THAG O REAN L EAGUE

AN D O T H ER S E C RET ASS O CIAT I O NS .

I . Pythago ras .

2 . The P yth ago rean s t

.

3 Th e O.rp h i c i
4 . Mysterious Personages of An cient Times .

PART F O URTH — S O N O F MAN . . S O N O F GO D .

I . H elleni sm and J udaism 9 1

2 .

94
3 Ch ri stianism
.

9 6
4 J esus
. .

5 The
. Early Ch risti ans
6 Th e N e w Testament
.

7 The Elements of the Churc h

.

P A RT
fi FI FT H —A PSEUD O M ESSIAH
.
-
. A L Y I NG
PR O PH ET .

I . A po llonius of Tyana
2 . Alexander the Fal se Prophet
,

PART SI XT H —TH E K N I GH TS T EM PLAR .

I . The M iddle Age

2 .

3 . Th e S e c rets o f the Tem p lars

The D ownfall o f the Knight s Templar
'

4 .

PART S EV ENTH —TH E . F E M GE RI C H TE .

I . Courts o f J ustice in the M iddle Age

2 . The Se c ret Tribunal
3 . Th e End of the Fe m e
 C ONTE N TS v1i

P A RT EI GHTH —
‘

STO N EMAS O N S L O D GES O F

.
’

TH E M I D D LE AGE .

P A GE

I . M edieval Arc hi t ecture 1 62

2 . The Stonem as o n s Lo dge s o f Ge rmany

’
1 64

3 . Frenc h Craftsmen 1 69

4 . The E ngli s h Stonemason s 1 72

ASTR O L O GERS AN D A L C H ElM I S TS 1 74

PART N I NTH . RI S E AN D C O N STIT UTI O N O F

-

FREEMAS O N R Y .

1 . Rise o f Freemason ry
2 . Constit u tion of th e O rder
3 . The Lodge

PART TENTH .
—
S O CI ETI ES O F TH E
SECRET
EI GH TEENTH C ENTURY .

I M i scellaneous Secret Societies

.

2 O b scurantist I nfluen ces

.

“ ”
3 Th. e H igh D egrees S w m d l e

4 Apostles
. o f Non sense
5 The
. Sw e dish Rite
6 The N ew Ro s i cru s i an s
.

PART ELEVEN TH —TH E I LLUM I NATI .

‘

I The I ll u minati
. 216

2 I mitation s of I lluminism
. 2 26

PART TWELFTH —S E C RET S O CI ETI E S

.
‘

OF
VARI O US KI N D S .

1 . Societies o f Wits
2 . I mitation s o f Ancient Mystic Leagu es
3 . Imitations o f Freemasonry
 M Y S TE R I A .

P AR T F I R S T .

My s t e ri e s of th e Ea s t an d o f B a r b a r o us

N a ti o n s .

1 . I N T R O D U CT I O N .

I n al l ages myste ry has had a spe c ial attraction for

mankind . Curiosity i s innate in us The c hild ask s .

abo u t every thin g What is this what is it for why i s it

, . ,

made so o r so ? The c hild fairly harries its parents with

,

q uestions never wearies o f rai sin g new o nes o ften so u n

, ,

expected and so d i fficult that it would p uzzle the wisest

,

p h i l c s c p h e r to answer them An d thi s instinct

. of i n

qui ry i s dominant in the adult to o The grown man ,

.
‘

wants to know what is to b e fo und behind eve ry c urtain ,

every locked door in every sealed letter

, And when .

sated with such t ri fl e s he must p u sh in q uiry further into ,

the infinite ; must lift the veil that hides th e wo ndrou s

image at Sais ; mu st pluck from the forb idden tree o f
kno wledge t h e tempting golden fruit H e would with .

the Titans st o r m heaven and as c end to heights where

,
“

stirs no breath of air where stands the boundary stone

,
-

”
o f cre ation .At last wh en Faust after manifold crosses ,

and disappointmen ts sees that we c an know nothing

“
,
”
,

the thought c onsumes the heart within him

“ ”
.

And so we must e v er b e worried b y the reflection

2 M Y S TE R I A

that the great riddle o f existence will not b e solved ; nay ,

never can be solved Why we ask why does an ything

.
, ,

exist at all and what doe s exist when c e c omes it and

?
, ,

whither does it go ? A n d though o c eans o f ink were

written on world s o f paper to define the relation b etween
th e H ere an d B e y on d we sho u ld not know after it all
, , ,

the lot o f the thought endowed tenant of the narrowest

-

human b rain case after its term of living is reached Never

-
.

shall we be able to c omprehend Being as having a b egin

ning and an end but neither shall we ever understan d
,

how without b eginning or end it m ay endure for ever

, , ,

and extend limitless ever farther and farther into th e

shoreless o cean o f the All The thinker must by forc e
.

refrain himself fro m such inference lest his b rain should ,

b e seized by delirium ; and the p rogressive man of action

turns to w hat i s sure and clear and un derstandable while ,

t h e listless disciple o f B uddha desp airing o f ever co m

,

p rehending existence longs for nirvana the s o ul s state

, ,
’

o f everlasting rest and freedo m fro m cares .

M ankind then is encompassed by a vast mystery

, ,

whi c h never has b een dis c overed though it p resses upon ,

u s w ith force all around and t h ough we kno w it exists

,

an d are c ons c ious that it attends us at every s tep we take .

B ut m an is too pr e nd to endure the tho ught that anything

i s b eyond his powers : m an must in all t hings do wh at
t h e p ri mordial c r eative p ower does The Eternal In .

co mp rehensi b le c reated worlds that no mo rtal eye c an

see : man with the help o f glasses sees the m The Eternal .

set worlds c ircling around worlds in such wise that for

l on g we mo rtals were led into error and took the ,

earth to b e the c entre of the universe : b ut m en m ade cal

c u l at i o n s and measurements and discovered that their
,

giant sphere was b ut a grain of sand among colos sal

 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E EA ST 3

worlds The Eternal caused mo untains to rise and rivers

.

to flow man too p i l e d up mountains and scooped out

'

, , , .

river beds and seas I mmense o c eans separated th e con

-
.

t i n e n t s : man navigated the oceans and discovered shores

never seen before The lightning issuing fro m the.
,

clouds rend s as u nder great trees that have stood fo r cen

,

t u ri e s : man imitates the lightning and employs the elec ,

tric current for sendin g messages acro ss continents an d

o ceans and fo r illumination . Steam va p or o f water he
, , ,

harnesses to his car o r employs it t o p rop el ship s acros s ,

the seas H e takes the sun s rays and makes o f them a

.
’

limner s p en cil Even the Eternal himsel f man fashion s

’
.

after his own thoughts and gives to him a name and at ,

tributes a throne an d a court a form and even a son

, , ,
.

And lest he should in any point fail of a c ting like the

Unse archable man sets over against the grand eve rl as t
,

ing mystery of creation and eternity which h e cannot

com p rehend other mysterie s of his o wn invention —the
,

mys t ery of the I ncarnation the Resurre c tion Re d e m p

ti o n the Trinity and the rest ; and re q uire s his fellow m
, ,

, , en

to acknowledge and reverence these things as mysterie s ,

and to worship as truth what man s own self con c eit has ’
-

devised in rival ry with the Eternal .

’
Thus are mysterie s of man s invention propagated
fro m generation to generatio n The love o f myste ry is .

contagious ; the o ne who hears o f mysteries will himsel f

invent more and with them impo se upon others And
, .

the Initiates shut themselves up in se c ret ch ambers swear ,

fearful oaths never to b etrav to anyone what others know

already employ emblems which they interp ret in one
,

sen se o r another speak in language p ec u liar to them

,

selve s exchan ge sp ecial signs wi th one another w

, hisp er ,

to each other mysteriou s words admit persons to their ,

4 MY S TE R I A '

secret asso ciations with direful or with harmless tests an d

rites and form aristo cracies o f intellect of c reed or o f
, , ,

b enevolence o f art or o f scie nce even o f humo r and o f

, ,

f o lly Such i s the o rigin o f mystic tea c h i ngs and se c ret

.

so cie t ies the teachings designed to hold the so cieties

,

together and the societies to propagate the teachi n gs

,
:

one hand washes th e o ther I n all ages am ong all races

.
,

we find these m ysteries existing under the mo st various

form s and for ends the m o st diverse but they all have
, ,

this i n c o m mon that they s hut out the p ro fane (outsiders) ,

and that their end is to wi n and hold p ow er and influence .

B ut they have also had seconda ry aims such as co uld

b e attained without secret doctrines o r secret asso ciation ;
an d these aims ha v e b een o f all kinds Now the p ur .

p ose may b e to pro mote social freedom an d religious o r

scientific enlightenment a no n to rep res s these ; again it
, ,

may b e to enrich th e members o r on the o ther hand

, , ,

to stimulate them to self s acri fi c i n g charity ; o r a society

-

will have for its ob j ect the B eautifu l and will create works
,

o f art to glorify the Eternal b u t another society will de

,

s p ise whatever i s ideal profe ssing contempt for the wo rld

,

and the m selves ; o r th e aim may be nothing short o f the

destruction of all human so ciety and a return to Chao s .

A variegated picture and full o f life ! At the head

of the moving pro cession stal k p riests in lo ng robes ,

begarlanded carrying the sacred image o f I sis o r chant

,

ing hymns to the Eleusinian D emeter Then come the .

wild eyed troop s o f the B acchan tes and in sharp contrast

-
,

to these p hiloso p hers o f the P y thagorean League in

, ,
'
white c loaks looking down o n the p opula c e with a smile
,

o f mild scorn ; after these the u n p retending E ssenes who ,

shoulder the cro s s of su ffering the Roman b rotherhoo ds

,

( collegia ) and,
th en the English and German gilds o f
 M YS T E R I E S O F
’
TH E E A ST 5

stonemasons with hammer compass and square ; the

, , ,

Knights Temp lar in white cloaks blazoned wi th the red

,

cross their haughty mien b etraying conte m pt of all au

,

t h o ri ty ; the Fathers of th e Company of J esus in black ,

—
casso c k and four cornered hat eyes sanctimoniously
‘

-
,

do wn cast every man o f them a c orp se in th e hand s o f

,

his superiors ; then c ome seigneurs and scholars and men

o f eve ry condition in white aprons and blue ribbon s , an d
,

last o f all an indistinguishable multitude of v ariously clad -

fi gures Let us contem p lat e the several groups o f this

.

pi c ture . First the p riests o f the s o called heathen re

,
-

l i gi o n s o f antiquity Here we h ave m en using a: twofold

manner o f sp eech To the p eople they gave o ut a teach
.

ing di fferent from that communicated to the Initiates of

their secret asso ciations their m ysteries H ow came ,
.

that about how i s it ac c ounted for and h o w can it b e

,
.
,

j usti fi ed ?
2 . TH E GO D S .

To answer these question s we m ust s tudy the o rigin

o f religi ous ideas an d the forms they assumed in di fferent
periods H ere we meet a phase o f thought whi c h stands
.

related to the vai n attempts to fathom the Eternal to ,

scrutinize the Unsearchable and whi c h therefo re i s , , ,

’
necessarily connected with the earliest exp res sion o f man s
love o f the mysteri ous .

In the dim ages before the dawn o f civilization when ,

the c ave dweller or t h e lake dweller had c o mpleted hi s

-
,
-
,
'
day s work and h i s c h i l d re n were in safety for the night
, ,

and their hunger stilled then in the gl ad co nsciou s ne s s , ,

o f duty dis c harged he would rise ab ove mere s ense and

, ,

would contemplate his surroundings with greater atten

tion than would b e p ossible a m id his hard la b o rs as b read
6 M Y S TE R DA
I

winner Th en surely what m o st p rofoundly i m p ressed

.
, ,

his i maginatio n was the b lue vault o f the sky acro ss

whi c h b y d ay t h e sun sour c e of light and warm th o r of
, ,

b lazing and s c orc hing heat and at night th e m ild fac ed,
-

m oon diffusing her W it ching b ea m s and the innu m era b le

, ,

twin kling stars glided in strange unalterab le series B e .

neath the ar c h lay extended the surrounding country and ,

the m an gaz ed on the diversified p anorama o f sno w

decked alp roaring cataract mi rror like l ake and ver
, ,
-
,

dant daisy ge mm ed p rairie-

O r h e c onte m plate d th e
.

tossi n g billows o f the sea the dread pheno m ena o f the

,

thunder clap an d the lightning flash the ravages o i the ,

h urri c ane the c rash o f mountain s rent b y intern al force s

, ,

t h e pitiless headlong sweep of the river that has over

,

fl o we d the plain .

These m anifestations o f the for c es of n ature whether ,

winso me o r fe arsome i mpressed the man ; an d ac kn o wl

,

edging hi s nothin gness and i mpoten ce he p ro strated

hi m self b efore them and wo rshiped them B ut i n wor .

shiping the forces o f nature h e must needs think o f them ,

as a personality ; and the p roce ss of personification n ec es

s ari l y b egan with the p henomena whi c h p ossess the m o st

p ronounced individuality viz on the earth ro cks moun

,
.
, , ,

tains trees animal s rivers lakes ; in the sky the sun

, , , , , ,

moon an d stars ; between earth an d sky the c louds winds

, , , ,

thunder and li gh tning ; finally fire th e p roduction of

which was the first step in hu m
, , ,

an culture .

The further o b servation o f nature led man fro m

articular to general concepts : those were for m ed more
p
easily these we re hard to compass and to understand
, ,

their imp o rt required a greater power o f reflection .

Mythology had its origin in the simple worship of na

ture and in thi s wi s e
, .
 M YST E R I E S O F ’
TH E E A ST 7

I n th e mind o f the man who knows noth i ng o f the

true rela t ions o f the heavenl y b odies all existen c e must b e ,

divided into two princi p al categories heaven overh ead

earth underfoot Heaven and Earth —that is th e b egin
, ,

ning o f all mythologies and cosmogonies H eaven and .

Earth are for the I sraelite the fi rst work s o f the Eternal ;
“ ”
for the Chinese they are father and mother of all things ;
for the H ellene s and the Teuton s the fi rst divine b eings
( Urano s and u aea Wodan and Ertha ),
As men fu rther .
.

considered the q uestion how thi s whole s c ene o f nature ,

both in i ts grateful and in its terri b le aspects came to b e , ,

H eaven and Earth were regarded as sexed beings H eaven ,

as fructify ing no b le lofty male controlling the light ning

, , , ,

and thunder ; Earth as p rolific conce p tive passive female , , ,

.

Heave n and Earth formed a union and Sun M oon and , , ,

Stars were reputed their c hildren Among the heavenly .

bodies the first p lace i s held by the S u n go d of day who , , ,

at h i s rising in the East b y magi c power co mpels hi s

b rother and sister deities to o b ey him : he reign s alone in
a sea of light and splendor Sister and c onsort of the .

S u n is the Moon and the co urse of thes e! two across the

,

heavens their risin g and their setting their shining and

, ,

their ob scuration are the source o f endless fan c iful m yt hs :

in these myths however there are fre q u ent transform a
, ,

tions the same hero b eing now the Sun again H eaven
, , ,

and the same heroine being now the Moon anon the ,

Ea rth And phantasy dis c overed in Sun and Moon so

.

many diverse properties that it separated these from o n e

an o ther and by degrees formed out of them distinct p e r
,

s o n al it i e s.The Sun ri sing out of the ocean and again

,

sinki n g into it became Po seidon ( Neptune ) and the i n

, ,

visible Sun that through the night tarries in the under

Wor1d b ec a m e g o d of the world o f shades Pluto ; an d so
'

,
8 M YlS TE B lI A
'
' ‘ ’

W l t ll other phenomena o f the sun Th e Mo o n t o o i n .

, ,

her di fferent forms o f waxin g full and waning moon , , ,

rising and setting moon gives rise to group s o f t h ree o r

,

four sisters ( Gra c es Fates Furies) and to many other

, , ,

forms o f g oddesses and these are sad austere chaste o r

,
. .
, , ,

alluring winsome complaisant ; or the M oon assumes the

, ,

fo rm o f some fair daughter o f man who b eing loved b y , ,

some god become s mother o f gods and hero es

, H en ce .

god desc ende d races and dynasties whose fortunes and

-
,
.

wars are the subj ect of epics tragedies and romances and , , ,

the innumerable ho st o f the stars in the fanciful shap e s ,

in whi c h i magination grouped the m a fforded i n ex ,

h au s t i b l e m aterial for sto ry an d myth H ere was see n a .

'

herd faith fully guarded by th e herdsman there a chas e ,

conducted b y b old hunters or a comp any of dari ng mar ,

i n e rs goin g to win the golde n fleece o r t h e golden ap p les ,

o f the H esp erides o r the thousand eyes o f the wat c hful

,

Argus O n the mantle o f the go ddess of ni ght phantas y

.

saw pictured Aries Taurus Cap ricornus Cap ella Ursus

, , , ,

M aj or O rion B ootes D ra c o H er c ules and all the other

, , , , ,

fi gures o f the endless we b o f p oesy in whi c h are told the

wondrous d ee d s o f gods and hero e s .

S u c h is the light in whi c h m ytholo gy app eared when ,

in th e be g innings o f sci entifi c inquiry the forces o f n ature ,

Were p ersoni fi ed As c enturies p assed the true sense of

.

these myths tran smitted from father to son was lost an d

, , ,

the whole was taken to b e a c tual fa ct B ut the m as ter .

m i n ds discerned th e tru e state o f the case and soo n re

‘

gained the real meanings Su c h men as Aristotle P l u

.
,

tarch and others o ften told in their writings what they

,

thought regarding the traditions b ut not so the wily ,

p riests within the walls of th e temples Their se c ret do c .

trines dou b tless c o n veyed a m o re o r le s s rational i sti c i n

10 M Y S TE lR l A

b ounded on the East and West b y stony deserts which ,

the Egyptian s did not reckon as belonging to thei r coun

try The Semites called the land M i sr or M i s rai m ; the
Greeks gave first to the river then to the region the nam
.
,

e , ,

Egypt (on what ground s we know not) and finally to ,

the river the n ame N e il o s It has ever been a land of .

enigmas this N e a d Whence co mes its river

,
i l l n .
? Why
does it overflow the country in Summer and A u tumn ?
Why t hose mighty pyramids ? What were the doings in
those temples planted so clos e together
,
? What mean
tho se strange ch aracters the hiero glyph s ? W hy do the
-

go ds wear heads o f ani mals and why on the oth er hand , , ,

have the sp hinxes a human head o n a lion s body ? ’

I n order to exercise undisp uted mastery over the

c ountry the con querors divided among themselves all .

the l an d and all the authority They fo rmed two 'heredi .

tary classes or estates Priests who controlled the minds

-
, ,

an d Warri ors who controlled the b odies of the con quere d

,

peop le O f the subj ect race there were several classes

.
,

most p rob ably six though the ac c ounts we h ave are

,

mutually contradictory These classes are : Artists me

.
,
~

c h an i c s traders m ari ners agriculturists herdsmen ; in

, , , ,

the latter clas s o f th e s wineherds mo st des p is e d o f all ,

Egyptians b e c ause o f the uncle an animal whi c h they

,

tended .

Now while the warrior class had th e manage m ent

,

of military a ffairs and th e executive governmen t and as a ,

rule supplied th e oc c upants of the th rone ,the p riests pos

sessed the legal lore and the scientifi c knowledge and ,

p rescribed to the people what they must believe while ,

among themselves and in the company o f I nitiates they

thought very di fferently .

The Egyptian religio n has its foundation in astro n

 MY STE R I E S
’

OF TH E E A ST 11

o my
. Th e regular o ve rfl ow o f the Nile , whi c h -involv ed
a p re c ise divi sion o f the year into seasons must at an ,

early p eriod have led to a diligent ob servation o f the

co u rse o f the stars in order to make timely prep aration
,

for the floods ; and the splendor o f the starry sky in th a t

n e ar the tropics where hardly a single c o n s t el
'

re g i o n , ,

lation is out o f sight through the whole year favored ,

the study of astronomic science : The Egyptians con

t e m p l at e d the glories o f the heavens not with the stolidity ,

o f the Chinese who therein see only ob j ects to b e c ounted

,

and m easured ; nor yet with the idealist i m agination o f

Europeans H en c e their p e rs o n ifi cat i o n s of the world
.

o f stars are uncouth confused without grace or charm

, ,
.

The heavenly body that for us is mightiest o f all ,

the sun must have been for t h e Egyptians the most an

,

cient and the mightiest o f gods Their sun go d was .

-

named Re .B ut even as among the H ellenes so in ,

Egyp t the several attribute s o f the sun were assigned

to di fferent p ersonalities Thus the rising sun as the .
, ,

youthful warrior go d H oro s was early distinguished from

-
,

Re ; over against H oro s stoo d his opposite and his tw in

brother Set s p iri t of darknes s For mothers the sun
, ,
.

go d had I sis H athor and N e i t goddesses of heaven To

, , , .

these deities were added Aah the mo on g o d and the gods ,

-
,

o f the several stars and constellations B esides these .

gods of the whole land particul ar p laces and regions h ad

,

their own gods ; thus Ptah was lo rd and god o f Me m phis ’

A m on o f Theb es and so o n ,
.

V ery often c ertain worship ful ob j ects as trees an d ,

animals inhabited by s p irits were develo p ed into local ,

deities In this way the feti chism o f the black aboriginal

.

p eople got ent ry into the more cultured religion o f the

li ght c omplexioned c onquerors and had a very powerful

-
,
 '
12 M Y S TE R I A
'

i nfluen c e on it Few were the indigenous animals that

.

were not worshiped in one place o r in many as the wrap

p ages o f deities That worship was p aid to animals not:

for their o wn sake i s b e st seen from the way in w h ich ,

the gods are p ortrayed namely for the mo st part with a , ,

h u m an body and the head o f the animal sacred to them ,

tho u gh in some cases entirely in h u man form Thus .

Amon god o f Thebes has the head o f a ram H athor of

, , ,

Anut the head o f a c ow Anubis that o f a j ackal Bast , ,

that o f a cat Sechet o f a lioness Sebak o f a cro codile

, , ,

and so on And inasmu c h as it was believed that gods

.

dwelt in them such animals were themselves made o b

,

j s o f worship ; for exam p le the ox H ap i ( Gr A p is) at

e c t ,
.

Memphis the goat at M endes and so fo rth Thi s honor

, , .

b elonged to the entire sp ecies and as representing the ,

species certain individual animals were maintained in the

,

temples by the contributions of the faithful and had ser ,

vi to rs to wait up on them Any harm done to these .

fetiches was sternly p unished : to kill one of them was

death Not so when a god did not grant the p rayers o f
.

the faithful e g for rain : in that c ase the priests made

,
. .
,

the feti ch pay t h e p e n al tv First they threatened the ani .

,

mal b ut when menaces were vain they killed the sacred

, ,

b east though in secret ; the people must not know of it

,
.

4 . TH E HI G H E R DE V E L O P M E NT OF EG Y P TI A N
R E LI G I O N .

As Eg yp t advan c ed in c ivilization and the govern

ment b e c ame more con centrated the lo c al deities and ,

z a o l at ry were les s regarded while the light gods the sun ,

-
,

go ds Re and H c ro s with thei r asso ciate deities became

, , ,

m or e p ro m inent The lives and fo rtunes of these light .

\
 M YST E R I E S O F‘

TH E E A ST 13

gods and in p articular their wars with the powers o f

,

darkness be c ame the sub j ect o f myths Th e inhabitants

,
.

’
o f the Nile valley imagined to themselves the sun s course
not as the p ro g ress o f a c hariot like that in which the
Mithra o f th e Persians and the H elio s o f the G reeks
were bo rne b ut as th e voyage of a Nile b ark o n which
,

Re navi g ates the o cean of the heavens I n the b attle with .

d ark Set he f alls and dro p s into the netherwo rld in the
West b u t the youthfu l H oro s sun g o d of the coming
, ,
-

day takes hi s p lace and be gin s hi s career across the sky

,
.

Thi s ever rej uvenescent sun god who through all trans
- -
,

formations rem ai n ed still the same deity so that the sel f ,

same goddess was now hi s mother ano n hi s c onsort was , ,

so truly the supreme god nay the sole god of Egypt , , ,

that his hieroglyph the sp arrowhawk came to b e the , ,

.

“ ”
sign of the i d ea god and in w ritin g that sign was at ,

t ac h e d to the name s of g o ds to indicate that they were

such O n the oth er hand the name s o f the m
. others and ,

c c n s o rt s of the sun gods had a p p ended to them the sign -

for a cow
"

Fro m thi s it i s seen that the reli gi on o f N i l el an d

’

—
that is to say the reli g ion o f the p riests was slowly pro
,

gres s in g toward monotheism Unlike the beliefs o f the .

co mmonalty the secret teachin g s or m y ste ries o f the

,

pri e sts as gradually develo p ed re g arded not simply the

, ,

existence o f the g ods but above all what th e gods stoo d , , .

for For a while thi s develo p ment halted at the sun god
.
-
,

and reached its first sta g e in the city Anu ( in lower Egypt) ,

called by the Greeks H elio p olis ( city o f the sun ) where ,

they incorp orated the god o f the p lace Tu m in the s u n , ,

god Re This to ok p l ac e under the fo u rth dynas ty

.
,

whose monarchs b u ilt the great p yramids o f Ghizeh a t

Me m p his B ut one o f the g reatest o f these transfo rma
.
H M Y S TE R I A

tion s was in givin g the name o f O siris g o d of the city ,

Ab du ( Gr Abydos ) in u pp er Eg yp t to the god of the

.
,

sun set ruler o f the n etherworld and o f the kingdom of

,

death I sis b ecame his sister and consort Set at once

.
,

hi s b rother and hi s slayer H oros his son who as a n ew , , ,

sun takes hi s p lace after sunset an d also his avenger on

, .

Set H oros gi ves Set battle but as h e cannot destroy

.
.

hi m utterly leaves to him the desert as a kingdom while

, ,

Ho ro s himself ho l d s the Nile valle y Thi s story of gods .

was rep resented scenically on p ublic holidays but only ,

the I nitiated i e the p riests and their followers who had

, . .
,

been let into the secret knew the meaning of th e rep re ,

s e n t at i o n Even the name of O siri s and his abode in the

.

realm o f th e dead were ke p t secret and o utsiders heard ,

“ ”
only o f the great god dwelling in the West B eside s .

the mysteries o f O siri s the mo st famo u s o f all there were, ,

other mysteries o f lo cal Egy ptian go ds transformed into

—
sun gods ; and so the sun mythos was further developed .

Thus Thot god of H ermopolis whose sacred animal

, ,

was the bird Ibis became H o ro s s auxiliary in the war,

’

with Set and also b e c ame the moon god th e go d o f eb ro

,
-
,

n o m e t ry and of order inve ntor o f wr iting reve aler of

‘

, ,

the sacred books M emphis alone ca p ital of the an cient

.
,

kingdom held her go d Ptah too exalted a b ein g to share

,

in the transformation o f the rest ; for Ptah was regarded :

by his worship er s as father o f al l g o d s creato r o f the '

world an d o f men and more an cient than Re ; besides he

, ,

was th e god of the royal court Nev ertheless he did not .

,

escap e th e fate o f becoming a sun — god The most cele .

b rat e d obj ect of Egy ptian zoolat ry was sacred to Ptah ,

namely Apis ( Hap i ) the sacred b ull of M emphis symb ol

, , ,

o f the sun and also o f the fructi fying N ile Thi s b ull .

must be b la c k with a white sp ot on the forehead and with ,

 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E E A ST 15

a growth under the tongue having the fo rm o f the sacred ,

beetle The b ull was kep t in the temp le at Memp his

.

from calfhoo d till death ; the body was then mummified ,

laid out in state and honored with inscri p tions as a god

,
.

The behavior o f Apis in various con j unctures and cir ~

c u m s tan c e s was reputed to b e ora c ular .

An other for m o f the sun go d was the Sphinx a half -

,

human half brute figure in stone re p eated a t h ousand

,
-
,

times i n the Ni le valley The most famo u s sphinx o f all .

i s seen at the great p yramids of Ghizeh Regular avenues .

flanked by sphi nxes formed the appro ac he s Of the great

te mp les I n Egypt the sphinx was thought o f as male ;
.

the head was that of some king and the whole figure ,

represented the sun go d H armachis a name compounded

-
,

o f Re and Horos ( Ra H arm c h uti ) I n later times the

-
.

s p h inx was introduced in Asi a an d Greece ; the Grecian

sphi nx is always fe m ale .

When the local deities of Egyp t were redu c ed to

system Re was still sup reme but now Re had a father
, , ,

Nunu god of Chaos source of all being—c learly a p ro d

, ,

u c t o f priestly meditation q u ite alien to the pop ular mind ,

.

Re was the first divine r ul er o f the earth The stars .

were his c ompanions H e was succeeded by his son Shu

.

( re p resented w ith a lion s head ) go d of air w h o made the , ,

p pro s that sustain the sky Shu was followed b y the god .

Keb and th e goddess N u t p arents o f O siris and I sis who , ,

then beca m e the earth s rulers To them after S et s

’
.
,
’

u surp ation succeeded Horo s the avenger and the goddes s

,

H athor A se c on d clas s comp ri ses the inferior gods as

.
,

Thot Anubis et c ; and in a third class are the local

, ,

deities The numb er of gods and o f daemons subordinate

.

to them was enormous B u t in their gods the Egyptians .

looked not at all for the perfection o f goodness nor di d ,

 M Y S TE R I A
' '

they regard right b ehavior as essential for gainin g h e av

e mly favo r ; they rather looked on the p racti c es of religion
fra n kly as a mean s of advancing their individual interests
with the gods .

Now the greater the number o f go d s th e less was th e

,

di fferen c e between t h em ; a n d the e asier became the

tran sition to the b elief in the sun — go d as sup reme and
only true deity—a belief entertained b y the p ri esthood ,

not by the p eople Re b ecame for the p ri ests the one

.

god creator of the universe ; and this was due to the fact
,

tha t the p riests o f the foremost cities followin g th e ex ,

a m p le o i those o f H elio p olis p raised the lo cal god as ,

’

sup reme over all and at the s am e ti m e made him

,

ide n t ical with Re whose name was appended to the

,

original name thus T

,
u m —Re Amon Re,
When Thebe s ,
-
.

b ecame the capital o f the kingdo m its god Amon natu

rally too k the fo remost place and while Theb es flourished
, ,

in the beginning o f the s o called new em p ire it was -

,

known to al l Initiates that the sun go d was th e one true -

,
—
god self c reated sole obj ect o f the worship paid to the
,

innumerable host of other gods Nay the evil deity .

,

Set came to p ass fo r a form of Re and was allowed a ,

’
p lace in the Sun s bark Self creation was also attributed
.
-

to the m oon god The king as lord o f the whole country

-
.
, ,
'

p rayed in identical words in eve ry place to the lo cal deity

as lord of heave n and earth .

5 . A RE F O R M A TI O N I N TH E LA N D O F NIL E .

B ut now th e secret doctrine o f the priest s was to b e

published to the peo p le Th e p harao Amenhote p I V of
. .
,

the 1 8 th dynasty (about 1 460 B saw in the p ower o f .

t h e priesthood a menace to the dignity of the cro wn .

 M Y S TE R I A
-

and festivals The distance separating the pr i esthood

.

—
from the p eo p le and t h e Pharaos were hough not of
t
, ,

the p riestly class reckoned a s comp eers of the priests

, ,

was signalized by the temples with their v arious com

p ar t m e n t s i n t h e inmost o f which the holy of holies ,

( adyton ) ,
were guarded the mysteries o f the p riests while ,

the p eo p le were admitted only to the temple proper and

its forecourt I n all probability the famed Labyrinth near
.

Lake Mo eris at Crocodilopolis was desi gned for p ri estly

, ,

end s The laby rinth was an undergroun d maze of cham

.

bers . H erodotus tells that there were chamb ers

above gro und and as many under the surface and that ,

the u nderground chamb ers were not shown t o the p ro

'

fa n e for they contained the remains o f Pharao s an d o f

,

sacred cro codiles Not H erodot u s only b ut D i o d o ru s

.
, ,

Strabo and Pliny celebrate the glory o f thi s vast p alace

, ,

in who se hidden compartments no doubt fit quarters , ,

were foun d for the mysteries .

6 . TH E E G YP TI A N REA LM O F TH E D E A D

Finally the secret teaching of the priests played a

,
’
part in the people s ideas regarding death and the other
life According to the Egyp tian teaching man is made
.
,

u p o f three constituent p arts viz b esides the b o dy the ,

.
, ,

so u l (b a) conceived to be o f p urely material essence

, ,

which at death q uitted the body in the form o f a b ird ;

’

and the immaterial spirit (k a) which held to the man the ,

same relation a god held to the animal in which he dwelt :

at death the s p irit dep arted fro m the bo dy like the image
of a dream The gods too had their k a and their b a
.
, ,
.

The contin u ed existen c e o f both soul and sp irit was con

tingent on the care the corp se received ; if the k a and the
 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E E A ST 19

ba were to live on the body must be embalmed and laid

,

in a chamber hollowed in a rock or i n a se p ulchral edifice

,

(o f su c h buildings the pyramids were the most notable ) ,

and the relative s must supply to the dead meat and drink
and c lothing The sp irit of the deceased went to O si ris
.
,

—
lord of the other world a luxuriant p lain (Aaru) in the
West where the earth s products required no toil but
,
’

gr w s p ontaneous By means of the magic form u la with

e .

whi ch H oros re called to life t h e slain O siris the dead is ,

not only in like manner re vi vi fi e d but is even made one ,

with O siri s ; and hence in the form u las of funeral service

— “
which constitute the s o called B ook o f th e D ead the ”
,

deceased i s addressed as O siri s with addition of his own

n am e Therefore he may now sail in the sun bark and
.
,
-
,

lead a glorio us life in the other world and walk amid the ,

stars like other gods The p ict u res on the walls of th e

.

se p ulchral chambers show that the Egy p ti an s conceived

the other life to b e much like the p resent only pleasanter ,

and fu l ler The deceased is p o rtrayed surro unded by

.

such en j oyments as were attainable in N il e l an d —b an

q u e t s property
,
the chase
,
voyaging music an d
,
the like , ,
.

B ut fro m the texts of the Boo k o f the D ead whi c h used

” “
,

to b e laid with the dead in th e se p ulchre we see that ,

these representations had a more sp iritual imp ort in the

“ ” “
middle than in the old em p ire I n these texts the .

deceased himsel f speaks identifying himself with some

,

god or with one go d after another ; no longer with O siri s

,

only for a c co rding to the develo p ed teaching o f that time

,

all the gods are one god The route of the dead toward
.

’
the other w orld is the sun s track fro m Ea st to West ; but
on hi s j ourney he needs the hel p o f th e sorcerer s art ’

agains t th e host of daemon s an d monsters that threaten

him Arrived there he acquires the power of revi siting
.
,
 M Y S TE R I A
'

the earth at will in the form of god man o r animal or , , ,

even should he so choose in his own former body At

, ,
.

this p erio d puppets made o f woo d or o f clay and sundry ,

tools and u tensils were laid in the grave with the dead
,
“ ”
for their se rvice Under the new emp ire the rep re
.
-

s e n t at i o n s of the other life and of the way thither are

uf o re detailed and more fanciful H ere t o o we find .

, ,
“
re p resentati ons o f the famous j udgment o f the d e ad an ,

event b elonging to the life b eyond and not as th e Greeks , ,

mi stak enly supposed to the p resent state and to the time

,

i mmediately b efore burial O siris presides over the tri .

—
bunal with two and forty assesso rs i n who se p resence the
- -

ne wcomer has to p ro ve himself guiltless of any one o f

- —
two an d forty sins thus for example : Never have I done
, ,

an in j usti ce never h ave I stolen never have I craftily

, ,

com p assed the death o f any man never have I killed any ,

sacred animal et c Y et all this was rather a magi c

, .

for m ula for attaining blessedness according to Egy p tian

notions than a tr u thful p rotestation of guiltlessness in
order to establish the po stulant s moral p u rity Never ’
.

'

t h e l e s s in a p icture o f the J udgment of the D ead in the

,
“ ”
B ook o f the D ead the deceased is bro ught by the god
dess o f truth and righteousness (M a) into the p al ace of
O si ri s and hi s sins and hi s good deeds are weighed in a
,

balan ce The hi pp op otamu s i s p resent as a cc user and t h e

.

god Thot as defender .

7 . TH E S E C R E T T E A C HI N G O F TTI E PR EI S TS O F
-

N ILE LAND .

Though from the foregoing we get a general notion

o r the relatio n between the priests and the people still ,

w e are n o t clear as to the n ature o f the s ecret teaching

 M YST E R I E S O F TH E E A S T 21

and the mode o f its o rganization H ere we have to d e .

pend almost entirely o n the accounts given by Greek

writers not al ways trustworthy and o n conj ecture or i n
, ,

ference .

Unquestionab ly the secret do c trine necessitated a

spe c ies o f se c ret society which presu m ably consisted o f
the higher o rders o f p riests and which comprised sub
,

divisions only 10 0 5 e held together I t is stated po si .

t i ve l y that the p harao for the time bein g was always

admitted to membership H ence the king was th e only
.

Egyptian o utside o f the p riestly order that was acquainted

with the secret do ctrine and thus was all danger o f b e
,

trayal at ho m e most e ffectually averted B ut as the p riests .

had less to fear in this regard from foreigners b ecause ,

foreigners went away again ; and as in the indo ctrination

o f forei gners the p riests saw an op p o rtunity for culti
vat i n g their own rep utation for erudition therefore they ,

o ften willingly admitted to initiatio n men of distinction

from abroad and esp ecially Greeks Among the fab ulous
, .

p ersonages who were believed to have b een impelled by

thirst for knowledge to visit Egypt there to learn the ,

secret wisdo m o f the p riests were the b ard s O rph eus

, ,

Musaeus and Homer ; among the histo ri c characters we re

,

the lawgivers Lycurgus and Solon the historian Hero d ,

otus the philosophers Thales Pythagoras Plato D e m o c

, , , ,

ritus the mathematician Archimedes and very many more

, , .

B ut it was not always easy fo r these to lift the veil

that h i d the mysteri es Pythagoras for example though
.
, ,

reco m mended by King A ah m e s (Am as i s ) applied in vain ,

to the p riests o f Heliopolis and Memphis and only after ,

he had su b mitted to the circumcision p rescribed fo r postu

lants did he receive from the p riests o f D iosp olis i n s tru c
tion i n th ei r rec ondit e s c ien c es .
 M FY S TE FR I A
'

22 ‘

In the form o f admission to thi s se c ret do c trine were

long and tedious b ut significant ceremo nies an d t he ,

Initiates had at certain inte rvals to ascen d a num b er of

degrees or stages of knowledge till they mastered the
, ,

sum o f the wi sdom t au gh t b y the p ries ts B ut with re .

gard to the mode o f this p rogression and the di fference

be t ween the degrees we have unfortunately no reliab le
testimony .

O f the c ontents o f the Egyptian se c ret teaching we

know little more than we do of its fo rm s fo r all Initiates ,

were pledged to stri ctest silen c e regarding the subj e c t mat

ter of in struction Y et we are not without scattered
.

hints fro m comp et ent authorities an d in the light of these ,

we cannot go se riousl y astray According to the G reek .

historian D i o d o ru s who lived in the time o f J ulius Caesar

,

and Augustus and who had himself b een initiated in

,

Egypt O rp heus or rather th e O rphic m y s tae named after

, ,

him owed the Grecian mysteries to the p ri ests o f E gypt ;

,

and to the same source were Ly curgus and Solon b e

h o lden for their legislation Pytha goras and Plato for ,

their philosophical systems and Pythagoras furthermore ,

for his m athematical knowledge and D emo critus for his ,

astronomi cal do ctrine Now as for the exact sciences

.
,

here m e n tioned the Egyptian secret teaching c ould not

,

h ave co mpris e d anything therean ent whi ch was not at

t ai n ab l e b y anybod y with the s cienti fi c help s o f the time ;
n or anything in the way o f as t ro n o m i c knowledge not re
.

lating to the calculation o f time ; and i f with regard to thi s

kn o wledge nothing funda m ental was taught to the p eople ,

then that was a base huckstering o f mysteries and not a

secret teaching As for legislation the systems of Ly
.
,
~

e u rg u s and Solon di ffer so much from e ach oth er an d are ,

so p ron o uncedly Sp artan an d Ath enian resp ectively, in ,

 M Y ST E R I E S O F '
TH E E A ST 23

spirit that from them we cannot infer w h at the tea c hi ng

,

was in that department The Probability i s that the two

.

Grecian lawgivers merely used the Egyptian laws as a basis ,

an d for the rest adapted their ideas to the needs o f their

res p ective countries . Nor is it to be assumed that b e

cause th e Egyptian p riests w ere al so j udges therefo re ,

their ideas o n legislation which assuredly the y m ust have

,

applied freely and above board belonged to their ,

mysteri es .

Fro m the hierogly p hic remains however it app e ars , ,

that there existed in E gypt high grade schools c ondu c ted

-

b y the priests, and hence we may infer that in these i n

s t i t u t i o n s the Greek searchers after knowledge obtaine d

instruction in lawgiving and in the exact scien c es of the

E gyptians .

It is true that the h ieroglyp hs a sp ecies o f Egyptian

,

writing which consisted o f figu re s o f actual ob j ec ts were ,

known only to the p riests ; b ut in early times that was so

only because th e rest o f the p eople could not read and
write . After ward there was a special p op ular form o f
wri t i n g (demotic ) de rived from the hieroglyphs and re
sembling an earlier abb reviated form o f hieroglyphi c _ _

writing the hieratic or writing o f the p riests

, .

It is di fferent with philo so p hical and religious spe c ul a r

ti on in which p ositive unimp eacha ble con c lusions su c h

, ,

as may b e had in the exa c t sciences are out o f th e ques ,

tio n and which has no p ractical appli c atio n as i n j uri s

,

p ruden ce an d d i p l o mati c s ; wh i c h in fa ct gi ve s p l ay
rather to h y p o th esi s and arbitrary opinion to m
l , ,

ysticism ,

and sy m bolism This therefore was th e subj e c t matter

.
, ,

of the teach ing conveyed to Initiates in the Egyptian

m y steries b ut fo r go od reason s then wi thheld from the
,

vul ga r, b ecau s e h ere th e ve ry existen c e o f th e pri estly

24 M Y S TE R I A

clas s was at stake : the priesthoo d would lose all its i m

portance once the p eople were aware that th e p riests had
n o regard for the received reli gi on .

H en c e there i s no doubt that the s e c ret doctrine of

the Egyptian priests was at once philo sophi c and reli
gio n s ; that is that it tested the traditional belief analyzed
, ,

it and ac c epted what it fo und to b e reasonabl e and re

,

j e c t e d wh at appe ared irrational ; and it was sharply dis

t i n g ui s h e d fro m the p o p ular belief which took tradition ,

for ab solute and indubitable truth .

W hat then were th e principles underlying the philo

, ,

sophic religion o f the Egyptian p ri ests ? Putting aside

all arbitrary and fi n e drawn theories we infer fro m various
-
,

clear indication s that it was o f a monothei stic character ,

i e that it po stulated one personal go d and that it re

. .
, ,

j e c t e d p ol y theism an d zoolatry as well as the material ,

i s t i c c onceptions o f the p op ular creed with regard to what

takes p lace after death I ndeed we hold it not i m p ro b
.
,

able th at the secret do ctri ne was o ften more radical than

the views o f the royal refo rmer Amenhotep I V or Chuen .
,

aten and that unlike him the p riests b elieved the tru e
, , ,
’
god to b e not a material thing the sun s di sk but the u n
, , ,

se e n c reato n himself cal led by them Nunu father o f Re

, , ,
“
an d so urce o f all t hi ngs Thus we find i n the B ook of
-
.

”
the D ead and in lat er writings mention o f a demiurge
( or ar c hitect ) o f t h e universe ”
to who m no sp ecial divine
,

name i s given Plutar c h to o in his ingenio us work

.
, , ,
“
O f I sis and O siris ( c c 67 ”
says : The go dhead
.
,
“

i s not any m indless or soulless c reature subj ect to m an ,

“
an all u sion to zo olatry ; and again : There is only one
rational b eing that o rders all things b ut one ruling p rovi ,

dence and subordinate p owers which are set over the s e v

,

eral thin gs an d wh i c h i n di ffer ent n ation s re ceiv e th ro ugh

 M Y S TE R I A x

literal l y as rec o unti ng a ctual o cc urren c es The m ore .

cautious H erodotus ( I I 6 1 ) agrees with Plutarch tho u gh ,

he exp re s ses himself more enigmati cally : O n th e fe s ti val ‘

o f I sis in the c ity of B ub as t i s after the sacrifice al l both

, ,

m en an d wo men thousands o f them b eat them s elve s B ut

, ,
.

for me to name the one for whose sake they b eat them
”
selves were impiety .

All the traditions an d rites of the Egypti an p opul ar

‘

religion then were explained in a rationalist sense to t h e

initiated Many p arti c ulars o f this explanation have been
.

lost but what h as b een lost c an hardly have b een o f an y

,

real value for us an d i s little to b e re gretted

, .

8 . B Al
E YL T
ON A ND N I- I V E
‘ '
N .

I n the tradition s o f c lassi c anti quity the s e cret wi s

do m of the E gyptian p riests was not hel d i n greater e s
tee m than that o i their fellow p riests in Chal dae a or B a b y
-

lonia, t h e enlighten ed empire on the lo wer Tigri s and

E u p hrates o f which Assyria land o f the upper Tigris
, , ,

was only a c olony Re c ent researc h has b rought up th e

.

q uestion whi ch civilization was the earlier that of the Nile ,

land o r that o f W estern Asia in the regi on of the twin ,

rivers B ut as we p ossess with re g ard to th e B ab ylonian

.

religion even less in fo rmation than with regard to the

Egyptian we must b e c onten t with a b rief account o f it
,
.

Th e Chaldaean religi on b e yon d a doubt h ad its

o rigin in the c ountry around the lower Tigris and E up h ra
tes a m o n g a p eople o f Turanian or Ural Altai c stock
' -

( akin t o the Turks ) c alled Sumerians

,
o r Akkadians : its ,

root was Shamanism a form of religion peculiar to the

,

Turki c ra c es The most ancient religious writings of

.

this people (a m ong who m cuneiform writing ori ginated )

 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E E A ST 27

consist in formulas for exo rcisin g evil s p irits ; these spirits

are us u ally represented as co ming fro m the desert in
group s of seven O v er these daemons p resided the sp irit
.

o f the heaven s ( I n lilla afterward called Anu i e sky) ; -

, ,
. .
,

after Anu greatest reverence was p aid to the spirit o f the

earth ( I n kia or Ea) who was after ward spirit o f the
-
,
-

waters also From the higher spirits were evolved gods

.

an d g oddesses innumerable Th e most ancient go ddess .

”
was B a u a name signifying p rimo rdial water or chaos
-
, ,
.

” “
After B a u came the daughter of the heavens named
-
,

at first Anun later Ninni or Ninn a and afterward I star

, ,

The Sumerian groundwork o f Chaldaean civilization

and reli g io n was built u p on b y a Semitic p eople the ,

B abylonian s and Assyrians proper, traces o f who m are

found nearl y 4000 years B C and whos e domination . .
,

seems established B C 2 500 The highest god o f this race . . .

was c alled s rmp l y God (in the ir lan g ua g e I lu) or Lord

“ ” “ ”
,

( B aal ) S u n and . moon were worshi p ed as his images .

The s cene of the life after death was laid in the realm of
shades ( s h u al u in Hebrew Sheol ) This religion was
,
.

blended with that of the S umerians The g od s A n n an d .

I lu became one god of the sky B el ; and I star b ecame ,

B el s wife O ther Sumerian gods were associated with

’
.

the p lanets wo rs h i p ed by the S emites : M arduk with Ju p i

ter Nindar with Satu rn Nirgal w
, ith Mars Nab u wi th , ,

Mercury while I star was specially related to Venus

,
.

There was a sort o f trinity made up o f Samas ( sun ) Sin ,

( moon ) Ramman ( go
, d o f storm s ) Similarly Anu spirit .
, ,

o f the sky and Ea spirit of the earth were pla c ed side by

, , ,

side with B el This system was comp leted about .

B C and it remained unchanged in Assyria save that

. .
, ,

there the autochthonous go d Assur held the first p lace

amo ng the gods .
28 M Y S TE R I A
'
‘
’

A m ong the B a b y lonian s and Assyrian s the priests

were held in great reveren c e I n Assyria they stood next .

after the king and the king was high priest ; in the Baby
,

Io nian kingdom they occupied a mo re indep endent an d

more influential station Like the priests o f Egypt they .
,

p ro b ab l v had a secret doctrine withheld fro m th e vulgar : .

Fro m the m eanings o f the B abylonian deities names as ’

given above it i s easy to infer the nature o f thi s se c re t

,

do c trine .The Chaldees were throughout al l antiquity

known as ob servers o f the heavenly b odies And though .

p robably they were astrolo g ers rather than astro nomers ,

at least they kn e w enough about the stars the heavens , ,

and the facts o f meteo rology to regard th em fo r wh at

they were instead of holding them to b e gods We there .

fore b eli eve that th e Chaldaean priest s among them

selves looked o n the obj ects which b efore the p eople
they held to b e god s as simply sky sun moon p lanets , , , ,

lightn i n g thunder , .

B esides the early cuneifo rm writings already men ~

t i o n ed ( for m s o f exor c ism ) there have been found amid

the ruins of B ab ylon great libraries o f writings o n tiles
”
,

in the cuneiform c haracters Among thes e are peni .

“

”
t e n ti al p sal m s and h y m ns to gods I n the following .

p salm deci p hered fro m the ti le tablets a priest in the

, , ,

na m e of a p enitent sinner entreats the g o ddess ,

0 L ad y, fo r ti by s e rva n t th e cup is fu l l .

Sp eak th e wo rd t o h im , Le t th y h e a rt b e t ra n q u i l
—e v i l h v I
.

Th y s er v an t a e d o ne
Gi v e h im a s s ur a n c e o f m e rc y “
T u rn th y co un te n anc e himw a rd .

C o n si d er h i s e n t re a t y .

Th y s er v an t, t h ou a rt a n g r y wi t h h i m,
B e to h i m g ra c i o u s .

0 L ad y, my h ‘
a n d s a re ti e d .

I cl i ng to th ee .
 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E
’
EA ST 29

Many of the m ythological poe m s indeed mo st of , ,

them and great part o f the les s sacred literature o f the

,

tablets are so o b scure and unintelligible that for their

,
” “
u nderstanding a k e y was necessary and the p riests held ,

the key O f s p ecial interest are the fra g m ents c on tain

.

i n g portions o f the B abylonian co smogony ; and as our

B i b le ( Gen xi 3 1 ) tells that Ab raham was o f Ur
. .
,

in Chaldaea hi s des c endants would inherit fro m him

’

su
( pp o sin g him to have been an histori cal person age )
some p ortion s o f the ancient traditions and folklore o f
the Chaldaean s H ere i s a frag m ent o f the B a b ylonian
.

story o f the Creation

W he n th e sk y ab o ve wa s no t yet na med .

E a r tl h ben ea t h h a d y e t n o n am e,
and th e w at e y
r d e e p, t h e n e e r- e
g i n n i n g, v b
was t h ei r p ro d u c e r,
t he c h ao s o f th e s ea , g e n d e re s s o f t h em all,

fo r h er w a t e rs
'

uni t ed t o g e t h er in o n e.

T h e d a rk n e s s wa s no t y et done a wa y ,

no t a p l an t h a d y et u d d ed b .

A s o f t h e g o d s n o n e h a d y e t go ne fo r t h ,

an d t h ey y et h a d no na me
t h en th e g rea t g o d s , too , we re c re a t e d , etc .

Th e Ch aldee N o ah c alled Samas N ap i s h ti m ( sun of .

-

life ) tells the story of the deluge in this fo rm : The go d

,

Ea havi n g made known to him the p unishment decreed

for m ankind on ac c ount o f their sins h e b uilt a great ,
’
ship at the god s command an d into it brought all hi s ,

p o s sessions his kinsmen his servants also domesti c and

, , ,

wild animals Then the gods let a great tempest loose

.
,

and with the spirits entered the co mbat to destroy all

living t h ings B ut the floo d rose up to the sky and
.

th reatened even the lo wer gods who had to tak e re fu ge ,

with the higher go ds The gods therefore repented o f .

, ,
 M Y S TE HJI '
A

what they had done B ut after seven days the storm was
.

quieted and th e waters were abated ; Samas N ap i sh ti m

,
-

ope n ed the wi ndow of his ship now resting on the moun ,

ta i n Nizir and after other seven days freed a dove but

, ,

th e dove found no resting place Then a swallo w which .

,

d i d in like manner ; then a raven which p reyed o n the ,

b o dies o f the drowned It wa s now p o ssible fo r/ S am as

.

N ap i s h ti m to let th e animals out ; he e re ct e d an altar and °

o ffered sa c rifi c e whereto the gods gathered like m asses

“
,

”
o f flies Then the g o d B el wh o had o rdered th e flo od
.
, ,

became reconciled with the other go ds who were angry ,

with hi m o n that a c count ; he led Sam as N ap i s h ti m fo rth -

with his wife and made a covenant with them and th e

,

peo p le B ut th e p ai r were taken afar to live for everm ore

. .

Thi s Chaldai c histo ry of the deluge is b ut one s e c

tion of a great p oe m an epos contained in t welve earthen
,

tab lets wherein are re c ounted the fortu nes an d exploits of

,

a h e ro apparently the Ni mrod of the H ebrew B ible

,
.

Thi s p oe m i s reputed to date fro m the twenty third c en -

tury B C The deeds of thi s hero Gi s h d ub arra o r N am

, . .
, ,

rass t as he i s called forci b ly recall the sto ry o f the H el

i , ,

lenie H erakles and the H era clean m yth perhap s had its
, , ,

origin in th e Ch aldaean epo s Gi sh d ub arra i s a de s c end .

an t o i Sa m as N ap i s h t i m who m he seeks out in his re

-
,

treat to o b tain a cu re of his disease and who takes that

o ccasion to narrate to hi m the history o f the floo d N o w .
,

his disease was a visitation o f the goddes s A n atu be c ause ,

that he had s p urned the lov e o f the go d dess I star A .

short poem graphically and e ffectively tells of how I star

i n her distress over this repulse sought help in the nether
“ ’ ”
wo rld . I s tar s D escent into H ell im p resses o n e like
“
D ante s I n ferno
’
indeed in the opening verses it e m
,
~
 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E E A ST 31

p loys nearly the same words as the great Florenti ne .

I star goes s ay s the poet , ,

To th t h w‘h etn e e m e s fo rt h th a t e n t e rs ,
‘
a o us e n o ne co

On th t pa a th t h
a t allo v
w s a d a n c e b u t re g r e s s ,
. ne v er

To th t ha o us e Wh o s e h h
i n m a t es l ig t s a l l s e e n e v m o re
er ,

To t hat p l a ce w h e re d us t is th i vi e r c t ua l an d o r d u re t h ei r

m ea t , et c .

I n the nethe rworld th e goddess A l l at u reign s as

q u een She is I s t ar s co unterp art : as I star ( daughter of
’

the m o o n god ) is the rising moon or the morning star

-
,
-
,

so i s A l l atu the setting moon o r the even ing star The ,

-
.

two are the mutually conflicting opp osite sides o f o ne

being ; an d here perhap s we have an intimation of a , ,

deep er ethi cal interpretation according to the secret do c ,

trine o f the Chaldaeans The hell o f the Chaldaean the .

ology is divided into seven co m p artments separated by

gates At each gate I star m ust surrender to its keeper
.

som e portion o f her p ara p hernalia ; at the first the cro wn ,

at the second the earrings at the third the necklace at , ,

th e fo urth the mantle at the fifth the girdle c rusted with , ,

p recious stones at the sixth the armlets and anklets and

, ,
'

at the s eventh the last vesture Possibly we have here .

,

a s y mb oli c allusion to the Chaldaean m ysti c teaching ,

whi ch may have h a d seven degrees of initiation into as

many o rders of mysteries till all were disclosed The , .

queen o f the nether world not o nly renders to I star no

assistance but contrariwise treats her as an ene m y and
, , , ,

heap s bodily inj urie s upon her Meanwhile on earth .

,

I star being the go d dess of love all unio n of the sexes , ,

wh ether among men or ani mals ceases and at last the , ,

gods re q uest of A l l at u the liberation o f I star Re l uc .

t an t l y she consents I star i s made whole and set free

.

,
32 M Y S TE R I A

an d at each gate gets b ac k again what had b een taken -

.

fro m her The p oem was intended to b e recited by the

.

'

p riest at the obsequies o f the dead to give assurance to ,

the mour ning survivors that the gates o f the netherworld

are not uncon querab le b ut that there is still a p o ssi,

b i l i ty for the shades to re ach the lan d o f th e b lest, the

ab ode of I star .

9 . Z O R OAJS TE R AND TH E P E R I A S NS .

I f in Chaldaea th e trac es of a c tual se c ret tea c hing

seem faint and indistin c t they quite disapp e ar the fur ,

ther we go fro m the c entres of an c ient c ulture in No rth

ern Africa and W estern Asia though analogies are foun d ,

eve ry where I n Persia who se culture fo r the rest was an

.
,

o ffshoot of that of Chaldaea the p riests (ath ravan ) of Zara ,

’
t h u s tra s o r Zoroaster s religion were the highest o f the
’
, ,

three cl asse s of the p op ulati on and the p riestly class was ,

consi dered further removed fro m the other two (warrio rs

an d far m ers) than they fro m ea c h other Sprung ori gina l .

l v fro m a M edian stock the p riests marri ed only wo men ,

o f their own race and alone o f the p op ulation possessed

,

high c ulture As in Egypt the King was adopted into

.
,

th e p rie stly class The p riests wen t ab out th e c ountry

.

as teachers but gave religio us in stru c tion only to tho se

,

of their class Th e chief priest was styled Zarath u s tro

.

tema i e the one nearest to Z arathustra and had his

,
. .
, ,

see in the holy city Ragha ( now Rai ) who se inhabitants , ,

like tho se o f modern Rome had the name o f being un ,

~

b elievers The priests alone held rule in Ragha and no

.
,

secular p ower had right to give o rders Even else where .

throughout the kingdo m the p riests regarded themselves

as subj e c t only to th e c o m mands of the Zarath u s tro tem a :
were not so a secret do ctrine naturally sp rung up among
,

them and so they instituted a mystic society whose

, ,

members alone kn ew how the matter really stoo d an d ,

“
that the p eo p le were hoodwinked A c cordingly the .
,

basis of religion was totally di fferent for the B rahmans

fro m what it was for the rest of the p eople Th e latter .

were idolaters the former p antheists This pantheism

,
.

i s taught in all their sacred books ; but these b ooks the

second and third castes (warriors and farmers) did not
understand and the fourth caste the servile (whi ch was
, ,

also the most num erous ) durst not read them at all
,
.

According to thi s do c trine all gods and the whole ,

creation are sp run g from Eternity (Aditi) Penitents and .

solitarie s were e steemed by the B rahmans above kings and

heroes even above gods B ut the life o f a hermit was
,
.

not p erfect enough for them for that was attained by the ,

next two castes Therefore as their own peculiar sp e

.

c i al ty they c onco c ted the idea of a sort of a so ul of the

,

universe the Atman B rahman (the All M e or M e All )

,
- -
,
-
.

This dogma was originated b y the B rahman Y ad s h n a ~

val k va : b ut B rahmans themselves sav that no man can

co m p rehend it an d that no man can instruct ano ther in
,
’
it Thus despairing of a solution of life s enigma the
.
, ,

B rah mans hit upon the idea that the universe is only a
phantasm a D ream o f the So ul o f the Universe and as a
, ,

c o nse q uence that the ea rth with all that it contains i s

, ,

n e t h i n g : thi s is p essimism They imagined enormous

.

aeons of time i n the lap se o f which the world grew ever

,

wors e an d creatures were bo rn only to su ffer to die and , ,

either to awaken to su ffering in the soul s migration o r ’

to do p enance in the unspeakable torments of hell Now .

,

as o f all this the people co u ld understand only what was

said about the hell torments the B rahman s contrived for ,
 MY ST E R I E S O F TH E E A ST 35

them also a supreme deity under the same name a s their

own S o ul o f the Universe B rahma and for B rahma they , ,

provided a W ife Sarasvati B rahma they made the

,
.

creator but the p art played b v him was only passive and
,

the p eo p le not content with such a do nothing paid

, ,

m ore attention to other gods specially to resplendent ,

Vishnu and dread Siva Long afterw ard the three gods .

were united in a sort of trinity or rather were represented , , ,

by a three headed figure which had neither temple nor

-
,

sacrificial worshi p Th u s the B rahmans went o n refining

.

and refining in their theological spe c ulations while the ,

p eo p le b ecame divided into parties Vishnuites and Siva ,

ites and the religi on o f the H indus reached at last the

,

state o f debasement in which we find it to day -

.

B efore degeneration had gone so far B ud d ha in the ,

sixth cent u ry B C endeavored to save the Hindu re

,
. .
,

l i gi o n B uddhism was not a new religion o nly a re

.
,

form o f B rah mani sm Tho u gh it failed to strike ro ot

.

deep in its nati ve soil the m o re westerl y c o u n tri e s o f

,
.

India o n the other hand it wo n a great following in

,

fa rther I ndia, Tibet China and J apan : it has since as

, ,

sumed a pecul i ar co mposite character by fusio n with the

ancient religions of tho se countries It grew out o f a .

m onastic society founded by Siddhartha afterward B ud ,

dha s urnamed the Perfe c t O ne

, H i s doct rine was .

wholly eth ical and its p rofoundest p rinciple was that only
,

in complete renunciation of all things can man find safety

and p eace Buddha himself was rather strict with po stu
.

lants fo r adm i ssion to the so ciety so that in his tim e the ,

t e ach ing was in many respects a secret d octrine B ut .

after the death o f B uddha when first himself then seve ral , ,

other B uddhas believed to have lived before him and ex ,

p e c te d to c o m e after him had bee n raised to the ran k of ,

 M Y S TE R I A .

gods ; and when to these had b een added t h e H indu god s

and th e gods o f other p eoples ; the religion o f the founder
h aving thu s degenerated into a polytheism the learned ,

b egan to interpret the original do ctrine now in one sense ,

again in another opinions differing on the questio n

,

whether the Ni rvana (literally extingu ish ment) preached

’

by B uddha meant D eath and Nothingness o r a Blest ,

State Thus the B uddhism o f the p riests assumed a s trong

.

likeness to a secret do ctri ne tho u gh we know not of any ,

formal organization to that end .

II . S E CRE T L E A GUE S O F B A RB AR O US PE OP LE S .

Even am ong
Savages s o called are found se cret doc -

trines an d se c ret so c ietie s o f p riests analogous to tho se

'

of more cultured peop les The p riests o f H awaii who .

,

in thi s respect p erhap s ran k highest among savage

races had a theory of their own regarding creation which
,

shows great elevation of thought The sorcerers or .

,

priests of savage races wherever they still remain are

, ,

banded in secret so cieties which withhold fro m the peo ,

p le all knowledge o f their tri cks Th e Angekoks of the .

Eski mo s the M edi c ine M en o f t h e N o rt h Ameri c an

’

aboriginals th e Shamans of Siberia as well as the sor

, ,

c e rers however named of African and other races near

, , ,

lv all form c l o se castes hand down their p retende d arts of

,

weather making of healing disease discovering thieve s

-
, , ,

co unteracting sp ells etc to their successors and prepare

,
.
, ,

themselve s for their o ffi c e by undergoing strange tests an d

p erf o rming o u t l an i s hl rites ; they also wear fantasti c to g s .

Among the Zulu Kaffi rs the o ne who desires to b e

c o me a sorcerer (usually a descendant o f a sorcerer) gives
up the c us tomary mo d e of life h as strange dreams see k s , ,
 M Y S TE R I E S O F TH E E A S T 37
’

solit u de ho p s and j um p s ab out utters cries handles ser

, , ,

p ents that other K affi rs will not touch at last rece i ves .

instructio n from some aged sorcerer and is formally a d ,

m i tte d by the assembly o f those c harlatans Th ere are .

als o witches or sorceresses who go through a like form

, ,

o f co nsecration .

There exist also among savages other s p ecies of

secret societies I n the Society I slands the chiefs called
.
,

Areoi or B rih form an association the origin o f which

, ,

they trace to O ros go d of war They are divided into

,
.

twelve classes under as many grandmasters each clas s ,

distinguished by a peculiar tattoo the members are united ,

by the fi rmes t ties show unbounded hosp itality to one

,

ano ther live without marriage kill t heir own children

, , ,

and refrain fro m all work There are similar societies .

in M icronesia called Kl o bb e rgo l l whic h assemble in

, ,

s p ecial houses and se rve their chiefs in war as bodyguard

,
.

O n the isle o f New B ritain ( now a German possession ,

and named New Pomerania) there exists a secret so ci ety

—
c alled the D uk D uk who se members wearing frightful
, ,

m asks care fo r the execution of the laws collect fines

, , ,
‘

and inflict punishment on ince ndiaries and homicides .

They are known to each other by secret s 1gn s and out; ,

siders are denied admis sion to their festivals under pain

of death I n West Africa there are many secret so cietie s
.

whose memb ers are distinguished by a chalk line with ,

which they are marked at their initiation Th eir o ffice .

is to pursue and p unish criminals and to collect the ,

tribute . In ea c h locality these associations p ossess

ho u ses for their s p ecial use and their members are b ound
,

to the s trictest secrecy Thus even savages have their

.

secret p olice an d their privy tribunals .

 P A R T S E C ON D .

Th e Gr e c i a n M y s t e ri e s an d th e R o m an
B a c ch a n a l ia .

1 . H E L LA S .

Grecian religion is worship o f the b eautiful Its .

origin was as that of the other pol y theistic religions : its

’
b asis was a p ersonification of nature s forces and of the
heavenly bodies but in its evolution it di ffered esse n
,

t i al ly fro m the religions o f the O rien tal p eop les who had ,

n o sense for th e b eautiful and wh o ascrib ed to their gods

,

forms quaint or unnatural or hideous I n the dawn of

, ,
.

their h istory the H ellenes did undoubtedly worship the , ,

forces of nature under the fo rm o f animals esp ecially o f ,

serp ents .In time the human and animal forms were
united and there were deities with heads o f animals or
,

the bodies of horses (centaurs ) or the hoofs o f goats

( sat y rs.
) B u t th e native genius of Greece asserted itself
at an early period and the figures o f gods came by de
,

gr e e s to express the highest physical p erfe c tion with

wh ich the y were ac q uainted— the human fo rm True .
,

t h e H ellenes like the E as t e rn s fo rgot the astronomic

, ,

and cosmic signification o f t h eir myths ; but whereas fo r , ,

—
th eir neighb ors oversea at least for th e mass o f the p eo
—
ple the natural p owers transformed into go ds were
simply fetiches exi sting only in the matter out o f which
they were made—o bj ects o f dumb reveren ce or o f mad
terror ; for the man o f H ellas they be c ame changed into
38
 TH E I
GR E C A N M Y ST E R I E S 3 2!

mor al forces into ideas which he re p resented to himself

,

in bea u tiful form s that were to him not obj ects o f fear
at all b u t beings with whom he might converse as with
,

fellowmen and of who m his poets sang as though of

,

mortal heroes H ere we have the distingui shing char

.

ac te ris t i c of Grecian religious worship .

The H ellenes knew nothing of dog m a creeds} cate ,

c h i s i n g o r revelation
,
I n their eyes if a man did but honor
.
,

the go ds as rep resenting the groundwork o f morality he ,

satisfied all the re q u irements o f religion : the how the ,

when the where the how o ften were matters left to the
, , ,

discretion o f each one ; and nobody else j udged him con

cerning them O f course We must not apply our mod
.
,

ern ethical yardsti ck to the p rin ci p les o f morality for

whi c h the god s stood sp on sor after the origin of t h e ,

god s had been forgotten The Greeks were with regard .

,

to n zatte rs that we nowadays hold to be within the sphere

—
o f ethics not at all scru ple ridden ; and in tr u th we need
,

to b ear in mind their great services on behalf o f the

beautiful if we would loo k with so me measure o f allow
ance on their s h ortcomings with regard to virtue In .

two p oints specially straightfo rwardness (hon esty can

, ,

dor truthfulness ) and chastity they left m uch to b e de

, ,

s ired ; b u t what else was to b e ex p e c ted seeing that in ,

the i r gods as in co u rs e o f time they came to conceiv e o f

,

them mistakenly they had by no means edifying exempla rs

,

o f the moral p rinciples to which those deities were sup

p osed to give sanction Nevertheless hi story will even
.
, ,

to the H ellenes forgive much be c ause they loved much

, , .

O f so little obligation was the Grecian belief regard

ing the go ds that the several divisions of the H ellenic
,

race were by no means agreed as to the number o f the

god s and their resp ective ranks O f the twelve gods o f .
40 M Y S TE R I A

O lymp us o ne would b e disown ed here anoth er there In

, ,
.

one place greater honor would be paid to this god in ,

another place to that ; the c as e is exactly that o f the saints

in Catholic countries to day -
Nay local deities e g
.
, ,
. .
,

Athene in Athen s o ften received more homage than Zeus

,
,

father o f the gods and lord o f the thunderclouds The .

wor s hip of the b eautiful w ent even so far as to m ul ti p l v

gods and to divide them among the di fferent lo calities
,
'

that p o ssessed renown ed statues o f them : these statues

then cam e to be regarded as di stinct individual s so that ,

even a So crates could be in doubt wh ether the Aphro dite

Urania (Aphrodite in the sky) and Aphrodite Pandemos
( the p opular Aphrodite ) were or were not one p erso n .

Nay when the k nown gods did not su ffi ce they made

, ,
“
gods that had no name : thus we find a greatest go d ,
“ “ ” “ ”
also pure and reco nciling and ruling and as we , , ,
” “ ”
learn from the Acts of the Ap ostles unknown gods ,
.

And now as regard s the character of all these d eities : fo r

the Greeks who in all things studied the beautiful they
, ,

were neither monsters like the gods o f Egypt I ndia and , ,

Ph o enicia nor incorp o real spirits like the gods of the

,

Pers i ans and the I sraelites but human existen ces that
,

never coul d die mighty b eings with human feelings i h

, ,

c l i n at i o n s
,
and p assions The G reeks knew no Y ahve :
.

b ut then neither d id they know any D evil Th eir gods .

were neither faultless no r virtueless j ust like the Greeks

,

themselves O f course there are to b e found in H ellenic

.

religion su rvivals fro m that p eriod of mythology in which

h u m an and b east forms were mingled This we see in .

the Centaurs the Chimaera the Minotaur the Satyrs etc

, , , ,
.

b ut such b eings were beco me merel y figures in folk tales -

,

and there they enacted parts ranging from terror to farce

they no more received divine hono rs And the same is .
 MY s rni R I A

law therefore upon c o m plaint

, ,
then o nl y —
m ade and
denial o f their existen c e s co ffi n g, and b lasphemy were
,

p u nish ed w ith banishment as th e worst so rt o f crimes .

No r was there in this any fanati c ism or any i ntoleran c e ,

simply an idea o f right and wrong Th at this is so i s .

proved b y the fact that there was no prohibition o f the

bringing in o f alien gods or of the worship o f such pro ,

vid e d onl y th e customs o f the land were not infringed ;

nay alien god s if their religi on gained vogue might b e
, , ,

ado p ted into th e religion of the state .

Such freedo m o f religion could o f c ourse exist only , ,

where no pri e stly caste existed nor in fact any special , , ,

priestl y class It was competent fo r p ersons in variou s

.

walks of life to p erform religious ceremonies I n the .

name o f th e state the king ( or other head o f the gov

,

e rn m e n t)
“
transacted b usiness with the gods for ex
”
,

a m ple conducte d the sacrifices

, O nly in temples an d .

ot h er localities consecrated to divine worshi p were p riests

as s u c h employed : b ut outside the walls of these they h ad
n o t hing to do ; for instance they had nothing to do with,
’
men s consciences I n Hellas the p riest had no priv
.
~

i l e g e s no influen c e such as he had in E gypt and p riestly

, ,

s o cieties and p riestly se c ret doctrine were o u t o f the

q u e s tion The service of some of the gods was con

.

ducted b v women and in the worship o f certain deitie s

,

only unmarried p riests could engage ; there were also

certain o ther restri ction s put on the p riest s mode of li fe ’
.

Among the Greeks religiou s ministration was n o

more restricted to certain p laces than to certain p erson s .

The gods were everywhere the highest inhabiting O lym ,

p us others the sea the nethe rworld c e rt ai h groves trees

, , , , ,

streams , mountains grottoes etc Not in tem ples alone

, , .

but ever y where stood altars : in houses in the street s , ,

 TH E G RE C A I N MY ST E RI E S 43

in forests .
All co nsecrated places whether temples o r ,

sacred groves etc w ere Asyla places of refuge for o f

,
.
, ,

fenders against law The hono r done to the go ds con

‘

sisted in :
.
I I nvo c ation comprising
,
Prayers addressed ,

whether to the images of the god s o r to their suppo sed

abode and pronounced low o r loud or in song ; O ath s ,

—
,

summoning the gods as witnesses of truth thi s at times

degenerated into a sp ecies o f O rdeal ; I mp recations call ,

i n g o n the gods to p u nish evildoers .

. 2 Votive O fferings (anathemata) obj ects o f all kind s ,

laid at the feet of the gods images : the o ffering might b e

’

an animal fattened sp ecially for the god or it might b e

, ,

a person dedicated for life to the servi ce o f the go d b y

himself his father or his master
, ,
.

.
3 Sa c rifices mostly
,
meat and drink o fferi ngs b ut ,

sometime s livi ng: ani m al s immolated to the gods i n ,

ato nement for sin o r to ratify treaties or to obtain an i n

, ,

t i m at i o n o f the divine will or fo reknowledge I n the .

earliest times human victims were i mmolated .

I f reli g ion consists in a belief i n s u p erterres' t rial

p owers and in wo rshi p o f them so on th e other hand

, , .
,

the belief in mira cle h as its root in the conviction that

’

this worshi p i s answered by action of the heavenly powers

0 11 the physical world O ne instance of thi s action o f the
.

s up ersensual world is called Revelation H ere the .

Grecian religion was distinguished fro m other fo rms o f

belief in that it accepted n o o fficial standing revelation
which every one was required to believe whi l e it main ,

t ai n e d the p ossibility of a revelation from the gods for

emerge n cies . This b elief was firmly held even by the
most eminent Grecian philosophers in p articular by S0 ,

crates and the Stoi c s And i f the granting o f prayers

.
44 M Y S TE R I A

and the decision o f questions by ordeal s was a first feeble

step t oward revelation the same m istaken b e l i e f led to
,
a

still f u rther degeneratio n o f the religiou s idea in th e

forms of Seership O ra c les , and Conj uration
,
.

Seership (in Greek m an ti k e seer s art) was un i n ten

, ,
’

t i o n al or intention al Unintentional seershi p we see in

.

dreams and in trance

,
I ntentional s eers h i p was prae
.

ticed by interp retation o f si gn s or o mens ( sign reading) -

.

A seer ( m a ntis) was one who p racticed sign reading

’
-
,

whether self deluded or simply p retending to b e under

-

divine i n spiration Folklore and history tell of famous

.

seers who foretold th e future from ob servation of th e

flight o f birds atmo spheric phenomena the p osi tion of
, ,

constellations an d the entrails o f animals ; or who i n

,

t erp ret e d dreams and o n occasion had ecstasies and

vision s . Then there were u n p ro fes s mn al p racti c ers of
the art who divined the fu ture by other means ; thus one
would write the letters of the alphab et in a circle on the
ground lay on each letter a grain of c orn then let a
, ,

cock pick up the grains the operator meanwhile care ,

ful l v noting th e order in which the grain s were p icked

up : thi s was known as al e etro m an cy ( Gr al ek t o r co c k ; .
, ,

mant o ia seership divination )

, , .

O racles are properly divinations obtainable o nly in

p arti cular places (as temp les and other sanctuaries) and ,

practi ced only by duly qualified persons There were .

s everal kin ds o f oracles viz : , .

. I O ra c les fro m Signs Th e m ost ancient ora c le o f

.

t hi s class was that of Zeus at D odona in E p irus men , ,

t i o n e d by H o m er The priests o f the san c tuary at D o

.
~

dona divined by ob se rvation o f the rustling o f the leaves

o f the sa c red oak ; they al so cast lots on th e altar or ques ,

ti n ned a sa c red bronze b asin .

 TH E GR E C A I N MY ST E R I E S 45

Sententious O racles These were all san ctuaries

2 . .

sa c red to Ap ollo and were numero u s in H ellas and Asia

,

M inor The mo st notable of them was one at Delphi

. .

Th e minister o f th e oracle o f D e l p h i a vi rgi n p riestess ,

called the Pythia while questioning the oracle sat on a ,

tripod which stood over a c revice in the ground ; thence

i ssued a gas and intoxicated by inhaling this the Pythia
, , ,

uttered words whi c h the p riest s dressed up i n verse or

in sententiou s fo rm .

3 D ream O racles
. O f these there we re m any in .
,

san c tuaries dedi c ated to A s klep io s (Aesculapius go d of ,

leechcraft) to which the sick were taken in order that

thro ugh interp retation of t h e dream s th ev had on th e
spot they might obtai n from the priests o f Asklepio s
counsel u pon the healing of their complai nts Th e most .

ren owned o f this c lass o f ora c les was at Ep idaurus in ,

Argolis .

Co nj uration whic h developed into magi c was mu c h

, ,

used in ancient Gree c e especially after the Greeks had ,

co me in c onta c t with the O ri ental world ; but the gods

and daemons c oncerned in thi s p fac ti c e were all taken
fro m foreign m ythologi es People believed in c onj ura .

tion o f the weather in tran sformation o f men into ani ,

mals in love potions etc and employed magi c formula s

, ,
.
,

exp ressed i n words that no one understood and that b e

lo n ged to no earthly language .

3 . TH E H E L L E NI C M YST E R I E S .

Su c h was the theol o gy and such the thau m atology *

image and re fl ec ti o n —o f Grecian religion

—
,

Th e two .

*T
he o ri g n a l G o e t t e rg l ia u b e , b e l i e f i n g o d s , a nd W un
'

h as
d e rj g l a u b e , be l i ef in m i rac l es , i n a l l us i o n t o t h e p re c e d i n g se c
 M Y S TE R I A
‘
.

ele m en ts con stitute th e p op ular rel i gio n th e religi o n o f ,

feeling worship o f the gods as far as sensibility i s co n

, ,

cerned B ut i n the most an c ient times there stood over

.

against the popular reli gion (in Greece as in Egypt) a re

l i gi o n of p riests their I nitiates an d Ele c t ; over against
, ,

t he religion of feeling a religi on o f reflec tion ; o ve r

against the naif sen sorial view the sentimental romantic , , , ,

mysti c al o ne the one whi c h ai ms to a c quire fo r b elief

,

an ethical side and to su b ordin ate th at to faith , Thi s .

phase o f religion results fro m th e mysti c c onsideration

that the individual i s essentially di fferent fro m the divin e
n ature su bj e c t thereto and dependent on it ; in short i t
, , ,

results fro m the idea of alienation from God toward “

,

whi c h the superstitions o f seership o ra c les and magic were ,

already showi ng the way It was the impulse given by .

,

refle c tion to seek the lost god that led to the

,
”

institution o f mysteries in G ree c e : men were no

’
longer satisfied with go ds that were but man s
e quals Th e mysteries c ontradi c t the ori gin o f re
.

l i g i o n i n feeling they deny its dep e n dence on art ,

and the b eautiful ; the y p onder and b rood over the l ost
god and are ever seeking him They would su b o rdinate
, .

li fe and all its interests to his servi ce ; they wo uld regulate

all m an s acts and hence m orality a cc ording to faith ;
’

, ,

they h old in contempt either man s power or hi s kno wl ’

edge . The Grecian m ysteries indeed b orro wed from , ,

the p opular religio n its art an d turned it to account but , ,

in them art was not c ultivated for itself and sci en c e ,

was co m pletely ignored As s c ien c e was free in H ellas .

and not tied to any priestly o rder the m ysteries coul d ,

t io n 2 . Go e t t e r g l a u b e i s o f c o u re e q iv u alen t to t h eo l o gy ,

an d if so, t h en W u n d e rg l a u b e is e q iv u a l e n t -t o t h a u m at o l
o gy
”
fro m G ree k th aum a ta, m i ra c l e s , an d l o g o s , d i s c o u rs e .
 TH E GRE CI A N M YST E R I E S 47

there render no service : there was nothing for them t o

do O f all the many philosophers of Greece not o n e
. ,

employed the do ctrines o f the mysteries i n his system :

not one showed any regard for them The myste ries .

were then what they had ever b een and still are to wit , , ,

self introspection
-
interp retation of divine things a
, ,

mourning over the lost god and searc h after the same , ,

an endeavor for union with God for grace an d salva ,

tio n a sensible delight in the thought of a god su ffering

,
’
and dying in meditation on the soul s state after death
, ,

on revelation incarn ation and resurrection ; and a rep

, ,

re s en t at i o n of all these ideas in dramatic forms and cere

monies the main e ffe c t of whic h is to m ake an illusive

and blinding impression on the senses .

Thus the Grecian mysteries were the exact oppo site

,

o f genuine Hellenism Chee rfulness j oyo usness clear .

, ,
~

ness of p erc eption and o f thought ab sen c e of all mist s ,

and vapors were the notes of your true H ellene : hi s

,

s t atues of gods with their grand bold full rounde d , , ,

c ontours to thi s day de m onstrate this ; an d his s up e rst i

tion e v en took thi n gs j ust as they looked to him O n .

the other hand gloom ruefulness a morbid overween

, , , ,

ing owlis h phantastry symbolry mysticism with every

, , , ,

shallow t ri c k of strained interp retation and all the smug ,

nesses o f p harisaic p iety are the earmarks of your mystic .

O n the one side d ay on the other night there a c tion here ,

q ues t and longing there fact here makebelieve there

, ,

alertness here moping there a hearty meal o ff what is at

,

hand here a hungering and thirsting after truth th at never

c an be attained The mysteries were therefore in every
.

way u n grec 1an outlandish and abnor m al They h ad no

'

, , .

fit p lace on H ellenic soil n o r in that age ; th ey were the ,

propaedeuti c of a future age when on e shoul d c o m e up on

 M Y S TE R I A

the s c ene wh o was to hurl O lympo s O kean o s and H ades , ,

into the everlasting night o f oblivion ‘

.

And yet fro m the di fferen c e b etween the G recian

m ysteries and the ordinary life o f the people it by no
m ean s follows that the I nitiates did not find satisfaction ,

at least a partial satisfaction in these mysti c exer c ita

’

~
,

tions The man who nurses the feeling of a want for so me

.

thin g other than what his times and his surroundings

a fford find s at the last in his very brooding the satis
,

faction o f his need Sentimental romantic fan c ifu l and

.
, , ,

m y stical characters therefore must find un c o mmon de

, ,

light in mysteries while practical c lear sighted undis

, ,
-
,
~

t o rt e d an d strictly logical minds are un m oved by th em

,
.

Let u s then listen to the testimony of two c elebrated

mys tae a Gre c ian and a Roman both it is true living in
, , , ,

a tim e when their resp e ctive nations had beg u n to de

‘

c line The tragi c poet Euripides sings : O bles t is he

.

whose fortune it i s to have learned the divine initi ations ;

”
he s an cti fi e s his l i fe And Ci cero ( D e Le gi b u s I I 1 4)
. .
,

make s Marcus say to Atticus : O f all the gran d and as

“
,

I fain would think the divine elements i mp o rted b y th y

,

Athens into human life there i s nought better than tho se ,

Mysteri es whereby we have b een develop ed out of rude

ness and savagery and trained to the human manner o f
life And we too even as th e M y s te ri es are called I nitia
.
, ,

( beginnin gs ) so in them have found the p rinciples ( a pl ay

“ “
on w ords initia and p rincipia
, p rinci p les b eing , ,

homonyms ) of right living and have learn ed not only to ,

live j oyou sly b ut also to die with better hop e

,
,
”
Then as .
,

shadow follows ligh t h e adds : The thing I do mislike

,

in the no ct u rnal rites is told i n th e comic p oets Were

, .

such liberties permitted in Ro me what had not that i n ,

fa m ou s wret c h ( Cl o d i us) done who brought lewdness ,

 M Y S TE R I A

in the m yste ri e s under the na m e of I a cc ho s ; an d though

there is no a ffinity betwe en th e letters I and B I accho s ,

c ame in time to stand for B a c chus The ori gi nal I accho s .

would see m to have been a god in the p eople s religion

’

and thi s name is pro b ably related to Jao ( fo und in J ovis

ater J u iter and to the H eb rew Y ahve D i d o ru s ( I
p , p ) o .

9 4) g i ve s t h e name J ao to the Go d o f the H ebrews ; and

l

an ora c ular u tteran ce of the Apollo of Claros say s

Know th o u t ha t th e h i gh es t o f al l th e g o d s i s n a m e d J ao ,
an d in W i n ter A id es , an d Z eu s in o p en i n g S p ri ng,

t h en H el i o s in S u m m er , an d o n ce m o re J ao s in F all .

The fa c t that J ao s was the h arvest god tended stron g -

l y to identify him with B acchus personification of the ,

sun which rip ens the grap e ; and b esides B a c chus was , ,

—
allied to D emeter ( originally Ge m et e r Ea rthmother) wh o
was the p atroness o f husbandry The name o f the city .
,

Eleusis means in G reek advent and it co m memorate s

, (

the stay of D e m eter there i nth e co urse o f her wandering

i n search of her daughter : a like story is told o f I sis in
Egypt In gratitude for their hospitality D e m eter b e
.
,

stowed on the p eople o f Eleusis the bread grain and the -

mysteries From Eleusi s the cult of the two deities

.

spread all over Gree c e and p art o f Asia M inor and in a ,

modified form p assed into Italy : in several p laces arose

a ffiliated institution s resembling that at Eleusis having ,

the same festivals and the same secret cult ; but Ele u sis
al wa y s held the supremacy The buildings at El eusis in .
,

the p u re D o ri c style consisted o f the tem p le of D emeter

,
.

and th e Mystic H ouse in whic h the secret fe stival s were ,

held They were conne c ted with Athens by the Sa c red

.
“

Way a road flanked by temples and sanctuaries : in

Athen s itself was an Eleu s inian b uilding ( Eleusinion )
 TH E GR E C A I N M YST E R I E S 01

m wh ich a p ortio n o f the m ysteries was cel ebrated . In

front o f the city gate toward th e Piraeus was also a
sanctuary dedicated to thi s cult and furthermore an ,

Ele u sinion at A grae The buildings at Eleusis stoo d

.

till the fourth centu ry o f our era : they were then de

stroye d by the Goth s under Alaric at the instigation o f ,

monkish fanatics .

The Eleusinia were always under the direction of the

Athenian Government When Athen s became a d e m o c
.
~

racy the function s till then perfo rmed by the King as ,

protector of the Eleusinia devolved o n the head o f the

,

executive the Archons wh o therefore bore the title

, , , ,

Basileus ( king) because the m o s t important duties o f the

King had been concerned with Eleusi s and its Mysterie s .

The Basileus was assisted b v four councilors (ep i m el e

tae ) o f whom two were chosen from among th e Athen
,

ian s and other two fro m the two Eleusinian gentes

, ,

E u m o l p i d ae and K e rytae
,
The repo rt on the celebra
.

tio n of the Mysteries was always rendered to the Gran d

Coun c il ( B oule ) of Athens assembled in the Eleusinion
, .

The function o f prie st in the institutions at Eleusis was

always the exclusive p rivilege o f the E u m o l p i d ae and
Ke rytae . The chief of the priests was th e h i erO p h an-t ,

an d with him w as associated a h i e ro p h an t e s s Ne x t to .

these in di gnity were the torchbearer (daduchus) the ,

“
sacred herald (h i ero k e ryx ) and th e al tar p riest
,
These -
.

o ffi cials c on stituted the Sacred Council which had the ,

immediate direction of the mysteries .

It would b e a great m i sta ke to regard the Eleusinian

Mysterie s as a result of ill u minism or rationalism Rather .

were the y an institution not less religio u s not less faith ,

ful to the ancient traditions than th e p o p u lar reli gion

itse l f ; with this di fferen c e only that the latter co ntente d
,
 M Y S TE R I A

itse l f with h onoring the gods contemplated in the human

form while the mysteries emphasized the infinite pre
,

eminence o f the divine nature over the human H ence .

the mvs ti c re l igion was guarded b y the state authori ties

with the same zeal as the anthrop o mo rphic religio n of th e
vulgar .

No one saw in the o ne any danger to the o ther The .

two forms of reli g ion were b ranches o f one tree Panthe ,

i sm and herein only di ffered that the one s aw the D ivi n e

, ,

in all earthly thi n gs the oth er sought for it there and ,

strove for union with it It i s e q ually vain to look in .

the Eleu sinia for either Rationalism or M onotheism .

M onothei s m i e ab solute severan ce of the earthly from

. . .
,

the divine witho u t hop e o f union was a p urely O rie n tal ,

idea q ui te incomp re h ensi b le to the Grecian mind : no ah

,

cient Greek writer ever dreamed of a creative demiurgus ,

in the Egyptian sense nor of an angry and revengefu l ,

Y ahve like the H eb rews

,
.

So great was the veneration for the Eleusini a among

the Grecian states that during the mysti c festival s ,

hostilities were susp ended b e t ween o p p osing armies ; :

and desp isers of the mysteries b etrayer s o f th e secret ,

doctrine and unbidden witnesses of th e rites were pun

, ,

i s h ed cap itally or with lifelo n g banishment In the year .

4 1 1 B C the p
. oet D i ag o ra
. s of M elos who threw a figu e ,
r

of H erakles into fire to p u t the hero to his thi rteenth ,

labor an d wh o had betrayed the mysteries was b anish e d

, ,
-

for hi s i rreli gi o n Even after the death o f H elleni c

.

l i b erty the Roman emp erors took an interes t in m ai n

taining the Eleusini an sanctuaries H adrian sought and .

obtained the initiation Antoninus erected edifices at ,

Eleusis nay some o f the early Christian em p ero rs as

, , ,

Constantius I I and J ovian in their d ecrees forbidding

.
,
 TH E G R E C IA N M YST E R I E S O3

n octurn al festival s made an ex c eption o f the Eleusinia ;

an d a fter the destruction o f the sa c red b uilding s t h e rite s ,

seem to have been still p racticed .

The su m of all that is known of th e do c trine taught

at Eleusis i s as follows : Th e myt h un derly in g the s e
m ysteri es was the rap e b y Pluto of Persephone daughter , , ,

of D emeter Pluto god o f the neth e rworld in the p o p u

.
,

l ar b elief lord o f the abode of the damned in other te rni s

, , ,

the personifi cation of the sun that goes down in the west ,

hence of the s u n of the ni g httime o r of the Winte rtime , ,

carries o ff Persephone (personifi cation o f th e world of

pla n ts) as she i s p luckin g flowers ( fo r as the cold season
,

c c m e s on the flowers wither and die ) and takes her with ,

him to the realm o f shades where she o ccup ies the throne ,

with him B ut her mother D emeter b eing as goddess of

.
, ,

.
—
the earth the mother of the plant world and so too p ro ,
~

t e c t re s s o f husbandry wanders ab out lamenting for indeed

, ,

the earth loses its adornments its l o veliest features in Win , ,

ter B ut at last the gods take p ity on the hap less wanderer
.

an d brin g a b out an agreement between her and Pl u to ,

whereby Persephone i s permitted to live in the up p erwo rl d

in Summer returning to the nethe rworld for Winter : here
,

i s signified the fecundity o f the soil and also the res u rrec ,

tion of man after his body has been dro p ped like a grain
"

of corn in the earth The union of Persephone with.

Bacchus i e with the sun god whose work i s to p romote

, . .
,
-

fruitfulness i s a n idea special to the mysteries and m ean s

, ,

the union o f huma nity with godhead the consummation ,

aimed at in the mystic rites H ence in all p robability .

the central teaching of the mysteries was Personal I m

mortality analogue o f the return of the bloom to pl ants
,

in Sprin g .

Now th e fe s tivals at Eleu s i s have referen c e to thi s

 M Y S TE R I A

m yth . O f th ese festival s there were t wo , the Le s ser Eleu

sinia in Sp ring (the month Antheste rion M arch) when the , ,

ravished one c ame up out of the netherwo rld into the

sunlight ; these festivals were o b served at A gr ae ; and th e
Greater Eleusini a in Autumn (the m onth B oedro m ion ,

O ctober) when she must follow her sullen s p o use again t o

,

H ades ; they were o b served at Athens and Eleusis There .

wa s a p reli minary celebration at Athens and at Eleusis th e ,

high cele b ration Th e p reliminary solemnity lasted six

.

days B oedro mio n 1 sth to 2 0th O n the first day I nitiates

, .

fro m every region wherever the G reek language was heard

and Grecian hearts beat for the god s assemb led in th e ,

Poecile at Athens and there heard the o rder of the ex er

cises p ro c l ai med by the H ieroph ant after hi s aides had
,

first in a loud voice bidden the b loodguilty to depart O n .

the secon d day the m ys tae were summoned to go down to

the seash ore and to p erform in th e sacred b rine the ac t of
purification re q uisite for a wo rthy ob servan c e of the
,

solemnity The remaining days were sp ent in perform

.

ing the p res cribed sacrifices sharing in the sacrificial b an

,

q u e t s,
an d m aking the customary solemn p ro cession s .

O n the sixth day came the gran d I ac chus Pro cession ,

num b erin g thousands o f m ys tae of b oth sexes ; these i ssu

, ,

ing from the S acred Gate wended along the Sacred Road
,

to Eleusis They wore crowns of parsley and myrtle and

.
,

in their hands c arried ears of co rn imp lements o f hus

,

bandry and torches ; for though the p ro cession set out '

b etimes it moved slowly and reach e d th e destination late

, ,

to celebrate the festival in the hallowed night I acchu s .

himself was b elieved to b e the leader o f the procession ,

which was headed by his i m age in the for m o f a b ab e with

co stly toys an d cradle The line o f mar ch lay along the
.

b rink o f th e s ea o ver th e sa m e fl owery fi elds and gras sy

 TH E GR E C I A N M YST E R I E S 55

m eadows o f t h e Th ri as i an p lains which had b een the scene ,

o f the rap e o f Perse p hone The route was fourteen miles .

long but to the parti c ipant s in their festive moo d it was

,

short and beside s they made frequent halts at the various

,

sanct u aries on the way p racticing mysti c rites and offering

,

sacrifices The rude wild chorus of the Hym n to I acchus

.

reso u nded with inte rvals o f animated dances and fl ute

,
~

playing and frequent shouts of I o I a cc hus hail ! B ut as

, , ,
“ ”
we learn from the Frogs of Aristo p hanes the p ro ce s ,

s i o n i s t s meanwhile indulged freely in merriment c h afli n g ,

their fellows and making love to the women and girls It

,
.

was c ustoma ry for women to make the j ourne y i n wains

till a demagogue in the time of D emosthenes p ro cured the
“ ”
abolition of this p rivilege of the rich .

I n the evening of the first day at Eleusis the m ys tae

1n commo n drank of the sacred p otion Kyk e o n by ,

which D emeter was comforted at Eleusis during her wan

dering It was a deco c tion o f b arley wine and grated
.
, ,

c heese ; to these afterward were added one by one honey , , .

milk certain herb s salt and onions

, ,
D uring the three
,
.

succee d ing nights the performing of the mysti c rites and

the initiations took place the p rincipal feature b eing the ,
’
torch processions representing D emeter s s earch for Pers e
-

p hone : during the day t h e Initiates seem to have fasted .

After the initiations the festival was transformed into a

s c ene o f m e rri m ent and gymnastic c o m p etition Pro ba b ly .

the m ys tae returned to Athens pro cessionally and th ere ,

t h e re p ort on the festival was made to the B oule whose ,

non initiated memb ers had first to retire

-
.

It was at these festiv als that the rites of initiati on

into the Eleusinian mysteries were p erformed Initiation .

was in two de g rees viz that o f the Lesser an d that of

,
.
, ,

th e G reater m y s teries Initiatio n into the Less er mys

.
56 M Y S TE R I A

fe rie s t oo k p la c e during the p reli m inary festival an d that ,

into the Greater mysteries either at the g reater festival

next ensuin g or at the g reater festival of a su b sequent year .

The I nitiates of the Lesse r m y steries were called M ys tae ,

those of the Greater mysteries E p o p t ae (th o s e wh o h ave

,

seen ) I t is p ro b able that at b oth o f the annual festivals

.

the mys tae took p a rt onl y in the external cere m onies and ,

that only th e Ep o p tae (o r ade p ts) were admitted into the

Sacred H ouse at Eleusis or inducted into the o ccult mean
,

i n g o f the festivals and c ere m onies : thi s we infer fro m the

ex c eedingly larg e num b er of th e m vs tae .

Th e on e who wished to b e admitted to the myste ries

h ad to ap p l y to an initiated citizen of Athens who by ,

ap p oint m ent o f the authori ties served as mediator be t we en

him and the p riests : hence h e was c alled M ys tago go s ,

guide or sponsor o f the p ostulant As a rule the p ostu

.

l ant was re q uired to b e a H ellene Fo rei g ner s were a d

.

m i tte d only wh en they were men o f di stinction such for , ,

exa m p le as the S cythian philosophe r A n ach ars i s After

,
.

the con q uest o f Greece by the Roman s Roma n citizens ,

sto o d o n e q uality with H ellenes There was no dis

.

crimination on the ground of sex B ut no o ne stained .

wi th blood g uiltines s could b e admitted .

Tho se who ca m e up for admission to the degree of

Ep optes and who as we su pp o se had never entered
, , ,

the My sti c H ouse were left to wander through its

”
.

mazes in pro found darkness m eeting toils and hindrance s

’

, ,

and dangers Then followed rit e s in which th e co urage

.

o f the candidates was sub j ected to the severest tests so ,

”
as to fi ll the m with fear and tremblin g and dread ama z e
“
.

I t is very p ro b ab le th at the terrors of th e test were b or

ro wed fro m the Gre c ian i d e as o f the netherworld B ut .

after t h e d arknes s c a m e b rightne s s after T artarus El y

,
 M Y S TE R I A
”

e l usion h as yet b een rea c hed on these p o m t s B ut they .

date fro m ve ry hi g h anti q uity before the evolution of the

,

several Grecian deities I n Egyp t according to H erod

.
,

“
otus ( I I I
.
, t h ey were wo rshi p ed as sons o f H ep h
aestus (he means Ptah god o f M em p his) ; an d were like
, ,
”
their fat h er figured in the sh ri ne a s Py g mies
, That in .

“
the language o f Phoenicia Kab i ri m m eans the great the ,

m ighty ones is o f no conse q uence for here great i s

”
,
“
,

not used in the sense o f b odily lar g ene s s Neither 1s it .

any ob j e c tion that in Greece the K ab e i ro i are regarded

a s b eings su b ordinate to the g ods : for the earlier gods
ever do take second p lace when new g o d s get f o oting .

I n early Egypti an mythology and reli g ion the Cabiri were

p ers o n i fi c at i o n s o f the stars ; and the m y steries of Samo
thra c e were originally an as t ro myth o l o gy though in time ,

their astral s i gn i fi cat i o n s were fo rgotten Fro m a remark .

o f H erodotus ( I L , that the Athenians got from the

Pelas g ians inha b itin g the islan d o f Samothra c e their c us
to m o f fi gurm g H erme s with the Phallus (and everyone
who has a c q uaintan c e with th e se c ret cult o f the Cab iri
knows what that means) we are led to infer t h at in the
,

Cabiri c m y steries the re p roductive forces of nature played

an imp ortant p art : the s y mbol of tho se forces the Phallus , ,

was emp lo y ed b y the nations of the E ast and fro m the m

p assed to the Greeks who o ri g i nall y had n o leaning
,

toward s u ch o b s cene 1m ag 1n 1n g s The same infere n c e is

.

suggested by Juvenal s remark that in l o ve a ffairs it was

’

the fash ion to swear b y th e Cabiri Fo r initiation into .

the Sa m othra c ian m y steries the novice was required to

su bm it to a p urifi c ation b y fire and to fumigation and to ,

m ake a so rt of confe ssion Plutarch tells o f a Sp artan

.

who at hi s initiation inquired o f the p ri est whether he

s hould c onfes s his sins to hi m o r to th e g ods ; an d on t h e
 TH E G R E C A I N M YSTE R I E S 59

” “
priest replying To the gods ,
Then said the penitent .
, ,
“ ”
give way I will tell it to the g o dhead alone
, Men .
,

women even children were initiated and the p ro fessed

. .

re c eived a purple b an d whi ch they w e re around the body

, ,

in the assurance that by this means they would be safe

against p erils b y sea .

The Greeks used to tell o f their fabled heroes O r ,

p h e u s,
A g amemnon O d y sseus etc that th
, e y were Ini ,

t i at e s o f these mysteries ; and Philip I I o f M acedon and .

his q u een O l y m p ias p arents of Alexander the Great ,

underwent this i n i ti at1o n There were Cabirian myste ries .

also in several other Grecian islands and in several places .

o n the c ontinent b oth in Gree c e and in Asia Minor

, .

6 . TH E M Y ST E R I E S O F CRE TE .

I n the island of Crete were celeb rated the mys ter

ies of Zeus Acco rding to the myth the father o f
.
,

the g ods and lord o f all the wo rld to foil the design s of .

his father Cronos who had devoured all hi s other chil

.

dren was while y et a child taken b y his mother Rhea to

, , ,

that isl and for refu g e and there g uarded in a grotto of

,

Mt Ida and nouri shed with m ilk and hone y by the p eople
.
,

who meanwhile by dealing blows on each other s shields

,
’

kept up su c h a din as drown ed the wailin g o f the b ab e .

I n Crete was also shown a sep ulchre o f Zeus Regarding .

the Cretan mysteries we know this o n l y that in the Sprin g ,

time the birth o f the g o d was co mmemorated at the grotto

and his death at the sep ulchre and that the while th e ,

young p eo p le (who re p resented the Curetae) in armor , ,

with dan ce and son g an d with loud beating of cymbals

an d dru ms ena c ted the sto ry o f the childhood o f Zeus
. .
60 M Y S TE R I A

7 . TH E DI ONY SI A .

An an c ient national cult amon g th e H ellenes into ,

whi c h a m y sti c ele m ent was i m p o rted from wi thout was ,

the worship of D ionyso s or B acchus i e o f the sun as ,

. .
,

p ro motin g the g rowt h o f th e vine : its en d was plainly to

glorify th e p h y sical world the material world in al l its , ,

m a nifestations o f life and forc e H en c e the B a cc hus c ult .

is one p redomin antly materialistic addressed to the sense ,

o f b odily p leas ure the a p p etite for foo d and the s e xual

d esire ; and yet inas m

,

, uc h as vitic u lture like agricult u re , ,

i s o ne o f the fa c to rs o f c ivilization an d as th e D ra m a h ad .

its origin in these D ionysiac festivals it cannot b e denied ,

that for m an v elements of our int e llectual and sp iritual

culture we are indebted to this c ult O f the festival s of .

D ionysos some b elon g ed ex cl u s i ve l v to the pop ular re

li gi o n b ut others were c onne c ted with m y steri es
, Th ose .

o f the former clas s had their c hief seat in Attica, the others
else where O f these non mystic festival s of D ionysos in
.
-

Attica there were seven o ccurrin g in di fferent months o f

,

the year from the season of the vinta g e in Autumn till

,

toward S p rin g or while the new wine was in fermentation ;

,

and so m e o f these festivals were held in the country ,

others in the c ity O n such o cc asion s gy mnastic sports

.

of a ludicrou s so rt were carried on as d ai i ci n g on one leg .

,

leapi ng on a leathern b ag b lown up with ai r and gre ase d

wi th oil outside an d tryin g to maintain e q u ilibrium et c
, , .

A t the head of a p ro c ession co m p o sed o f men and wo m

'

en of all ranks and de g rees were borne th e sa c rificial i m

p l e m e n t s
,
then followed the vi cti m a h e g oat an d soon ,
-
,

ca m e the ima g e of the Phallus b orne aloft with gre a t .

p om p So littl e did the Greek s p o ssess o f o ur p e c uliar

.

s ense o f sh am et h at the y lo oked on thi s s y mbol as so me

 TH E I
G R E C A N M Y TE R E S I S 61

thing entirely p rop er not s c ru p lin g even to sing satiri ca l,

’

verse s about it After the sacrifi c e c ame j esting b anter

.
, ,

travesty and with travest y p antomime in which was

, .

enacted the histo ry of the g o d includin g of co urse h i s ,

fabled adventures The stag e had its ri se in such festi val s

.

as these The S p rin g festival held in the month Anthe s

.
,

t e ri o n ( month o f flowers ) was ke p t with s p ecial solemnity .

It marked the time when the wine was racked o ff into the
earthen p ots It was at this festival that the B asilissa
.

( wife o f the B asileus ) accom p anied by fourteen other ,

women entered the holy o f holie s o f the an c ient temple

,

of Dion y so s ( at all other times women were forbidden to

-

enter it) and there made a secret o ffe ring wi th mysti c rite s
,

an d vows .

B ut we have the genuine m ysteri u m m the D ionysia

‘

Tri e t e ra or triennial festival o f D ionyso s Festivals of

’

, .

this class seem to have o riginated in Thrace and hence ,

amo ng a p eople o f Pelasgian sto ck Th e spirit of the .

Thracians which was naturally o f a gloomy cast b ut

, ,

when their slumbering p assions were awakened b e c ame

wildl y enthusiastic seemed in these festivals or rather , ,

these t rans p o rts o f m eral frenzy to p ass into the p ersons o f ,

the lighthea rted and selfcontrolled Hellenes The mad .

extravaganza of this phen o menon in the history o f man

and hi s wavs is seen in the Grecian hero myth w hich tells -
,

o f the great singer O rpheus and Pentheus kin g of Thebes , ,

being torn limb fro m li m b by th e furious M aenades at

festivals of B acchus the former because after the death o f ,

hi s beloved Eu rydice he never mor e would hear o f wom

an s love and the latter because he had s p ied on t h e festi
’

vals For these festivals were observed by women exclu

.
~

s i vel y who d runken with wine knew no restraints of rea

, , ,

son or human ity : they were called maenades (madwomen)

,

or B acchae and their festivals O rgia ( orgies ) The o rgies

,
. .
 M Y S TE RI A

were c ondu c ted on mountai n sides o r in mountain gorge s

at n ight under the light o f torc he s the fair p articipants , ,

clothed in fawnskins armed with the thyrsus wreathed

,

with ivy an d vine leaves with hair dish eveled and as the
, , ,

story go es snake s tan gled with its lo ck s or held in the

, ,

b ac c hantes hands ’
This festival which o ccurred in the
.
,

mil d midwinter o f H ellas t h e time o f s hortest days and ,

longest nights continued over several days durin g whi ch

, .

the maenads shunning al l asso ci atio n w1th the male S ex

, ,

sacrificed drank dan ced j ub ilated made noise with the

, , , ,

—
double pip e and the b razen tymbal nay as the ( man i , ,

fe s tl y imp robable) sto ry run s with t h e rr own hands tore ,

asunder the b ull symbol o f the god and destined to th e

, ,

sa c rifice and gloated over the victim s b ellowing for p ain

,
’
.

This feat was to show forth the death of Zagreus one o f ,

the form s under which D ionyso s ap p eared an d in which ,

he was torn as under b y the Titan s because he had b een

chosen by Zeus for his successo r as ruler o f the universe .

Th e fles h o f the bull was to rn in shreds with the teeth by

the maenads and devou red raw Then the rav i n g B a c .

chae invented a fable about the death o f thei r god an d , .

h o w he was lost an d how he must b e found agai n B ut .

all the anxiou s searching was vai n and hope was c entered ,

in the finding again o f the all quickening Springtide Th e -

.

ob se rvance o f the D ionysi a was not m arked with these ex

t ravag an ce s e v erywhere : in Atti ca such excesses were
n ever seen B ut Athenian wo men wo uld attend the secret
.

festival o n Parn assus n ear D elphi heedless of the m a ntl e ,

o f sno w o n t h e summit .

8 . TH E R OM A N } B A CC H A NA L I A .

The worst disorders o f B acchus wo rship as p rae -

,

ti c ed in Greece would seem to have b een e q ualed o r even

, ,
 TH E GR E C AI N M YS TE RIE S (33

s u rp assed in the Roman Commonwealth The historian

,
.

Livy (xxxix 8 20) compares the introductio n o f the cult

.
,
-

into the city and its rapid spread to a visitation o f plague .

According to Livy the cult was b rought to Rome from

Etru ri a In its Etruscan an d Ro m an fo rm the wor
.

shi p of Bacchus wa s simply deb auchery under the thin ,

nest p ossible cloak o i religion The festivals o r orgies .

were at first observed by women ; but a certain p riestess

o f Bacchus by command o f the god introduced the inno
, ,

vation of admitting men and instead o f thre e B acchi c

,

fe stivals a year instituted five festivals for ea c h month ;

,

and whereas in Etruria the rite s had been p racticed in

t he day time they now began to b e held at night
,
From .

consideration s o f p rudence the abominations of the Ba c

c h an al i a were guarded from p ublic view by a hedge of

ceremonial and post u lants fo r admi ssion were required

,

to p ractice for several days the strictest c ontinence B ut .

the term o f p robation being o v er and the postulant ad ,

m i tte d to the c omp any of the Bacchan als he o r she found ,

themselves surrounded by all conceivable incitements to

the gratifi c ation of lust in eve ry wa y that the depraved
,

instin cts o f m an or wo m an had ever b efore o r pe rhap s , .

has ever since contrived According to Livy the Initiates

.

of these mysteries numb ered several thousan d persons in

the city many of them b elonging to the most dis
,

t i n g ui s h e d families I n addition to the abominations of

.

their se c ret m eetm g s the Initiates were charged with c o n ~

s p iring against the commonwealth with forgery o f last ,

testaments with poisonings and assassinations with t h e

, ,

most revolting rapes I n the ye ar 1 8 6 B C the Con su l

. . .

Spurius P o s tu m i u s Albinus having privately made i n ,

q u i ri e s into the doings of the sect resolved to employ all ,

the resources o f the state for its sup pression The circu m .
 M Y S TE R I A

stan c es whi c h led to this resolution we re as follows : A

youth o f noble birth Publius A eb uti u s whos e father was
, ,

dead was the ward of his step father Titus Sempronius

, ,

Rutilus . N ow Semproni u s had mismanaged the estate

of A e b uti u s an d was unable to give an account o f his
,

guardianshi p and therefo re wi shed eith er to have the

,

youth put out of the way or to get him u nder his power ,
.

The easiest way was by deb auching him in the B ac ch a

nalia A eb u ti u s s mother devoted to her h u sband pre
.
’

, ,

tended to the son that duri ng hi s illness she had mad e

vow to the go ds to consecrate hi m to B acch u s in the event
o f re c overy A eb uti u s noth ing susp ecting told of this to
.
, ,

one H i s p al a a damsel o f question ab le rep u tation wi t h

, ,

who m he had fo r some time been ve ry intimate ; but she

’
entreated hi m for all the go ds sake not to have anythin g
to do with the B acchanalia : that she herself as mai d had , ,

b een initiated with her mistress an d knew what sho cking ,

deed s were done in those assemblies H aving p romised .

her that he w o uld not seek initiation he made his resolu ,

‘

tion know nt o his p arents and was b y them turned out ,

of their house A eb u ti u s made comp la i nt to his aunt

.

A eb ut i a and by her advice to the Con sul P o s t u m i u s

, .

The Consul summoned H i s p al a to his p resence and from ,

her not without di fficulty for she feared the vengean c e

, ,

of the sect learned what she kn ew o f the p ro ceedings at

,

the secret asse m blies Then he b rou gh t the matter b e .

fore the S enate wh o gave to him and his colleague

, ,

! uintus M arcius Phili pp us full p owers for the s upp re s ,

s ron o f the evil Rewards were o ffered fo r trustwo rthy

.

testimony measures were taken to p revent the es c ap e

,

o f guilty ones and there were numerous arrests Seven

,
.

thousand p erson s in all were im p li cated and all I taly ,

awaited the o utcome of the p rose c utio n intently and with

 M Y S TE R I A

d uce d fro m th e O rient into Greece and then into Ro me ,

we have t h e rn vs te ri e s o f the mother of the go ds Rhea or

Cybele tho se o f M ithras and those o f Sab azios—cults
, ,

and deities that were finally grouped together b y the

O rphi c se c t o f whi ch anon
, .

Rhea was sister and spouse of Crono s and m other o f

th e king o f the gods Ze u s whom she took to Crete as we, , ,

have already seen to sav e hi m from his father s violen c e

,
’
.

She i s the Earth deified like her mother G aea and is , ,

therefore o ften confounded with other goddesses an swer

ing to the same element specially with the earth go ddess ,
-

Kybele ( Cy b ele ) named after Mt Kyb el o s or Kyb el a

,
.

in Ph ry gia who a cc ording to Phrygian myth whe n ex

, , ,

p osed by her father King M aeon was suckled ,

by p an ,

t h ers and b ro ught up b y herdsmen an d afterward fell in ,

love with the youth Attis (afterward Pap as b oth m ean ,

ing o f who m she exacted a vo w o f c hastity as

her p riest Attis having broken hi s vow for the sake o f
.

a lovely nymph th e goddess i n her wrath deprived him o f

,

reason an d in hi s frenzy h e c astrated himself Th e god

,
.

dess thereupon ordained that in future all her priests

should b e eunuchs There are c ountless o ther stories told
.

o f Atti s and Cybele b u t they nearly all agree in telling

,

that Attis with manhood lo st life also and that Cybel e , ,

frenzied b y grief thereafter roamed a b o ut disconsolate and

,

desp ai rin g Like D ionysos sh e was alw ays followed by

.
,

a long human and animal retinue (the moon with the

starry and rode in a wain drawn by lions a mural ,
‘

c rown circling her veiled head ; while Attis was always

represented as an e c statically sentimental youth beneath a
tree with the Phrygi an c ap on hi s head and wearing white
,

bag tro users I n Phrygia Cyb ele was worshi p ed under

.

the fo rm o f a s i m pl e s to ne The s c en e o f h er feats and .

 TH E GR E C A N M I Y ST E R I E S 67

su fferances was laid in gorgeous wildernesses in fragrant ,

groves among the hillsides and gla d es known to the

,

she p herd and the hunter As in D ionyso s we see the wild

.

abandon of a j ovial sp i ri t so in Cybele we have the r e e l :

,

lessness of a soul weary of life ; henc e at her festivals all

c ntred in the loss o f Attis and a p ine tree was felled b e
e
, ,

cause his catastro p he took p lace under a tre e o f that species .

All thi s was accomp anied by a hubbub o f wild music and ,

the winding o f horns on the second day announced the

re s u rrection o f Atti s I n the ecstasy of j oy the p artici
.

pants were seized by a wild frenzy ith sho uts and .

W
cries their long locks disheveled and in th e i r hands b ear
, ,

ing torches the priests danced and c ap e re d l i k e madme n

,
‘

roaming over hill and dale mutilating themselves even , ,

emasc u lating themselves (as the myth re q uired ) and bear ,

ing about instead of the figure o f the Phallus the proo fs

, ,

o f their com p liance with the p rece p t o f the goddess Th e .

c u lt o f Cybele was for the first time formally organ ized as

a mysti c society in Ro me b u t the orgiast frenzy clung to
,

it at all times The p ro cessions did not move with meas

.

u re d step s and in orderly ranks as tho se of other cults , ,

b ut the I nitiates ran in confused troo p s shouting their ,

religious songs through hamlets and to wns armed with

, ,

curved blades tokens o f castration At Rome the p riest s

, .

of Cybele were called Galli that i s cocks I n the time o f

, ,
.

the emperors p u ri fi c ati o n s in the blood o f bulls and rams

were intro d u ced app arently in honor o f the S p ringtide
, ,

when the sun enters the c onstellations Taurus and Aries .

and the vegetable powers o f nature reapp ear That is the .

theme of all the ancient mysteries and indeed of al l m ys t i ,

c i s m from the earliest times to this day I n all o f them .

t h e vicissitudes of the vegetal w orld its sickening decline , , ,

and death in the Fall its new b irth and resurrection in the
,
-
68 M Y S TE R I A

Sp ring are allego rized into the su fferan c es th e death an d

, ,

th e resurre c tion o f a god O ut of thi s nature c ult are

.
-

little by little developed the feeling o f al ienation of man

fro m God the quest for th e god the finding o f hi m an d
, , ,

the c onse quent reunion w i th th e result o f strengthening

,

the assurance of the soul s immortality The excess of sen

’
.

sual delight found in the B ac chanalia and the extreme re ,

n u n c i at i o n o f delights by th e castrate ministers of Cyb ele ,

are only v ariation s o f o n e sa m e theo ry of hu m an life .

N o w as thi su ffering godhead—which was t h e prime

,
s

ins p iration o f all thes e sen sualists an d adventurers was —

an importation from Thra c e in the fo rm o f Zagreus
D ionyso s an d from Ph rygia as Attis s o was Mithras an
, ,

i mportation fro m Persia Among the a ncient Persian s .

M ithra s was the light c on c eived as a p ersonali ty and

-
, ,

hence was th e highest m anifest ation of the good god

O rmuzd while the darkness re p re sented Ahri m an th e
, ,

evil god H ence the wo rship o f M ithras i s worship o f the

.

light and therefore is th e p urest c ult that heathendom

, ,

could i magine ; in the later times of the Persian emp ire

M ithras — w orship was co mbined with sun worship an d -
,

M ithras as sun go d found a pl ace i n the religion o f

,
-
,

Euro pe an p eoples I n th o s e l at e r times also c ame b elief

.

in a female dei ty called M ith ra : but M ithra was unknown

to the p ri mitive Persians and th e na me was a tran s ,

formatio n o f the B abylonian Mylitta the moon goddess ,

-
.

Of the exi sten c e o f se c ret cults amon g the Persians we

know nothi ng whatever hence nothing about any mys,

ter i e s sacred to M ithras To th e Greeks M ithras was u n

.

known but in the latter days o f the Roman empire among

, ,

many mysterie s those o f M ithra s made their ap pearance

and even gamed great p re eminence as i s p roved by -
,

numero u s monuments still extant These monuments all .

 TH E G R E C A I N MY ST E R I E S 69

c onsist o f representation s in stone of a young man in a

cave wearing the Phr y gian cap i n the act o f slayi n g with
, ,

a dagger a bull ; all around are figure s o f men and animal s ,

all symbolical o f constellations as the scorp ion dog ser , , ,

pent et c The group s have b een variously interpreted

, .
,

but the m o st probable view i s that the youth stands for

the sun god who on subduing Tauru s (in May) b egins
-
, , ,

to develop his highest p ower .

Th e mysteries o f M ithr as like th eir symbo l ic rcp re

,

s e n tat i o n in t h e monuments were celebrated in grottoes

,
.
,

and had fo r th eir original end worship o f light and of the

’
sun and the glorifying of the sun s victory over
,

the darkness ; but this lofty idea gave w ay in ,

these as in other mysteries to vain reveries and ,

subtilities ; and in the corrupt age o f the Roman

emp erors it had in all p robability some very ugly
, ,

develop ments such as were seen in the B ach an al i a

, .

The rites o f initiation were more elaborate than in the

Grecian mysteries The postulants we re sub j ected to a
long serie s o f p robationary tests—eighty in all it i s s up
.

posed—whi c h grew more and more severe till they became

,

actuall y dangerous to life Among the initiato ry rites the

.

p rincip al one s were a bap tism and the d rinking o f a p o

tion of meal and water Admission to the highest secrets
.

was reached thro ugh several degrees p ro b ably seven each , ,

At
'

having its special ritu al and its sp ecial doctrines .

time s the Initi ate s were required to fast and those o f the ,

highest degree were vowed to c e lib acyf Su c h abstinences

were all unknown to the ancient Persian s ; on the other
hand h uman sacrifice s came in: wi th M ithrai sm fro m the
East and des p ite the decrees of the Emperor H adri an
, , ,

such s ac rifices were o ffered in the Mithras cult Com .

modus with his own: hand immolated a man to M ithras ,

70 M Y S TE R I A .

and hi s successo rs “ i n particular the monster H elio

g ab a l u s c arried the
,
ab omination farther and m ade of ,

the pure go d o f light a blo od thirsty M oloch N ay after .

,

the empire had b een chri stianized , Julian the apo state
co n secrated in Constantinop le a sanctuary to Mithras .

B ut after the death of Julian the cult was forb idden in

the empire (A D 3 78) an d the grotto o f M ithra s at
. .

Ro me destroyed Coins were struck i n honor o f M ith

.

ras ,
and he was hono red with p u blic inscription s in t h e
words Soli Invicto (to the un conquered sun ) ; a festival
,

al so was instituted in his honor c alled the N atal D ay ,

o f the Un c on quered Sun : it fell o n D e cem b er 2 5th and

was p u b licly ob served : the same day was in Persia New
Y e ar s ’
I n th e monuments already m entioned w hi c h
.
,

commemorate th e worship o f M ithras are seen ins c ri b ed ,

alongside the nec k o f the bull the wo rd s N am al Seb e "‘

sio suppo sed by so m e to b e a mixture of Sanskrit and

,
”

Persian and to signify Worship to the Pure ; but in these

,

words we have an allusion to a new go d and his cult .

.

I n the latter Grae c o Ro m an time when the m ystery c raz e

-
,

p o ssessed all minds a c om b ination o f Zagreus A ttis and , ,

M ithras was made and the result was dubb ed S ab azi us

, .

The name S ab azi u s i s given by sundry writers to various

gods and sons of gods and the word come s p ro b ably
,

fro m the Greek verb S ab azei n (to s m ash b reak to pieces) , ,

indicating the w ild diso rder of this cult D i o d o ru s give s .

thi s n ame to th e inventor o f the use o f o xen in p loughing ,

other authors confound S ab azi u s as dis c overer o f the ,

vi ne with B a c chus Th ere existed in Gree c e a p u b lic

, .

and a se c ret c ult o f S ab azi u s both res em b ling the B a c chic

,

cult with ludi c rous dan c es uproarious sin gi ng and loud

, , ,

thumping o f cymbal s and drums Th e orator Aeschines .

,

rival o f D emosthenes was an enthusiasti c S ab az i s t At

, .
 TH E I
GR E C A N M Y ST E R I E S 71

initiati on into the Sabazian m vs teri e s the p o stulant had

snakes dro p ped into hi s bosom was robed in fawn skin
, ,

hi s face daubed with clay then washed in token o f a

,

mystic p urification ; he was now to exclaim : Fro m evil I .

am escaped and have found the b etter There was much .

hocuspo cu s and ab surd j ugglery withal b ut the real o b

'

i e c t was to give opportunity to I nitiates of both sexes

to indulge i n the mo st shameless gluttony and lewdness .

The p ri ests o f this cult were the most impudent of mendi

cants Ari stop hanes exhausted o n S ab azi u s the trump
.
,

e ry god ,
all the resourc es o f his c au stic sarcasm .

And thus in t ime as Gre c ian philo sophy began to

,

undermine the thrones of the O lympian gods an d to ,

banish the phantoms o f the netherworld and the educated ,

peo p le to look on th e fair forms o f the world of gods as

fictions o f imagination ; simultaneously th e mysterie s
began to be stript o f the glo ry o f a heavenly o rigin an d .

it was seen that their rites were not only of the earth
earthy b ut as time went on that they were b eco me mis
, ,

c h i evo u s : y e t the I nitiates lost to all sha m e and all mo ral

,

sense persisted nevertheless in their sacred hypo c risy till

, ,

heathendo m as a whole had passed out o f the b loody ,

hideous night of the gods .

 P AR T TH I R D .

Th e P y th a g o r e a n L ea gu e an d Oth er S e cr e t

A s s o c i a ti o n s .

I . P Y TH A G O RA S .

The m ysteries so far considered had for thei r fo un

d ation the wo rship o f the gods They were ac c essible
.
‘

o n l v to th e initiated ; b ut c andidates for admission were

not carefully selected ; and i n Athen s anyon e o f fair

repute was eligible for initiation into the Eleusinia N or
do we discern in the mysteries any en d aimed at—any
.

“ ”

idea to b e realized any thought to be em b odied in action

, .

Fro m all that we can learn with c ertainty regarding the

m y steries their obj e c t was either simply to illustrate or
,

interp ret certain ideas ( su c h as we have al ready char

ac t e ri ze d ) b y mean s o f elab orate c eremonies ; o r—i n their
—
state o f decay an d degeneration to minister to unb ridled
'

sensuality . For this reason we cannot regar d the

m ysterie s we have been studying as true se c ret so c ieties
“ ”
,

for the distin c tive note o f such so cieties i s that they make
a sp e c ial sele c tion of their me m bers and have a specifi c
,

aim The e arliest historic instan c e o f su c h a secret so ciety

.

i s afforded by the Pythagorean League .

The great philosopher Pythagoras was a so rt o f

G re c ian M oses or Jesu s a M essiah to who m were as cri b ed
,

72
 IVI Y S TE R I A

co mmend ed him to his friend the Pharao A m as i s—o f

this we h ave no certainty though the thing is not i m
,

p ro b able for the chro nology i s consistent especially when

, ,

w e b ear in mind the di screpan cies b etween authors as to

the year of Pythagoras s b irth : at all events Pythagoras
’
,

voyaged to Egypt The serious d i ffi c ul ti e s h e met with

.
-

on the part of the p riests o f O siri s then not so com ,

plaisant as they afte rward b ecame we have described ,

already when giving account o f the Egyptian mysteri es .

By h o o k or b y crook h e obtained wheth er at Th eb es

'
, ,

Heliop olis or el sewhere we know not indo ctrination in

, , ,

th e t h eolo gy o f the O ne God B ut of what avail could

.

that b e to him ? H i s countrymen had already fashioned

their own ideas of the divine nature They b ased their .

th eology on nature and spiritualized nature : the G reeks

knew n othing o f an impassable gulf yawning b etween
god an d world ; for them these two were b o un d to ge ther
and p erv aded each other : to such a p eo p le one could not
p reach an “
archite c t of the universe Pythagoras
. there ,

fore fain would communicate to the Greeks o f th e E gyp

, ,

tian wi sdo m whatever seemed adapted to their use ; an d

he the more Willingly complied with the I nitiate s o ath to ’

ob serve lifelong silence regarding what he had seen and

h eard in the temples as his countrymen would not have
,

understoo d even a monotheis m spe c ially designed for

them Fo r the Greeks the intimate asso ciation b etween
.

god and universe was not only an idea it was flesh o f ,

t heir flesh b one o f their b ones : it was gloriously i m m o r

t al i z e d in the imperishable maste r works of their archi

tecture and sculpture and s urely Grecian scul p tors must
not go to s c ho ol i n Egy p t to learn h o w to carve cows ’

’
horns and hawks heads Nevertheless the doctrin e o f
.
,

the one god must ne c essarily have impressed the mind o f

 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N L E A G U E . 75

P y thagoras deepl y : he must have re cognized therein a

profound philo sophy though it may not have satisfied
,

him com p letely ; and hence it was his task as it was the ,

task of Plato and o f all other G reeks initiated in the

Egyptian m y sterie s to expound the doctrine o f the one
,

god a c cording to Grecian ideas—to c ouple O riental wis

do m with Grecian fancy .

The traditional story rep resents Pythagoras as t arry

m g in Egy pt when the Persian kin g Cambyses con q uered
the country and tells how that tvran t had the Grecian
,

p h i l o s c h c r deported
p with other
, captives to B abylon , ,

where Pythagoras b ecame acquainted with Zo roaster and ,

to his knowledge of the Egyptian wisdo m now added a

mastery of the wisdom of the Persians Pythagoras was .

undou b tedly contemporary with Cambyses ; but the time

o f Zoroaster is so undecided that the sto ry must b e re
garded as fiction .

When he return ed to his native Samos purp osing to ,

set up as a master he found to his chagrin that inde

,

pendent science is a p lant that does not thrive under

tyra n ny and compelled by force o f circumstan c es to
, ,

change his abode he settled in Magn a Grae c i a Southern

,
—
Italy O n the eastern coast in what became afterward
.
,

C alabria were two Achaean cities Sybaris and C ro to n a

, ,
.

Pythagoras intended at first to make his home in Sybari s ,

b ut Sybari s could be n o congenial ho m e for such a phil ‘

o s o p h er
. Cro t o n a a ffo rded a more promising field for
his work and there the labors o f Pythagoras b efore long
,

were a b undantly rewarded The Greeks ever were eager.

fo r noveltie s (n o varu m rerum cupidi) an d whoever ,

brought anything new was welcome As yet philo sophy .

,

was a thing unknown among the Cro to n i at s ; therefore

they received its apostle with gladness an d enthusiasm .
 M Y S TE R I A

Pythagoras c o mmenced by giving p ubli o lectures in th e

council hall ; as these awakened more and more interest
eve ry day the p hilosopher was employed by the autho r
,

ities to give counsel to the citizens ; he then established a

school thus ad d ing to hi s p ublic func tions the duties o f a
,

p rivate instructor Pythagoras used three agencies in hi s

.

work viz his D o ctrine his School an d the Leag ue i n

,
.
, , ,

stituted by him .

The D octrine o f Pythagoras holds a distin c t place

among the p h i IO S O p h i c systems o f the Greeks With re .

gard to the opp osition existing b etween the spiritual and

the physical and the uncertainty and ob scurity that reign s
,

as to the rel at i o n s b etwe en them and the true constitution

‘

o f each the doctrine solve s all di ffi culties by the theory

,

that Nu mb er i s at once the form and the sub stance of all

things All things consist of Numbers corp oreal ele
.
,

ments a s well as s p iritual ( mental or intelle c tual ) forc es , ,

and hen c eforth Pythago ras s philo sophy b ecam e mathe ’

maties B ut the silly trick s with numbers that o ccup ied

.

the ingenuity of later Pythagorean s p osses s no in t erest for

u s It is pro b a b le that the master contented himsel f with
.

the undeniable fact that th e matter an d essence o f things

—
rest o n mathematical relations a V iew of great pro
fu n d i ty considering the age in which the philosopher
,

lived To Pythago ras and his school are credited the dis
.

tinction of num b ers into even an d o dd the decimal ,

numeration s q u are and cubi c numbers as also the famou s

, ,

Pythagore an theorem t h e triumph o f geo metry ,

.

Pythagoras b rought musi c into closest relation with

mathemati c s As in numb ers h e reco gnized the mo st
.

p erfe c t h armony so he must needs regard harm ony o f

“ ”
,

sounds as a necessary part o f the harmony o f numb ers .

By thi s asso ciation he b ecame the dis c overer o f our pres s

 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N L E A GU E 77

—4
ent scale o f seven musical notes the octave B ut his .

i dea o f harmon y fo und most p erfect embodi m ent in the

universal creation and in astrono m y he wa s the fi rst to
,

surm ise that the earth does not stand still b ut h as a; ,

revolution around a centre ; hen c e that it i s not th e p rin ,

~

c ip al existence in the universal frame o f things that all ,

t h i n g s d o not exist for its sake that Ea rth is not twin

‘

sister o f the H eavens True Pythago ras had n o idea

.
, ,

nor could have in the then existin g lack of astronomical

instruments how the heavenly bodie s wer e related : that
,

was the discovery o f Copernicus and Kepler H e took .

for the mid point of the universe a central fi re out o f

-
”

which were formed all the heavenly bodies—this the seat .

o f t h e p o wer that sustains the world the centre o f gravity ,

o f all things Around this central fi re revolve the ten

.
“ ”

—
heavenl y b odies farthest o ff the heaven o f the fixed stars ,

then the five planets known to anti quity then the sun , ,

“ ”
moon earth and lastly the counter earth which re
, ,
-
,

volves b etween the earth and the c entral fire Revolving .

alo n g with the earth the coun ter earth i s always inter
,
-

posed between the earth and the central fire : light c omes
to t h e earth only indirectly by reflection fro m the sun , .

When th e earth is on the same side o f the central fire as

the s u n we have d ay ; when it i s on the other side nig ht , .

Thus Pythagoras may be said to have surmised a c entral

,

sun though his theory d i d not contemplate the actu al sun

as that c entre H e was also the first to e xplain the vicis
.

s i t ud e s o f the seasons by the obli quity o f the earth s axis

’

to the eclipti c Further he dis c overed the identity o f the

.
,

m orning and evening star Hi s school held the moon to

.

be the ho m e o f fai rer and larger plants ani m als an d h u , ,

m an creat u res than those o f eart h

, I n a c cordance with
11 18 d o c trl n e o f harm ony he venture d to exp ress the bold
,
 M Y S TE R I A

idea that t h e heavenly b odies by their movement produ c e

tones which togeth er constitute a perfe c tly harmonious
musi c — the musi c o f the s p heres We do not hear this .

harmony b eing so wonted to it

, .

Nor did he fail to ap p ly to the soul o f man this d o c

trine o f harmony B v harmony the oppo sition b etween
.

reason and p assion was to b e reconciled B ut as this .

con summation i s never to b e achieved as long as soul

and body are tied together th e sage o f Samos regarded ,

this union as a measure o f p robation destined to endure ,

till man shall have made himself wo rthy o f liberation

from the s ame ; an d when he fails o f this durin g his sp an
o f life then hi s soul must migrate through the b odies o f
,

other men and animals till it shall b ecom e worthy o f

leading in a higher regio n of light an in corp oreal life o f
, ,

p urity and perfection H i s disciple s furthermore c her

.
, ,

i s h e d th e fantastic i dea that the master was able to r e c o g

nize i n another body th e man who se soul had t ran s m i
grated into it That Pythagoras himself ever pretended
.

or believed that he himself was in his fifth metem ~

p sychosis o r that he was son o f Apollo o r that he had

, ,

a golden hip o r a golden thigh are either ridiculous ex

, ,

t ravagan zas o f imaginative disci p les or the sarcasti c

s tories o f his enemies B ut noble and beautiful are the
.

conclusio n s which he draws from his do c trine regarding

p urity of life namel y the moral p recepts which he lai d
, ,

down for the attainment o f the sup reme end They re .

quired an absolutely stainles s life Pythagoras enfor c ed .

the duty o f reveren ce toward p arents and the aged fidelity ,

in friendship strict self examination c ircumsp ection i n

,
-
,

all our acts patriotism etc Further his disciples were

, ,
.
,

req u ired to be cleanly o f b ody and cleanly in attire ; they

were to abstain from all unclean food espe c ially fl esh

” “
,
 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N LE A G U E 79

meat and from intoxi cating liquors and hen c e to live o n

, ,

b read and fruits only but b eans were an excepti o n to

.

this rule : for some not fully explained reason b ea ns were

an ab omination to the Pythagore an s And that which .

was unfit as food was unfit also as matter for o fferings to

G o d : for the go d our philosopher reveren c ed was a go d
of light and pu ity H i s c lear intelle c t rej e c ted poly
r .

theis m though what his V iew o f the unity of godhead

,

was we know nothing save that hi s faith was an eminent

ly pu re and exalted one .

2 . TH E P Y TH A G O R E A NS .

The life o f Pythagoras was devoted enti rely to hi s

S c hool and his League The Schoo l was the s ee d fi el d
.

o r seminary o f the League and the League was the p rae ,

tical appli c ation o f the School s teaching ’

Thus th e .

School was p rep aratory to the League whose m emb ers ,

were educated in the School .

Pythagoras enj oyed the boundless reveren c e of his

discip les when they wi shed to assert any proposition as
indisp uta b ly true they would say H e himself said it
, ,

( G. r ,
autos e p h e L at
,
i p se dixit ) A
, nd this reverence .

for the Master increas ed as in time the Scho ol was

changed from an open institution to a se c ret o ne Fo r .

at fi rst everybody even the mo st learned an d most emi

,

nent o f the c itizens attended the lecture s o f the P h i l o s o

,

pher Those who were simply hearers o f the le c ture s

.

were c alled A cus m ati c s (ak u s m ati ko i) B ut those who .

were o f p roper age fo r re c eiving a further educati on an d ,

who had leisure to devote themselves to learning were ,

a ffo rded oppo rtunity for p ursuing higher studies unde r

t h e personal direction o f Pythagoras and were k n own , ,
 M Y S TE R I A

not as simple H earers but as Students or M ath em at i ci

, ,
.

These were the n u cleu s of the Pythagorean sect This .

class o f disciples h aving grown c onsiderably in numbers

a n d in fluence it b ecame po ssible for Pyth agoras helped
, ,

by the contributions that flowed in to ere c t for hi s ,

academy a sp e cial b uilding or rather group o f b uildings , , , ,

in which he and hi s disciples might live secluded from

t h e in fl u ences of the o u t e rwo rl d Thi s institution called .
,
“

the Ko i n o b i o n ( coenobium place where p eople live in ,

co mmunity ) was a world in itself and emb ra c ed all the ,

—
conveniences o f plain living gardens groves pro me , ,

nades halls b aths et c so that the st udent did not regret

, , ,
.
,

the hurlyburly o f the world without H encefort h the .

A c u s m at i c i or A c usti c i were no longer persons o f all

, ,

classes an d degrees admitted to attend the lectures b ut

, ,

the newly admitted p upils who re ce 1ve d instruction in the ,

elements o f the scien c es and were prep aring them selve s ,

for the higher studies They had to ob serve strict silenc e

.

and to yield blind obedience and were not p ermitted to ,

see the Master s face : at the lectures a c urtain s c reened

’

him fro m view The advan ced students were admitted

.

behind the screen and hence were called e s o teri k o i

,

( esoterici,
insiders ) : tho se before the curtain e x o t e ri k oi ,

( exoteri ci outsiders) To gain admission to the esoteri c

, .

class a pup il was required to sp end fro m two to five years

in study and then had to undergo s evere tests - If a
, _
.

student failed to answer the tests he was rej ected : but if

he p assed su cc essfully he was no longer re quired t o ,

ob serve silen c e and to b e content with listening only :

he might now see the M aster face t o face and under h i s ,

direction might pursue a study cho sen by himself as ,

philosophy mathematics astronom y musi c etc Gym

, , , ,
.

nasti c exercise was p racticed diligently and was m ade ,

 M Y S TE R I A

hear o f M ath em at i c i who devoted themselves specially , .

to the sciences o f Th e o ret i ci who were p ro fessors of

, ,

ethics o f Politici concerned with govern ment of Sebas

, , ,

tici whose provin ce was religion The religi on o f the

, .

Pythago reans seems to have been comp ounded o f doc

trines o f the ancient popular religion o f the Greeks of the ,

mysteries and of the monotheism of the Egyptian p riest s ;

,

and it had a secret cult with elab orate ceremoni al o f i n ,

i t i at i o n the purp os e o f wh i ch h o weve r was to enforce

, , .
,

the teaching of the M aster .

The p olitical p rinciples o f the Pyt h agoreans favore d

a transformation o f the D o ria n oligarchism into an aris
to c rat i s m o f culture D emo cracy they hated Their aim
. .

was to acquire for themselves p owerful influen c e in the

the state to fill the p ublic o ffices with their own memb ers
, ,

and to administer government acco rding to their M as ~

’
ter s ideas As matter o f fact the y appear to have at
.
,

t ai n e d these ends fully or ap p roxim ately in C ro t o n a ,

Lo cri M et ap o n tu m Tarentum and other cities o f Mag

, , ,

n a Grae c i a There is no doubt that the secret s that the

.

Pythagore an s were s worn to keep h ad reference to the se

p oliti c al aims To b ar out
. th e uninitiated the mem
bers are sai d to have had a badge a fi ve pointed star
‘

,
-

(p e n tagram m o n pentalpha) and to h ave emp loyed a sym

,

b o li c for m o f speech by means of which they concealed ,

their secrets under cover o f apparently trivial words or ,

words not to be understo od by outsiders .

B ut the League o f the Sage o f Cro to n a after a glori ,

ous though brief as c enden cy had a tragi c end

, ,
Th e ,
.

c ities o f M agna Grae ci a had grown rich b y co mmerc e ,

an d with w ealth and ease had come great co rruption of

m anners I n Sybaris the lower classes of citiz en s arti —

—
.

s an s and shop keep ers ro se in revolt and five hundred ,

 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N L E A GU E 83

patricians were banished their p roperty seized b y the ,

people and the pop ular leader Tel ys admini stered th e

,

government in their stead Th e exiles took refuge in .

C ro t o n a and there acco rding to Grecian c ustom sit

, , ,

ting around the altar i n the agora or market place i m , ,

p l o re d the aid o f that cit y then ruled by the Pythagorean s , .

Thus for two reasons the rulers o f Cro t o n a were o b j ects

o f hate to the tyran n o s o f Sy b ari s : they were the enemies
of demo cracy and th ev were protectors of the exiled o l i
,

g a rc h s .He therefore demanded

,
o f C ro t o n a surrender
,

o f the fugitives Th e demand having b een refused (at

.

the urgent instance o f P y thagoras it i s said) war fol ,

lowed A desp erate battle was fought and the Croto n

.
,

i at s though inferior in number were victo ri ous ( 5 1 0

, ,

B. Sybaris fell into their hands an d was looted ,

witho ut mercy , an d the town leveled with the ground : in

fact a stream was made to flow through the o n c e mag
,

n i fi c e n t city .

This atro cious deed whi ch though no c on sequ ence ,

o f Pythagorean tea c hing was nevertheles s a consequence ,

o f Pythagorean exclusiveness and Pythagorean contempt

for the people had its nemesis The democrati c spirit
, .
,

so mortally o ffended to ok an equally atro c ious revenge ,

.

I n Cro to n a too as b efore in S y baris the demo cracy too k

, , ,

action and demanded a division o f the conquered S yb ar

,

ite territory among all the citizen s o f Cro t o n a and e qual ,

s u ffrage fo r all in the election of the rulers At the head .

o f the de mocracy stood Cylon an enemy o f the Pyth a ,

o r
g e an s The aged Master because o f the hostility man i
.
,

tested toward him personall y was obliged to flee from ,

the scene o f hi s great lab ors It i s sup p osed that he died .

at M etap o n tu m hard o n a hundred years old I n Cro

, .

tona the stri fe o f p a rties went on The government u n .

 M Y S TE R I A

wisely rej e c ted the demands o f the demo c rats and there ,
!

u pon about the m iddle o f the fifth century

,
B C the . .,

s torm b urst . The rage o f the oppressed and despise d

peopl e was vented first upon th e Pythagoreans a great ,

number of whom were assem b led in the house o f Milo .

The house was taken b y storm t h e as sem b lage b ut c hered ,

either on the s p ot o r in flight an d their prop erty dis ,

tributed among the p eople Ari sto c ra c y was also over

'

- 1
.

thrown i n Tarentum M etap o n t u m an d Lo cri

,
The , .

Pythagorean League wa s annihilated and its religious ,

and p oliti ca l labors disappeared lea ving no trace , .

3 . TH E O R P H I C I .

The s c attered fragments o f th e Pythagorean Leagu e

attached themselves to another asso ciation that o f the ,

O rp h i c i named after the fabled singer O rpheus

, This .

curious association a fantasti c compound o f the mysterie s

,

an d Pytha gori sm i s ri ghtly credited to O n o m ac ri t u s ap os

, ,

tle an d refo rmer o f the Eleusinian an d D ionysian m ys t e r

ies who lived in the time o f t h e Athenian tyran n o s P i s i s
,
~

t rat u s : he was h igh i n the favor o f Pisi stratus an d enj oyed ,

m uch celeb rity . B y some of his contemp oraries , men of

s ense and not easily imp o sed on h e was susp ec ted o f ,

p al min g o ff hi s own co m p osition s for poems o f O rpheu s

( who never existed ) ; b ut p robably he did this w ithout
intent to deceive b ut simply because of his irresistible
,

p assion fo r the mummery of secret societies and myster i es .

This adventurer and m y stic who understood ve ry well ,

th e meaning o f the mysteri es and the uses to whi c h they

could b e turned was one of the first to speak o ut the
,

thought h idden in them : that man was b orn in sin and

fallen away fro m God an d that he c annot b e saved till
,
 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N L E A GU E 85

gra c e shall b e a fforded him H is do c trine was j ust Piet .

” “
ism with th is exception that in stead o f the lord Jesus
, ,

we have here the go d D ionyso s o r the I a c cho s o f the ,

m ysteries or O rpheus
,
Such inane babblement as this
.
,

and such doctrines as that t h e soul o f man is c onfined

in the body as in a prison that the wo rld i s for it a val e
,

of tears and a place o f b anishment that it is p ining an d ,

longing to return to its t r ue home Heaven are an o i , ,

fe n s e to the j oyous spirit o f Gre ece an outrage against ,

her religion o f beauty truth and vi rtue the last blow

, , ,

dealt at Grecian art and s cience The outcome o f them .

was a tedious voluminous O rphi c literature consisting

,
” “

o f mythological poems full o f mysticis m and s en t i m en

tality .

The O rphi c societie s were not like the m yste ries , ,

great assemblages o f people i n temples but after the , ,

Pythagorean pattern s e cret schools o r club s ; and they

,

follo wed at least ostensibly the Pythagorean rule of life

, , ,

ab staining fro m fl es h m e at b eans and wine ; b ut with , ,

this they coupled two c ults in themselves inco mpatible ,

that o f the ideal go d Apollo and that of the sensual deity ,

’

D ionysos B ut being stript o f the semi p ub l i c an d o fficial

.
-

c h rarac t e r attaching to the mysteries and o f the p hilo ,

sophic di gnity of the Pythagore an sect the O rp hic so ,

c i e t ie s b ecame simp ly nes ts o f swindlers and mendic ants

and vagabond p riests O rp h e o te l e s tae admitted to their

, ,

ridiculous degrees for a consideration ev e ry credulous

, ,

and m arvel g o bb eti n g p ost u lant ; there w

-
ere even victims
who had t hemsel ves wi th wife and children initiated eve ry
m onth O ther tri cksters combined the O rphic cult with
.

the Ph rygi an cult of Cybele mother o f the gods and ’

, ,

with that o f Sab azio s : th es e we re known as M etragyrt ae

( m other b eggars ) or M en agyrtae ( monthly beggars)
-
.
 M Y S TE R I A .

These an d their like were regul ar mounte b an k s giving out ,

that they had the power o f curing the insan e their method ,

being to d an ce and caper aro und the patient to the so und

of timbrels the while fl agel l ati n g themselves : for this
,

they took up a little collection O ne o f these m etragyrt ae .

w a s cap itally punished at Athens in th e middle o f the

fi fth century B C : but the j udges seized by remorse
. .
, ,

questioned th e oracle and got resp onse that in atonement

,

they shoul d b uild a temple to th e Great M oth er : thereupon

the followers o f the dead j uggler were set free A .

priestes s o f Sabazios Ninu s by name was also put to

, ,

death for b rewing p hilters : she was the one sole victi m of
wit c hcraft trials in all anti quity Thus did the O rphi c .

se c t in Greece degenerate to the s am e low estate as the

m ysteries desp ised by all honest and enlightened men
,
.

B ut both th e mysteri es an d the O rphi c as well as

Pythagorean societies were links in a chai n o f p heno mena
that reached all through G recian anti q uity indi cating ,

plainly a reac tion against the p opular religion and an c i ,

fort to introduce essenti ally different religious vi ews

vie ws which in afte rtimes in an imp roved for m were to,
’

triumph definitely over the O lympian gods .

4 . MY ST E R I O US P E R S O NA G E S O F A N C I E N T TI M E S
'
.

In we are able to distinguish three religious

an t i qu i ty
‘

systems ,
monotheism mysticism Th e ,
.

first was a d e i fi c at i o n o f nature : and as nature manifest s

h erself i n various forces the religion too had to p ostu
, , ,

late a m ultitude o f deities This is t h e system of the

.

O rien t al and Grae co Ro m an pop ular religion ; and in

e

these its two b ranches it i s again di fferentiated by the fa ct

that on the o n e side it assu m ed a gloomy awe inspiring ,
-
 TH E P Y TH A G O R E A N L E A G U E 87

character while on the other side it wore a j oyous aspect

, ,

inviting to mirth and pleasure The s econd system rested .

o n a total sep aration o f God from nature and thu s it ac ,

quired a monotono us one sided character o f ab struse

,
-

ness without an y feeling for form an d be au ty : it was the

,

system o f the Egyptian p riests and of the I sraelites and in ,

after times p assed over into M ohammedanism and some

Christian sects as Un itarianism etc Th e third system , .

a lso p ostulated the separation of Go d and nature b ut it ,

was not a definitive se p aration for there was hope of a ,

reconciliation ; it consisted therefore in a sen se of aliena

, ,

tion fro m God and in an in c essant longing for reunion

,

with him This system found emb odiment in the G re c ian

.

mysteries and the P yth ago reo O rp hi c so cieties and later -

,

“ ”
in po sitive Chri s tianit y : it was neither absolutely p oly
theistic nor a b solutely monotheistic b ut compact of these ,

two systems in that it contemplated many gods e m

,

braced under one fo rm or one god manifested in sund ry,

form s Even in the myths underlying the Eleusini an

.

mysteries we have a conversion o f the go ds especially ,

D e m ete r an d D ionyso s into human form and a re s u rrec

,

tion and ascension of Persephone ; an i mp o rtant p art was

p layed in the same mysteries by the bread and wine em
ploye d for religious p urp oses by the p uri fi catio n s in .

water and b y the fasts observed ; in the B a cchi c mysteri es

,

O rpheus Zagreus and others appear as su ffering and

, ,

dying demigod s ; in the O rphic rite s there is allusion to

the natural sinfulnes s o f man and to gra c e and re d e mp ,

tion ; in the mysteries o f Cyb ele sexual c ontinen c e is co m

n e n d e d as highly meritorious in the mysteries and in
the Pythagorea n se c t even as m Chri stianity the b o dily
, ,

life i s regarded as an evil an incorporeal immortality ,

o i th e s oul a s true b l i s s h stre ss i s laid o n th e s ou l s

’
'

,
88 M Y S TE R I A

delights and on the p uni shment o f the wi cked w he reas in

, , ,

p olytheism the soul after death is b ut a shado w ; and

many are the other points o f contact b etwe en tho se sys
te m s and Chri sti anism whi c h b eing o f a more general
, ,

nature have not y et b een mentioned in these p ages for

, ,

example certain myste rious and enigmati cal personage s

,

who have remained hitherto quite unnoticed ex c ept b y ,

th e learned .

Commonly schools and the books give inform ation

o nly ab out th e o ffi ciall y re cognized O lympian gods an d ,
“
p erhap s the go ds o f s ea an d netherworld ; b ut the B est
'

G od in Greek A ri s tai o s i s p assed over in silen ce j ust

,
”
, ,

b e cause one knows not what to make o f him Th is .

A ri s tai o s p assed fo r a s o n of Apollo the go d o f light H eld .

ap art fro m the s candalous c hro ni c les and naughty gos

”

sip that was in circu l atio n aro und the rest o f the gods
—
,

he was rep rese n ted as invento r o f sheep husbandry b ee ,

keep ing the pro du ction o f oil from the o live etc as
, ,
.
,

m an s hel p er in drought and aridity p racticer o f lee c h

’

craft (like his brother Aes c ulap ius) sub duer o f th e winds , ,

o ri ginator of rites l aws and sciences

, ,
As the little .

vogue of hi s name would indicate he was le ss honore d ,

on the Gre c 1an terra fi rm a than in the H elleni c islands and

i o l o n i e s and there o fttime s was j oined with the fath er of
c ,

the gods as Zeus A ri s tai o s (p articularly in his role o f pro

,
-

tector o f the bees ) with the god o f light as A ri s tai o s

,

Ap ollon with th e go d of fertility as A ri s t ai o s D ionysos

,
-
.

In the i slan d Ceo s he was the mo st highly reverenced of

all the gods Thu s we see in A ri s tai o s a concep tion of
.

o n e almighty allwis e god trans c ending all the c o n c e p

, ,
~

tions of p olytheism and all th e gods in human form wor

,

s h ip e d b y a n cient Greece .

No w p lainly Aristeas and A ri s tai o s are one sa m e

90 M Y S TE R I A

( Theogony 9 69) mentio n Jasion or J as i o s ( na m es c lo s ely

resembling the H e b rew J o shua an d Jesus) a son o f Zeus , ,

who had a sister H arm onia an d who wit h the goddess

’

D emeter (the earth or fertility) p ro duced out of a thri c e

,

p l o wed field Plutus (wealth ) : me aning th at th e dis c overer

of husba n dry b ecame discoverer o f thrift B ut i n p un .

i s h m en t o f his sacrilegious love o f a g o ddess Zeus struck

hi m dead with a thunderb olt yet at the sa me ti m e assigned ,

him a pla c e among th e god s As b eloved o f th e Eleusini an .

goddess J as i o s after initiati on into the m ysteries by Zeu s

, ,

him self b ecame the ind e fati gabl e herald o f the mysti c
,

do ctrines Says D i o d o ru s (V
.
“
We al th! i s a gift i m .

p arted th ro ugh th e i ntermedi ation of J as i o s It is .

known o f all that these gods ( D emet er J as i o s an d P luto s) , , ,

when invo ked am i d dan gers by the initiated straight wa y

o ffered them help ; and whoso hath part in the myste ries ,
th e same will be m o re devout mo re upright and in eve ry , ,

respe ct b etter ”
Thus does J asio n figure as son of the
.
‘

highest god as himself raised to divine ho n ors as a wan

, ,

dering apo stle o f religion an d as the sour c e o f all goo d ,

“ ” “
fortune H i s name is e quivalent to savior
. healer , ,

being fro m the same root as i at ro s (heal er) and the verb ,

i ao m ai (to heal cure ) Com p are I ao the Greek form of

,
.
,

the H e b rew divin e n am e Y ahve or J ehova ; al s o I a cc ho s ,

and Jason (i e , I as o n ) . . .

T h us in mystic H ellenism we find the b asi c ideas o f

the l ater system o f divine incarnation and human d ei fi ca
tion o f redemption etc ; and there can b e n o d o ubt that
, ,
.

we m ust seek in the Gre c ian m ysteries fo r one of the ,

sour c e s o f Ch ri s ti an i s m .
 P A R T F O UR TH .

S on of Man . S on of Go d .

1 . H E LL E NIS M AND J U D A IS M .

I f one attends s olely to the fact that the founder o f

the Christian religion wa s a Jew and that not only he
,

executed his mission in Judea bu tt took Judai sm for the

,

basi s o f his tea c hing th e asse rtio n made in the p re c eding

,
.

section vi z : that the sourc es o f Chri stianis m are to b e

sought in the Grec ian mysteries m
.
,

ay app ear singul ar

,
.

B ut the apparent c ontradiction disa pp ears at once when

we reflect that long b efore Christ s day J udaism was
'
’

thoro u ghly y ea sted with Gre c ian ele m ents ; an d t h at after

h i s death the w o rk of p ro p agating hi s sy stem was done far
more largely b y Greeks and men o f Gre cian education
than by Jews We will not only prove that this was so
.
,

but also will show that th e Christianism o f Christian s i s

at roo t and in sub stance a totally di fferent thing f ro m th e

Christi anism o f Jes u s .

Sharper contrast can h ardly b e than t h at between the

Gre cian an d the Jewi sh c haracter O n one side closest.

union b etween Go d an d wo rld : on the other w idest ,

divulsion ; o n one side m o st untiring resear ch and th e

finest sense o f art fo rm : on the other only theolo gy and
-

religious po etry ; o n the one side a p riesthood that makes

no pretension and has little or no influence : o n the other
,

a nation ruled by p riests ; the Greeks mai ntaining an

active com m erc e with all the wo rld their ship s trave rs ing
,

91
 M Y S TE R I A

the seas from the Strait o f Gib raltar to th e remote st

,

angle o f th e Euxine : Judea sealed against al l access fro m

without against every ship that touched at Jopp a against
, ,

every caravan from the desert ; in Greece eager seizing

o f everything new and readiness to rej ect wh at i s an ti
q u a t e d : in Jude a holding fast to what i s old an d mis t rust
o f all ch ange .

These fundamentally di fferent elements were fated to

co m e in mutual c ontact Ever since th eir liberation fro m
.

B abylonian captivity b y the decre e o f Cyrus th e J ews , ,

both those who rem ain e d in th e region of Euph rates and

Tigri s and the small n umber o f them who returned to th e
native land h ad lived under the Persian s ceptre and
, ,

therefo re aft er th e conquest of Persi a by Alexan der were ,

exp osed to the p owerful influence o f Grecian culture .

The Jews we re s cattered still more in co nsequence o f the

’
wars b etween Ale xander s successors : soon they were to
b e found in every p o rt an d every i sl e o f the M e d i t e r
ranca h as far as Spain ; on the edge of th e Asian and
African desert s ; and afte r thi s disp ersio n (in Greek dias ,
~

p ora) they b ecame a shopke eping or mer c antile race

, .

B ut nowh ere o utside Palestine were they s o numerous as

i n Egyp t and its splendid new ca pital Alexa n dria seat
, ,

of Grecian art literature an d learning

,
Th ey enj oyed
.

large p ri vi l e ge s i n Egypt ; and they erected at Leo n

'

t o p o li s a templ e after the model o f the temp le at J eru

,

salem B ut thou gh the J ews o f the D ias pora thanks to

.
,

their l aws regarding food s and the Sabbath their po sses ,

sion o f the S criptures th eir un diminished reveren c e for

,

the Temple o f J erusalem an d the o b ligation lai d on

,

every Jew to p ilgri m thither once at least remained mo st,

firmly attached to the religion of their father s n eve rth e ,

~

less in m any pla c es they adopted the lan gua ge (usually

 M Y S TE R I A
’

he kn ew nothing of h is life or do c trin e so spirituali z ed the ,

tradition o f his ra c e as to see in th e fo ur rivers of Eden th e

four c ardinal virtues in: the trees o f Paradi se the other
,

virtues in the p atri arch s and heroes of I srael only p er

,
t

s o n i fi c at i o n s o f variou s moral conceptions : all i n the

G recian m ann er Accordin g to Philo b efo re he c reated
.
,

the world Go d made a world o i ideas whi c h found i t s

, _ ,

centre of unity in hi s Wor d (logo s) ; th e corp oreal world

wa s made aft er th e model o f thi s ide al world The lo go s .

’
was God s first work the world his second : this p assed ,

afte rward into the go spel called o f John : In the b egin

“

”
ning was the word etc H e understood the histo ry of
, .

’
man s creation to mean that the first human creature was
immortal ideal p erfect but that b y the c reation o f wo m an
, , ,

h e wa s made sinful imp erfe c t Philo took the idea o f

, .

i mmortality fro m the Grecian philosophy rather than

fro m th e ancient Jewish d o ctrine s ; and with Pythagoras
h e regards th e so ul s union wi th the body as a punish
’

ment H e therefore taught that man should free himself

.

as mu c h as po ssible fro m this b urden some asso c iation ,

that i s should despise sense and l i ve entirely in the

,

thought o f God that s o he might o b tain rel ease O n e

, .

should think su ch views are inconsi stent with th e l aws

o f man s nature an d so i n truth they are ; b ut n everth e
’
,
~

l ess in Philo s day there e xisted a s o c iety th at ai m e d to

’

fas hi o n their life in acc o rdan c e with t h ese opinion s .

2 TH E E
. SS E N E S .

S uc h a so c iety was the ord er o r se c t of the Es senes ,

wh o t rac ed their o rigin b ack to high antiquity b ut whose ,

doctrines really were first p ut fo rth ab o u t the year 1 00

B C Th e Gre c izing J ew J o sephus m ake s the m a third
. .
“
 SON OF MA N . SON OF GO D 95

p arty ,
standing between the Ph arisees an d th e Sadducees .

B ut the Essenes as such had nothing to do with the

, ,

p oliti cal q uestions at i ssue between th e two p rin c ip al

p arties .The Essenes constituted a se c ret society .

The name Es senes E s s e n i i i s of unk no wn derivation

, , ,
.

B ut as they practi c ed the healing art they got the n ame o f

Th e nap e ut ae (healer s physician s ) ,
Josephus says tha t .

they lived in sp ecial settlements in the country p arts ;

Philo that they lived in the hamlets avoiding t h e cities ;
, ,

Pliny the elder p lants them on the western shore o f the

D ead S ea in s ettlements apart Their number i s stated
,
.

Th eir o ccup ations were husband ry an d han di

'

at
craft but they sternly refused to have anything to do wi th
,

whatever served t h e uses o f warfare as the manufacture ,

of arms ; they also declined all trades engaged in for i n

divi d u al profit as tra ffic s eafaring i n n k e e p i n g They
, , ,
.

had no p rivate p rop erty b ut community o f goods ; amon g

,

t h emselves they neither boug h t no r sold but ea c h to each ,

gave according to the need They repudiated not alone .

servitude b ut maste ry in general and whatever in any

, ,

wise annuls t h e na tura l equality o f mankind Their fo o d .

was such as necessity required and was prep ared stri ctly ,

according to the rules o f the order O n thi s point we .

know wit h certainty only that they held oil in ab o mina

tio n whether for anointing o r fo r use with vict uals B ut
, .

from the circ umstan ce that they conde m ne d b loody o ffer

ings and always practi c ed g re a t ab stemiousness in fo od ,

we must infer that they abstained totally fro m fl e s h meat

an d intoxicating liquors Sexual lo ve also they co ndemn e d
.
,

and a party a mong them (the leading party ) ab stained ,

from marri age and main tained its numeri cal strength by
a d o p tin g o utside children ; anot her faction however dee m , ,

ing thi s stri ct n ess to b e fatal to the sect retained the i n ,

96 M Y S TE R I A

s t i t ut i o n
o f marriage though under severe restri ction s
,
.

The members observed th e mo st scrupulou s cleanliness ,

ta king the b ath dai ly in cold water and we ari ng white ,

garments Their daily tasks w ere minutely prescri b ed

. .

B efore rise of sun they sp oke no wo rd only th e prayers , ,

i n which they paid honor to the sun as symbol of Go d .

Then they went about their work co ming then c e ba c k ,

to the c o m mon meal fi rst washing themselves an d p ut

,

ting on cl e an garment s No one tasted anything till t h e

.

p riest had m ade p rayer The meal con c luded they o i

.
,

fe red p rayer in uni son , laid o ff the ir cl ean garments an d ,

we n t b ack to work At th e l ast m eal of the day the same

.

custom s w e re ob served : at meat on ly one p erson sp oke at

a time . They did nothing without orders fro m th e
.

superiors prac ti c ed mo deration in all things studied to

, ,

control the p assions to b e faithful to all obligation s to

, ,

b e at p ea c e among them selves and with all the world an d ,

to b e help fu l to the poor There was a twelve —

. month
term of probation prior to admission into th e o rder D ur .

ing that time th e p ostulant confo rmed to the Es senian

rule o f life : he received a small h atchet (born e b y all
Essenes as an emble m of lab or) a l o incloth for the bath
, ,
“

an d a white gown I f the result of p rob ation was satis

.

fa c to ry a s e c o nd term o f p rob ation (two years) follo we d ;

,

i f found wo rthy th e p ostulant wa s admitted to memb er

,

ship The rite of admission consisted o f a meal i n co m

.

mon preceded by the pronouncing of th e vow by the

,

n ew b rother Th e tenor o f the vo w was that h e obli

.

gated him self to b e ever faith ful to th e rules o f the order

and to lead a virtuou s life ; to ob se rve s e c re c y regarding
th e doings o f the order and th e name s of memb ers : this
with refere n ce to the worl d without ; b ut wi th regard to
the so ci ety itsel f to keep n othing se c ret fro m the b r ethren
, .
 M Y S TE R I A

t ween the G recian mys teries and Christianis m as al s o ,

be t ween the Greci a n philosop hy an d Judaism As ap .

pears from what h as gone b efore the Essenian so c iet y ,

was a Judaic imitation o f the Pythagore an league an d th at ,

league again represen ted in philo sophy wh at the G re

, ,

c i an mysteries represented in religion na m ely humiliatio n , ,

of m an by sh owing hi m that there exi st higher power s

that far t ranscen d hu m anity ; an d then th e elevation of
m an b y in c ul c ation of the thoug ht o f im mo rtality and o f
future union with the Creator With this mysti c ism was .

as sociated in Greece the lofty mo rality o f a Socrates a

, , ,

Plato an Ari stotl e ; an d in J ud ea the b elief i n O ne God

,
.

The com b ination of al l these elements coul d h ave b ut

one result to wit to c all forth that great power whi c h
t ran sfo rm ed the world—Chri sti anism
, ,

Thi s now power w a s b o u n d to aris e to re co n ,

cile contraries that c o nfronted ea c h other in that time ,

after the Ro m a n Empire had brought under its universal

sway the lands th at h ad cradled all the diverse religions
and philo sophies Tho se religious an d philosophi c al sys
;

tems were n o longer as b e fore sep arated : b ri sk inter

, ,
-
t

c o mm uni c atio n favored b y the c om m er c e and the wars

o f th e vast emp ire b rought the m daily into contac t The

,
.

result was two fold : first a certain indi ffer en c e for religious
,

opinion s the diversity o f which gave m e n o c c asion to

,

j udge that in sup ersensual things no direct knowledge i s

p ossi b le ; a n d th e mis c hief o f it al l was that nothing was
don e for the edu c ation or enlightenment of the people ,

and in fa c t s c ience exist e d only for th e higher orders

, , ,

an d t h e p eople found no subst itute for their a n c ient

l

b elief B ut se c ondly th e result al so was that p eople

.
,

began to b e con sciou s o f the feeling implanted by the ,

Gre c ian philosop hers and pa rticularly by the Stoi c s th a t

,
.
,
 SON OF MA N . SON OF GO D 99

in spit e of national and religious di fferen c es all men are ,

brothers and that mankind is one great whole

,
H ow .

ever beautiful and no b le this idea it had to lie dormant ,

so long as n o bond o f sp iritual kinship s ave that o f: po

l i ti cal uni ty held together the people s who within t h e
empire j ointly o b eyed one law an d o ne will Thi s .

missing b ond o f sp iritual union could not b e o th er than

a religious one ; for so long as th e scien c es were so
u ndevelop ed no other spiritual guidan ce b ut that G od ward

co u ld lead all hearts however ed ucated of whatever na

, ,

tion t o the one end toward which m en were b eing fo r c ed

,

by the c onsciousness that above all they w ere m e n

, ,
.

And if it b e asked what sort o f a religion that must b e

which shall s atisfy all nation s at on c e first o f all it ,

is very clear that it c oul d b e no polytheisti c reli gi on .

That form of religio n h ad outlived its usefulnes s Th e

various nati o nal religions—E gyptian Chaldaean Syrian
.

, , ,

—
Gre cian Rom an had c omp letely ex hausted themselve s
,

in the produ ction of deities : p olytheism coul d give forth ‘

no more new s h oo ts as was shown b y th e fa c t that the

,

Romans al l the forces of n atu re having been worked up

, ,

had gone and made goddesses of th e virtues e g Pudi , . .

,

c i t i a Concordia Pax Vi ctoria

, ,
and th e rest had no re
, , ,

course b ut to admit to their Pantheon all the gods o f the

con quered nations and p aid now to I sis Cy b ele M ithras
, , , ,

and B aal the same worship as befo re they had paid to

J upiter and Juno I nto s uch disrepute had p olyth eism
.

fallen i n the estimation of all edu c ated men who if they ,

were p erson s o f serious chara c ter despised su c h gods ; but

i f they were frivolous ridiculed worship and sacrifice and
,

oracle s and priests The p riests themselves smiled when

.

they m et a nd by their irregular lives an d their super

,

s ti t i o u s practi ce s forfeited all respe c t At last every hon

.
 M Y S TE R I A

est m an m ust have b een transported with indignation

when th e e mp erors in the p ar oxysms o f their desp otic
frenzy had the m selves worshiped as gods and a race of
hounds in human form b urned the in c en se o f adulation
b efore th em .

H ence th e new religion fo r which m ankind sought

, ,

to give true exp ression to the sentiment o f a co m m on

hu manity c oul d not b e any o f the h eath en systems .

Rather by insisting on the oneness o f Godh ead it h ad to

, ,

make an end o f p olyth eism of godm aking and o f O ly m

, ,

pian wantoning and at the s am e ti m e o f s c orn and

, ,

derisio n o f the gods .

Thus then wh at was wanted was a go d who should

, ,

have van q u i shed all o t her gods and he a god o f d efinit e

outline and fixed c h arac ter —
,

n o n e b ulous la c kadaisical , ,

inert deity su ch as the G re c i an philosophers p r ea c hed : no

“ ”
ab stract world soul signifying nothing to th e u n e d u
-
,
~

c at e d p eopl e ; b ut a god like unto man himself and who m ,

“ ”
man should have made after h i s own likeness ; one with
human feelings sentiments and passions wi th human
, , ,

wrath and human lovingness And this go d must stand .

for a doctrin e of p ersonal immortal ity to th e en d the

pre c ious Ego o f every man might h ave infal lible an d
t rustwo rthy assuran c e that hi s title to a M ansi o n i n th e
Skie s will stand un c hallengeable for ever a n d fo r ever .

An d again thi s go d must b e no ab st ra c t entity alleged

, ,

to have existed so m ewh ere so m ewhen b ut a p ers onality

, ,

asso ciated with definite lo c alities and p ossessin g very , ,

d e fi nite traits And s o the p rob le m was to fi nd this o n e

,

g o d
,
thi s doct rine o f i mm ortality t o fin d a p erso n
, ality that
would b e the middle term b etwee n the t wo .

No where was a monotheism to b e found save in Juda

i s m an d there it was plain an d op en to view
, We have al .
to b e founded in the East and that a n ew G o lden A ge
.

was a b out to b egi n M o re d efi n i te was th e exp e c tatio n

.
‘

entert ained b y the J ews of a M essiah to c ome who woul d ,

restor e th e kingdo m o f I srael and t h e worship of J ehova

,
.

This lon ging o f the J ews coincided with the desire o f

heathendom for a new reli gion to take the pl ac e o f a
dying an d degenerate polytheism .

4 . J E SUS .

At this j un c ture appeared Jesus H e lived an d die d .

in o b s c uri ty O f his c areer not one word o f m ention is

.

found in contempo rary Greek and Roman writers eager ,

l y a s they investigated eve rything B ut this ob s c uri ty

.

wrought no detri m ent for it left tho se who were lon gi ng

,

for a n ew reli gi o n free to m ake o f him whatever they

thought b est for their c aus e ; that i s to say they mad e o f ,

him a p ersonality very different fro m what he really was .

O ut o f a c irc u m cised son o f a J ewi s h c arp enter who ro s e , ,

indeed above th e b igotry o f his p eople an d who su ffered

, ,

death for his revolt against the rule o f p riests and s c ri b es ,

was develop ed the longed for M essi ah -

H e was no .

l o nger m e rely hu m an but th e Son of God born o f a vir

, ,

gin ; a thau m aturge ; hi s death was form ally and i mten

t i o n al l y a sa c ri fi c e for th e re demp tion o f man kind ; after
' “ ”

death he rose again an d then as cended into heaven : in

,

a word J esu s th e man ha d become a go d And t hu s o n

,
.

the Jewi sh b ran ch were grafted quite unj ewi sh Gra c co ,

~

m ysti cal shoots till th e bra n c h was no longer rec o gn i z

ab l e
.

We thus have in the life o f th e founder o f th e Ch ri s

tian Chur c h as h an ded down to u s two elements t ruth
, , ,

and fi c tion . Th e el e men t of truth is whatever i s con

/
si ste n t wi th h i s to rical researc h and p sycholo gi cal fac t and
 SON O F MAN . SON OF GOD 1 03

nature s laws ; and the eleme nt o f fiction co m pri ses what

’

ever is in confli c t with these Jesus himself n ever pre

.

tended to b e more than a? m an Virtue was the burden .

o f h i s teaching an d he never p ro pounded a c reed To

the many nam e s o f God h e added that of Fathe r —fath er
.
,
“ ”

o f all mankind H e was n o dogm atist b ut a m oral re

.
,

former and as su c h o cc up ied com m on ground wi th the

,
‘

Essene s and with John the B aptist though h e di ffered ,

from them and p articularly from the Essen e s with re

, ,

gard to methods and m easures : the Essenes woul d

save men s so uls by withdrawin g the m fro m human s o
’

c i e ty ; J esus sought to save m en living in t h e w o rl d—t o

save hu m an soc iety itself .

J esus taught the people in parab les e nfor c ing h i s ,

doctrine o f vi rtuous living by the use o f si m iles th at n o

hearer could fail to unders tan d Those wh o afterward es .

sayed to write the histo ry o f his life and work in like ,

manner made a free use o f fi gurative language an d the ,

personal ity o f J esus was glorified and his mission m ag

“ ”
,

n i fi e d till the world saw in him indeed the desired o f , ,

”
all the nati o ns the Messiah longed fo r by I srael th e
, ,

reconciler of the divine an d the hu m an toward who m all ,

the mysterie s had pointed .

The m iracles of Jesus namely a c ts an d o oc urren c e s

, ,

that co ntradict the laws o f nature are not a c tual events ; ,

for as they are re c o rded i n the New Testament they show

a needless a b ro gation of natural law—n ee dles s b e c ause ,

the truths which J esu s p reach ed c o uld not b e made more

true by mira c les An d thus as the rationalist s o f the
.
,

1 8 th century exp lain e d them as a c tual o ccurr en c e s i n

d eed b ut yet as i n a cco rdan c e with th e natural l aw s o

, ,

now they are held to b e quite needles s j ugglerie s a l to

gether unwo rt h y o f J e s us H en c e the rational i n terp re
.
 M Y S TE R I A

t ati o n of the m irac les is that they rep resent the e ffo rt o f
,

the ev an gelists to p ortray the life and p erson of th e Mas

te r in s uch c olors as their notions o f hi s sup eremin ent
d ignity r e q uired W e divide thes e miracles into three
classes—the m ira c les o f th e b irth th e li fe and th e death
.

, ,

of J esu s .

Th e b irth o f J es u s as n arrated i n t h e go spel sto ry i s

, , ,

itself a mi racle The le gi timate son o f Jo sep h the car !

—
.
,

p e n t e r o f Na z areth and o f M ary,

for su c h he was a c ,

co rdin g to th e genealogy found in M atthew and Luke

had to b e transformed into the Son o f God nay made , ,

Go d himself if his do c trin e was to app ear a s of divine

,

ori gi n O f typ es o f such transfo rm ation there was no

.

lack in h eathendom The first Ch ristians it i s true kne w

.
, ,

nothing of the sun go d B uddha b o rn agai n o f a wo man

-
, ,

b ut th ey were acquainted with Greci an an d Roman myth :

ology . Apoll o himself a go d walke d on ea rth as a

, ,

sh epherd H erakles son o f Zeus and Ro mulus son of

.
, , ,
‘

M ars and o f a virgin were founders of states and citi e s

, ,

and pro genitors o f nation s ; then why should not the

foun der o f a reli gi on and of a chur c h b e also son o f Go d
and of a virgin ? Nay why might not God himself wal k
,

on earth in h u m an form ? That such was th e actual

origi n of the sto ry o f th e D ivine B irth i s not do u b tful : all
—
th e rest i s m ere em b ellishment as when the an gel ah
n o u n c e s to th e virgin th e comin g birth of the Son o f G od ;

when another an gel a c companied by th e he avenly ho s ts

,

tells th e shepherd s o f h i s actual b irth ; when a star c o m

”
d u cts th e wi se men o f th e Ea st to th e wo ndrous b ab e
“
,

and they with th e shepherds and Simeon and Ann a pay

, ,

him h o m age ; an d whe n H erod purp osing to take the ,

life o f th e p redestined M essiah in o rder to co m pa s s that ,

e n d o rde rs th e slaughter o f th e inno c ent s .

 M Y S TE R I A

Th e m ira c le s o f J esus death vi z the darkening o f

’
, .
,

the sun the ren ding o f the veil of t h e H oly o f H olies

,

i n the Te m pl e the resurre c tion o f t h e dead were o c cur

, ,

renee s quite i n o m i s s i b l e at th e deat h o f a god ; th ey b e

token the mo u rning o f n ature and o f religion B ut th e .

m i racles that followed his death the resurre c tion and the
,

ascension together with th e apparition s of the Cruc i fi e d

,

in the m ean ti me were imagined p ur ely an d plainly to

,
:

c on fi r m the b elief in an everlasting redeemer and in the

pe rso nal i m mo rtality of e ac h indi vi dual o n e of th e fai th
ful.

O f far greater i mp o rtan c e t h an th e m i racles o f Jesus

are his tea c hings an d i n p articul ar his fine di s co urs e o n
,

the m ountain also hi s b eaut i ful p arables B ut hi s ut

, .

t e ran c e s c ont in nothin g that i s e ssentially new th e same

a ,

thoughts h avin g been o ften exp resse d by religious teach

ers an d sage s o f other times an d in other lands ; and yet
they p oss ess a char m all their own b y reas on o f their ,

unas suming si mplici ty It was not th e doctrine o f the

.

unity o f God an d o f love for the neigh b or that wrought

the p ropagat io n o f his te achings—the J ews possesse d
that do ctrine already ; nor was it hi s call to a higher life
than that o f sense th e Gre c ian philosophers preceded
-

hi m in that resp e c t ; nor his alleged divinity n o r th e mir

a c le s as c ri b e d to him—hi s contemp ora rie s i n eve ry land
,

had had exp eri ence o f miracles in every sh ap e : it was the

forc efulness th e grandeur the simplicity o f his discourse
, , ,

sp eaking to th e h eart o f man an d maste ring it and calm ,

ing its unrest H ere he was s el f b as e d an d individual

.
~
,

sup re m e an d i rresistible H is teachin g an d in p articular

.
,

the serm o n o n th e m ount is the mo st emphatic blister

, ,

ing condemnation o f those who for the l ast nineteen ,

hundred years h ave called themselves not only Chri s

,
 SON O F MAN . S ON OF GO D 1 07

tians b ut th e only Christians ; who n eve rtheless in op en

, , ,

c ontempt of their suppo sed Mas ter no t only take oaths , ,

an d require an eye for an eye cheri sh mortal hate for ,

their ene m i es trumpet their alm sgiving ab ro ad , o ffer

,

their prayers aloud at the street crossings fast o stenta ,

t i o u s l y lay up for themselves treasures o n earth which

, ,

are eaten b y the moth and the rust ; serve two m asters o r
m ore see the mote though blin d to the b ea m throw th e
, , ,

hol y thi n g to t h e dogs when on e asks the m fo r a loaf

,

give him a stone do not unto others as they would that

,

oth ers should do unto the m : who n o t only do all this ,

b ut who even ena c t laws which oblige men to do all

this. H e who m they hypo c ritically call M aster b ut ,

who m they never have understood were h e to appe ar ,

would anathematize the m in the n o b l e

/

am o n g th e m ,

words I know you not D ep art fro m m e ye doers of

, .
,

ev il ! Such language was unhe ard b e fo re hi s day ; there

fore wondered the p eo p le for he sp ake with power an d , ,

not like t h e scribes and pharisees .

5 . TH E E A R L Y C H R ISTI A N S

What then i s the di fference b etween the Christian

, ,
~

i s m o f Jesus an d the Chri stianism o f Christians ? Th e

former as seen in the discourses o f the N ew Te stament
, ,

and ab ove all in the ever beautiful sermo n on the m ount ,

i s a simple and u np retending yet wo rld transfo rm ing ,

-

do ctrin e o f God Virtue an d Love o f Man : a monotheis m

, ,

borrowed fro m the Jews for th e b ehoo f o f all m en b ut ,

purified of ceremonialism sabbatism sa c rifi c es high , , ,

p riesthood : in short the Christian ism o f Jesus meant th e

,

coming Kingdo m o f God in which th e vi rtuous man

“ ”
,

would enj oy happines s and p e ac e B ut th e Ch ristianis m .

 M Y S TE R I A

o f Christians i s a M vs ti c i s m in grafted on this mon othe is m ,

comp rising th e dogmas o f th e I n carnation Atone m ent , ,

Redemption Re su rrection and Se c ond Co ming an d the

, , ,

M iracle s invente d to b uttress these dogmas Th e Chri s .

t i an i s m o f Jesus fell when h e and his fi rst dis c iples died

they had no hair splitting theolo gy only a devout heart
-
,

that system was too simple too unado rned t o o little flat , ,

tering to sense a n d to man s vainglo ry to c ut an y fi gure ’

in th e wo rld B ut the Christi an ism o f Christians which

.
,

had for its mother th e Greci an mysteries b o rrowed from ,

J esus its father (without who s e personality and nam e it

,

never co ul d h ave lived at all) what little was known con ,

cerning him b ut s wad d e d it in a thick wrapp age o f mystic

,

dogmatism Let us see how thi s dogmati c Ch ristiani sm

.
,

suc c eeded i n erectin g itself up on the simple ethi c religious -

syste m o f Jesus an d in m aking itself a p ower in the world

,

by evolving n ew mysteries .

Were it not fo r th e grafting on it o f th e Graeco m ys ti -

c al elements Ch risti anism wo uld n ever hav e grown t o

,

b e even a church to s ay n othin g o f its p ro sp e ct s o f b e

,
‘

comin g a power in the world Its adherents in the b e .

ginning were goo d zealous b eli eving folk b ut amon g

, , , ,

t he m were no men of edu cation o r o f commanding ability .

The first congregation i n J eru salem therefore unabl e t o , ,

c omprehend the lofty views of the Cruci fi e d took thei r ,

stan d on a n arrow ground not essentially di fferent fro m

that o f J ud ai sm ; for example they held that no one was ,

worthy to b e b aptized wh o would not first undergo c i r !

c u m ci s i o n ,
thus b ecomin g by adoption a J ew Th e .

Ap ostle James a devout as c eti c was th e he ad o f thi s

, ,

school the adh eren ts of which were ca lled Jewi sh Chris

,

tians The fi rst to dem and rep udiation o f Judaism was

.

Step hen , a m an of G re c ian edu c ation ; b ut h e p aid t h e

 M Y S TE R I A .

ground as c ontradistinguished fro m th e J ud aeo Ch ri sti an -

(which i s p artly al s o the Catholi c ) ground of Peter Jame s , ,

an d John who upheld the Mo sai c law an d re c eive d into

, ,

the Chur c h only c ircum c i se d c onve rts Peter wavered,

‘
.

being a J ew among J ews but o ften forgetting th e M o s ai c

,

law in th e c ompany o f Gentile Ch ristians ; b ut Paul

would never con s ent that Gentil e converts shoul d b e
o b liged to c onfo rm to th e J ewi s h rites : hen c e Pau l was
’

the real founder of the Ch ri stian Churc h which had his , ,

opp o nents b een victo ri o us would have remain ed a J ew

,

ish se ct The Church was split into two p arti es To th e

. .

J ewish Christian party adh ered the nu m erous c onvert s

-

fro m Essenism with who m the ti e of bl o o d was stronger

,

than the spiritual bond whi c h united them with the sc h ool
o f Pythagoras This party di d not regard J esu s as G od
.
,

b ut cl asse d hi m with th e angels .

B etwee n the two p arties J u d aeo C hristian an d G entile

’
-
,
.

C hri sti an arose a third party that o f the Alexandrine

, ,

Chri sti an J ews Their l ead er was Ap ollos (p roperly

.

Apo llonius) o f wh o m it is re l ated in the A cts of the

,

Ap ostl es that he re c o gnize d only the bapti s m o f J ohn

, ,

an d not that o f J esu s but that he was c onverted to b elief

,
’
in the l attter b y certain o f Paul s disciples at Ephesu s
. .

H e it was that imp orted int o Christi anis m the Al exain '

d ri ne d o ctri ne o f th e Lo go s o r Wo rd .

6 . TH E N E W T E S TA M E NT .

W ith su ch di st ribution! o f p artie s th e N ew Test a

a ,
.

m ent literature arose It may now b e a ffi rm ed with o ut

.

h esitation that n o t o ne p iece o f thi s lite ratu re was c o m

p osed by any o f the di sciples o f Jesus who were al l un ,

edu c ate d m en Th e early C hri sti an s h ad at firs t no

.
 SON OF MA N . S ON OF GOD 111

Sacred Scri p ture other tha n the O ld Testament ; with re

gard to the doctrine o f J esus they dep end e d on oral i n
st ruction Even the la nguage in which the New Testa
.

ment was written the H ellenisti c (o r literary dialect o f the

,

Alexandrines) i s proo f that it was the w o rk of men o f

Greek education As far as can b e determined now the
.

earliest New Testament writer was Paul Th e Pauline .

epistles that are his i nd isp utably are those to the ,

Romans th e Co rinthian s and the Gal atian s ; the most

, ,

d u bious amo ng them are the epis tles to Timothy Titus , ,

and Philemon Th ere are e p istles of so m e o f the o ther

.

a p ostles as James Peter J ohn and Jud e an d these o f

, , , , , ,

co u rse according to the p arty stand of their writers rep

, ,
,

resent views oppo sed to those o f Paul Th ey are of later .

date than Paul s ep istles and are hardly to b e c redited to

’

the ap ostles who se name s are prefixed to them To the ,

Alexandrine school is to be referred the ep istl e to the

H ebrews distinguished fro m th e Pauli n e writings by the
,

fact that it holds th e O ld and N ew Testaments to b e not ,

opp osites but compl ements o f e ach other

, .

Apart from the Ep istles the Revelation of J ohn (Ap o

ca l yp s e) is the oldest b ook o f the N ew Testament Wri t .

ten in the spirit o f an O l d Testament prop h et it ex ,

p resses the indignation o f a Jew against the Roman s dur ~

ing th e siege and sho rtly before the destru ction of J e ru s a

le m A D 70 ; it c ontains the p redi ction that not J e ru s a
, . .

lem b ut the whore of B abylon ( Rome) to gether with the

, ,

entire heathen world will p erish amid fire b lo od an d

, , ,

ruin ; b ut that there will b e let down from H e aven a n ew

and glorious J eru sale m abode of the blest s eat of the
, ,

“
b ri d e o f the lam b ”
Afte r th e destru ction o f J eru sal e m
.

the Ap ocal yp se was writte nanew by an unkn own hand in ,

the Chri stian sense As every one knows the prophecies

.
,
1 12 M Y S TE R I A

o f th e bo o k did not c ome t rue ; but its fantasti c morbid ,

imaginings have ever sin c e been i nterp reted b y enthusiasts

as infal lible forewarnings o f thing s to com e ; and m any a
searc her o f its p ages has l ost wh at modi c u m of s ense
they ever had in w o rking out its m eaning .

The other histo ri ca l writings o f the N ew Testament

c onsist o f fo ur Go sp els and the Acts of the Ap ostles It .

is now evident that when i n th e co urs e of ti m e the o ral ,

tradition s were c om m itted to writi ng Jesus discourses

“

’
, ,

whi c h with an ad m ira b le simplicity an d admirab le c lear

,
’

ne ss e xp ressed a good deal in a few wo rds must h ave

, ,

b een handed do wn in; far more authenti c fo rm than the

history o f his deeds ; and th at among his dis c ourses those ,

which c o ntained truths of general appli cation were m ore

faithfully rem e mb ered th an tho se which ex pressed per
sonal views—as for example th o se in whi ch h e c laims to
, ,

b e M e ssiah The oldest writte n accounts o f his life and

.

wo rk are lo st to u s forever ; they were wi th out doubt writ .

, ,

ten i n the language whic h was used by Jesus an d his

dis c iples Aram ai c a sister tongue o f H e b rew
, ,
O f the .

existing G o s pels written in Greek the first three cal led

, , ,

“
synopti c s ( i e agreeing) are b ased on one older o ri gi
”
. .
, ,
é

nal go s p el o r acco unt ; th e thi rd Gospel Joh n s s tands by

’ ’

, ,

Th e new criti c is m regards M ark s G osp el as the

’
itself .

mo st an c ient : it contain s al mo st exclusively n arratives of

facts writt en do wn from mem o ry with the a ccru i ng em
, ,

b e l l i s h men t s and modifications ; b ut M ark gives little of

the discourses of J esus ; h e says nothing knows nothing ,

o f any supernatural b irth o f Jesus and regard s him s imply ,

a s m an M .
ark s Go sp el i s the b asis
’
o f the other t wo

synopti c s whi c h draw on hi m for narrative while they

, ,

both add the d iscourses Th e Gosp el ac c o rdin g to Mat .

thew gi ves th e dis c ourses a J u d aeo Ch ri sti an tinge ; that -

 M Y S TE R I A

’
tree Peter s d raugh t o f fishes etc ; or th ey are of a still
, ,
.

more p altry sort and tel l o f a numb er o f m i rac les wrought

,

by Jes us in his childhood There are also apo cryphal .

Acts o f Apostles apo c ryphal Ap ocalyp ses and apo cryphal

, ,

Epistles all o f the m what we should no w call p amphl ets

,
“ ”

c o mp osed in the interest o f p arties in the ch urch .

B ut the W ord o f th e J o an n i n e Go sp el be c a m e th e
“ ”

p assword for th e reunion o f al l p art i es Th e influen c es .

that had b rought tho usan ds o f Gen tiles into the Chur c h
were all too strong for t h e resistan ce o f th e J u d aeo Chri s -

tian pa rty to overc o me The little J u d aeo Chri stian fold .

-

h ad no choi c e th erefore but either to go b ack to J udaism

o r to become Gentile Christian s—unless the y w ere ready
, ,

to su ffer ex c ommuni cation by the l atter O nly small .

fraction s o f the J ewish Christian b ody held out as sects -

ap art while the union o f th e ever multip lying Gentile

,
-

C hristi an s now styled the Catholic church un c hurche d

”
, ,
“ ” “ ”
the heretics and set up the new law in o pp osition to
,

th e old as its own in violable foundati on

,
Thus came .

into b eing the p resent c ollection o f N ew Test am ent

b oo ks the Church C atholic having ab out the end o f
,
”
,

the sec ond century sep arated the a p o c ryphal fro m the ,

c anonical S criptures B ut still for a long time th e char .

a c ter o f individual boo ks was in disp ute and John s “ Rev ,

’

”
elation together with several o f the Ep istles was till
, ,

re c ent times regarded b y di fferent perso n s or p arties as

ap o cryphal To the d e c rees of councils and p opes alone
.
’

i s it o wing that the re exists to day a canoni cal c ollection -

o f Scriptures and that the b ooks of the Can on are held to

,

b e inspired .

7 . TH E E L E M E N TS O F TH E C HU R C H .

I n this wi se wa s Christianism developed out of the

 SON OF MA N SON OF. . GO D 1 15

secret associations o f the an c ient wo rld Th e early Chris .

tians themselves were while under p e rse c ution in a cer , ,

tain sense a se c ret so cie ty Their worship pos s essed an .

essentially mystic c haracter I t was not so fro m th e b e .

ginning I n J esus tea c hings there is not one wo rd ab out

.
’

divine service or cults ; his surviving disciples knew o f no

“
other cult than the J ewish and t h ey assembled for b reak ,

ing b read i n their ho use s with o ut any p arad e No t until .

the Christian s had been excluded fro m the syn agog ues
were distinctive rites develop ed among them Th ere .

aro se among them prophets whose inspired wo rds were

the p rincip al feature o f th e religious service Psalm s .

were sung not yet in th e grand impressive melodies of

, ,

th e M iddle Age b ut in the long drawn p artly nasal

“
-

—
, ,

moaning tones still usual in Eastern lands tones tha t

,

defy all musical har m ony B esides men then spake

” “
.
,
” “ ”
tongu es o r at least uttered heaven st o r ming words
,
-

p ell mell in the heat of enthusiasm whi c h no one

-
, ,

speaker or he arer co uld well understand ; and men

,
“
p rophesied esp e c ially about th e end o f the world the
, ,

too slow onco ming o f whi ch caused mu c h wonderment in

those days All these stupidities by d e grees gave way
.
, ,

b efore the e fforts o f strong willed m en like Paul -

.

“ ”
Th e wo rd s i n meeting and the Lord s Supper (or Love
’

Feast) fell into the b ackgro und an d the supp er came to

, ,

b e simply a souven ir o f the Saviour s death and at l ast ’

was develop ed into a sacrament p ossessing the ch aracter

o f a mystery i e a p erformance th at m us t remain i n
'

. .
,

scruta b le to men though it was m en that c ontrived it

,
.

B aptis m was asso c iated as a sacrament with the supp er ,

and the m ysteries were multip lied We have al ready seen .

h o w the mysteries of the I ncarnation and Resurrection

aros e na m ely out of the necessity o f giving to J esus the
, ,
 M Y S TE R I A

stamp o f deity for wi thout that Christianis m never woul d

,

have attained a c o m m anding p lace i n th e world H o w

.

to these mysteries b y the purely human decrees o f th e

,

Nica e an Synod the s upre m e and mo st in c omprehen s ibl e

,

mystery o f all was added th e mystery o f th e Tri nity ; how

, ,

be c ause o f the impossibility o f coming to agre ement t e

ga rdi n g this th e Church Catholi c wa s split into t h e
,

Ro man an d G reek or W estern an d Ea stern c hurches ;

,

how in the W estern Chur c h th e bi shop s o f Rome ac hieved

supremacy ; all thi s belongs not to th e hi sto ry of the
,

mysteries b ut to t h e histo ry o f the Church

, .
1 18 M Y S TE R I A .

a c onte m p orary o f J e sus an d was d eep l y venerate d , .

And as it c han c ed a c ertain le arned Greek Flavius Phi

, , ,

l o s trat u s wr o t e a heathen go s p el o f t h e l i fe of t h is
,
“

Gre c ian saint not as one ho stile toward th e Christians

, ,

nor as one who woul d prove the ir do ctrine false b ut with ,

intent to c ome to t h e aid o f d ec ayi n g h e ath en d o m an d ,

p revent for a time its ove rthrow by Chri stianism To .

a ttain this end there must b e no m ention o f Christianism

or its author so that O l y mp us might tower again in all its

,

an c ient glo ry an d trium p h over Sinai and Tab o r Philos .

t rat u s co mpo sed his work a s he states out o f the notes , ,

o f a disci p l e of Apollonius one D amis n ative o f Ninive , , ,

by o rder o f Julia D omna wife o f the Emp eror S ep ti m i u s ,

Severus What p art of his wo rk consisted o f m atter

.

drawn fro m D am i s s notes an d wh at h e added out o f his

’

,
'

own fancy we can n ever determine B ut he sho wed

, .

true insight in making out hi s h ero to ha ve b e e n a

Pythago rean H e therefore rep resents Apoll o nius as de
.

riving his wisdo m indirectly fro m the most ancient mys

t eri e s those o f Egypt and fro m th e venerated Grecian
, ,

s ac red leagues .

Apollonius was b o rn in Tyana a town i n Capp a ,

~

do c ia Previous to his birth says P h il o s t ratu s the go d

.
, ,

Proteus appeared to his mother an d told h er that the

child soon to see the light was the God himself This .

happened in a meadow where after gath ering flowers , , ,

she had fallen asleep while s w ans gathered round her ,

and i n to n e dl th eir song When th e ch ild was grown up .

he became a strict o b se rver of the Pythagorean rule o f

life ab stainin g fro m fl e s h m e at an d wine an d wearing
, ,

linen garments H is ab od e was a tem ple sacred to Aes

.

c ul ap i u s go d of healing
, Unwo rthy o fferers of gifts t o .

the god he drove out and healed such o f the sick as re

,
 A P S E UD O - ME SSI A H 1 19

p e n t e d o transgressions H e rej e c te d the Grecian

f their .

mythology as fabulous p referring far to it the fable s of ,

Esop and his only p ra y er was addressed to t he sun H e

,
.

refused to tak e possession o f an estate inherited fro m his

’
father and impo sed on himself a silence o f several years
,

d u ration D uring his extensive travels he alway s lodged

.

in temples corrected abuses in the conduct o f the divine

,

se rvice couched his teachings in b rief senten c es gathered

, ,

aro un d hi m disci p les of whom o n e was false and a ,

traitor ; sided with the p ersecuted an d righted the wrongs

o f the O p pressed Eve rywhere h e understoo d the lan
.

guages of the n atives without learning them and even ,

read the thoughts o f men ; but the lan guage o f th e beasts

he lear ned fro m the Arab s o f M esopotamia O n e ntering .

that country the p ublican asked him whether he had with

him anything subj ect to toll The an swe r o f Apollonius .

was that he c arri ed abo ut righteousness temp eran c e a , ,

—
manly soul and a patient spirit and many another vir
tue named he Th e sullen taxman who had no mind for
.
,

anything that la v outside his own duties took th e names ,

“
o f vi rtues fo r names o f women saying : There your , ,

”
maids are all down in the bo ok B ut Ap ollonius calmly .

“
went hi s way with the b ri ef remark : They are n o t
,

”
maids but high b orn dames ; nor p aid h e impost o n his
,
-

ideal goods I n spite o f his fran kness o f spee ch h e wa s

.

treated wi th great distinction by the king o f that c oun

try He told the king that he would best stren gthen h i s
.

royal power by honoring m any and putting trust in but

a few The king who was ill h aving b een comforted
.
, ,

by th e p rophet confessed that he had b een freed from

,

anxiety not only with regard to his kingdo m but als o

, ,

with regard to death Fro m B aby l on A p ollonius bent .

his s teps tow ard India and there according to th e highly , ,

 M Y S TE R I A

e m bellish ed story saw men four o r five ells in height

, ,

also men who were half whi te an d half black d ragons too , ,

o f vari ous size he s aw H e constantly carri ed on with

.

D a m is the o ne dis ciple who a c co mpanied him i n s tru c

, ,

ti ve convers atio ns; ab out t h e animals an d the p eop le

who m they met An I n dian king d az zled by th e sp l endor
.
,

’
of th e p rophet s genius woul d not we ar the crown in his
,

p res en c e W ith the B rahmans many o f whose c o n j ur

.
,

feats are re c orded e g flitting th ro ugh the ai r or at

, . .
, ,

touch o f their wands c ausing the ea rth to sp ring alo ft ,

Apollonius swap ped wisdoms ; and as in the o pinion o f ,

Damis th e wi sdom of the B rahman s was derive d fro m

,

Pythagoras it was fro m Pythagoras also o f co urse that

, , ,

they got their do ctrine o f metemp sychosis We le arn that .

Apollonius also entertained that c urious ide a and that ,

he imagined himself to have b een on c e an Indian tax

gath erer and was wont to tell o f many in cidents o f that
,

p hase of his life Furth e rm ore in.his p r e se n ce the ,

B rahmans c ured the p ossessed the lame the blind an d , , ,

'

wo men in di ffi cult l abor by imposition o f hands and by , ,

giving goo d counsel s—p ractices resembli n g tho se used

'

in our day by s ymp ath i s ts s o c alled Ap ollonius re ,

-
.

turned to B a b ylon and Ninive pas sing through fab ulous ,

lands and then j ourneyed t o the I onian s o f Asia M inor

,
.

Apollo nius b anished from Ephesus an ep idemi c whi c h

was there raging by requiring the citizens t o ston e 3
,
.

b eggar in who m he discerned the d aemon who was th e

caus e of the di sease ; the c ulp rit under t h e storm of ,

stones was c hanged i ti to a d o g V oyaging by s ea to

, ,
.
‘

Gre ec e th e Sage Ap ollo nius imp osed o n hi s ship mate s

,

with the sto ry tha t A c hilles had app eared unto hi m fi ve

ells in height an d b e fore hi s eye s had grown to twe l ve
,

ells At Athens wh ere h e arrived during the Eleusinian

.
,
 M Y S TE R I A

and the p revailing immo rality was expelled the c ity b y ,

Tigellinus c aptain of t h e emp eror s b odyguard an d

,
’
,

trusty tool of the tyrant while Apollonius himself was ,

k ept u n der su rveillan c e B ut no t only c o uld nothing b e

.

p ro v ed agains t him ; his wi sdom fi l led even th e sanguina ry

minions with admiration though he sp oke t o the m o nly
,

the stern truth For e xample b eing asked b y Ti gell i

.
,

nus why h e had no fear o f Ne ro h e an swered : The Go d

“
,

who m akes him an o b j e c t of fe ar m ade me fearless .

“
Asked what h e thought o f N ero B etter than you do , ,

h e replied ; ye think him gifted fo r singin g I for sil en c e

’
“
.
,

Wh e reupo n Tigellinus : Go wh erever yo ui please ; yo u

“

are st ro nger tha n lan y p o wer o f min e

”
A b ri dle i n '
.

Ro me h avin g died the bo dy was on the way t o th e pl ac e

,

o f inte r ment Ap ollon ius b ade! th e b earers to h al t

. ,

touch ed the da m sel utte ring so m e se c ret wo rds and

, ,

called her b a c k fro m death P h il o strat us himself is in .

do ub t whether the death was not ap p arent on ly

'

The .

philosopher then j ourneyed to th e St rait o f G i b ral tar ,

when c e he traversed Sp ain Sicily and Gree c e and then , ,

revisited Egypt At Al exandria h e recognized the i n

.

n o c en c e of one a m ong eight cri m inals interceded for ,

hi m and had the man s e xecution put o ff till th e last

’

m o ment ; then arrived th e order to sp are his life ; he had

c onfessed only under to rture The sto ry i s also told tha t .

Ap ollonius o n payin g a visit to V espasian in Alexan

, , ,
“ ”
dria made him Caesar thu s gi ving to the Roman Em
, ,

pire on c e again after a l ong interval a j ust ruler ; b ut

, ,
’
after Vespa s ian s elevation to the th ro ne the philosopher ,

frankly spoke the t ruth to hi m, whe n the Em p eror an

n ulled as an unj ust p rivil e ge th e lib erties o f Greece
, , ,

whi c h Nero had in a ca p riciou s humor granted o n the

o ccas ion o f the O lympian Ga m es Leaving Egyp t .
,
 A P S E U DO ME
-
SSIA H 123

Ap oll o nius j ourneyed to Ethiopia to visit th e Gym n o s o

p h i s t s wh o,
dwelt i n a sort o f little repu b li c o f t h ei r
own on a mountain and condu c ted a famou s s c hool
, ,
.

Probably b ecause they were l ess con c eited went n aked , ,

and p erformed no magi c al feats our Sage deemed them ,

less wi se than th e Brahmans and ha d resultless c ont ro ,

versies with them about th e relative superio rity o f G re

eian and Egyptian art the former rep resenting the gods
,

as resem b ling man the latter as resem b ling animals I n

,
.

that region A p ollonius exorc ised a sa tyr th at was said to

have killed two wo m en Abo ut the tim e o f the taking of
.

Jerusalem by Titus Apollonius happened to be i n the

,

neighborhood of that c ity and p raised th e Rom an general ,

“ ”
for his moderation (though it was a curio us sort o f mod
e rati o n which leveled a great city with the ground ) Titus .

answered : I have m ad e con quest o f Solym a ; yo u have

“

”
made con q uest o f me and thereafter em p loyed Ap ollo
,

nius as his adviser At Tarsus he not only cured a yo ung

.

man o f hydropho b i a b ut the dog a l so that had bitten

,

him .

Having b oldly denoun c ed the Em p ero r D o m itian

at Ephesus Apollonius was b etrayed by h i s disci ple
,

Euphrates and a plot was laid against him S traigh t

, .

way h e took ship for Rome to confront the tyrant in ,

his p al a c e I n Rome h e was thro wn into p ri son an d

.
,

treated with m u ch harshness ; b ut he defended himself

wi th great sp irit against the c harges b rought by his ac
'
euser and was acq u itted Thereu p on he uttere d a t i rad e
, .

of repro a c hes against D o m i t i an s satellites and suddenly ’

vanished m ira c ulously fro m the j udgment hall appear ,

ing the sa m e day in th e vrc m i ty of Naples where he had ,

friends F ro m N aples h e went to Ephesus ; there in

.
,

ec stas y he saw the as sas s in atio n o f Do m itian

, at that ,
 M Y S TE R I A

mo ment taking pla c e in Ro m e ; then h e died None .

knew what age h e had attained wh ether 80 years or 1 00 , ,

nor the ti m e nor the place n o r th e m anner of his death

, ,
.

A cc ording to P h i l o s tratus h e app eared after h i s death

-

to a youn g man of his nativ e town Tyana wh o doubte d , ,

the i m m o rtality o f the soul and invoked Apollon i us t o ,

explain the matter ; b ut he was invisi b l e to th e o th er

p e rs o n s p res en t .

2 A I I E XA N D E R T H '
. E FA L S E P R OP H E T .

I t i s no m atter o f surp rise that the c old austere ,

virtue and wisdom the rather hollow religion and the

, ,

c lumsy miracles o f Ap olloni us neither b uilt up a schoo l

for hi m nor kept th e heathen reli gi o n on its feet ; an d
though the empero r s of the third c entury from Cara ,

calla to Dio cletian consecrated temples to him and one of

, ,

the m Alexander S everus pla c ed h i s b ust wi th th o s e of

, , ,
'

Mo ses Socrates an d J esus in his private ch apel never

, , ,

t h e l e s s th e Sage o f Ty an a was soon forgotten and with ,

hi m alas ! the memo ry o f his no b l e c ourage in the p res

,

ence of tyrants O n t h e oth er hand th e charlatan ry h e

.
,

practi c ed b eca m e mo re an d more the order o f th e day till ,

at last it threw o ff all disguise W hether thi s result is .

c h argea b le to his dis c iples who like the disciples o f an

, ,

other ma ster p rized his miracles m ore than h i s tea c hings

, ,

i s a question that c annot b e de c ided ; b ut th e fac t i s that

so o n after hi s death ( the c lose o f th e first century) a
num b er o f im p o stors wearing the cloak of religion began
, ,

t o ply their trade The sati rist Lu c ian who lived in th e

—
.
,

se c ond century and wh o made sp o rt of eve rything t e

,

l i gi o n and p hilo sophy gods and m en heathen and

, ,

C hristian s— has im m o rtali z ed th e t o m f o o le ri es of t h es e

p s eud o p ro p h et s .
1 26 M Y S TE R I A

te m ple in the form of a serp ent To p rove h is o rac l e tru e

.

h e held up b efore th em the egg with the snak e O n th e .

p ub lication of this wondro us news the pop ula ce flo c ke d ,

to the market p lace -

Alexander had a hut o f b o ards
.

erected within which he seated himsel f in a re c lining

,

c hair ; th en taking up th e l arge snake alre ady mention ed ,

whi ch he h ad kep t out o f sight he lai d it on his b reast

, ,

drew over its head a l inen mask p ainted to resem b le a ,

h u m an fa c e the mouth o f which would op en an d shut o n

,

p ulling a strin g and gave out to the p eople that th e

,

new b o rn go d h ad already grown to that gre at size an d ,

was now ready to give oracles From all Asia M inor .

and Thra c e the people c ame in thous ands to witness the .

mira c l e The m ysti c se m i o b s c urity o f th e hut an d the

.
-

ma gical e ffec ts of artificial light magnified the impression

that the c harlatan and his snake m ad e on the p eopl e .

Who ever wi shed to receive an oracle o f the god had to

write his q uestion o n a tablet whi ch was the n to b e ,

sealed with wax an d handed to the p rophet When th e .

p eopl e h ad retired he m elted th e seals read the ques ,

tion s wrote the an swers then sealed the tablets again

, , ,

an d gave them b ack (with th e answe rs ) th e sea ls appar .

ently intact Th e t ari ff for ora c les was a drach m a and

.

eight o b oli (ab out 2 5 c ents) and the an nual rec eipts
,

amounted to seventy or eighty thousand dra ch m as (s ay

b ut h e had out o f thi s sum to p ay a host o f
assistants an d confede rates W hen th e te m ple was c o m
.

p l e t e d Alex a nder carried on his b usiness there .

B ut his ti tle to pu b li c regard did not p ass un ch al le nged .

The Epi c u re ans who detested all tri c ke ry and who b e

, ,

l i eve d that enj oy m ent was the only end in life worth
thinking o f m anifested their ho stility to th e p ro p het and
, ,

were in turn denoun c ed b y hi m as ath eists and Chri s

, ,
 A P S E U DO - ME SSI A H 127

t ians .
afeguard his reputation he adde d to his
To s
reperto ire First h e be gan t o give o ra c les viva vo ce a
.
, ,

c onfederate b ehind a screen sp eaking the resp onses into

a tub e termina ting at the m outh o f th e snake s mask
’
.

B ut the charge for s uch o racles was higher an d they ,

were elicited only for th e b eho o f o f p ersons o f eminence .

Alex ander s fame spread even to Rome and dup es fro m

’
,

th at seat o f enl i ghten m ent c a m e t o c on sult the s er

pent god O n e o f thes e addle p ate pilgri ms fro m Rome
-
.
-

ask ed the orac le what m anner o f wom an he sho uld take “

to wife The oracle named the daughter o f Alexander ;

.

so he m arried her and o ffered h e catom b s t o h is mother

,

i n law his b ride s mother in h er cap a c ity o f moon go d

’
- -
, ,

de s s for su c h Alexander gave her out to b e E n co u r

,
.

aged b y m any su c ces ses not inferio r to this th e p rophet ,

instituted many mystic festival s f rom whi c h he excluded ,

all un b elievers in Go d as Epicurean s an d Christian s At ,

.

these festivals the birt h o f Aesculapiu s and the nuptials

o f Alexander and the Mo o n Goddes s were represented -

dramat ically tho ugh p erhap s a trifle too realistically

, .

The proph et also c laimed to b e a reincarn atio n of

Pythagoras and in proo f showed his thigh en c ased in
,
“

gilded leather H is life was a continuous de b auch I n

. .

ti m e he began to hold wha t we sho uld now call dark

se an ces ; that is h e wo u ld sit in ab sol ute da rkness and
,

make e p o n s e to que s tions sub mitted in writing on

fr s

sealed ta b lets As he co uld not rea d the questions at

. .

all his answers (the o racles) were expressed fo r th e most

,

part in unintelligi ble lang uage Lucian on c e te s ted his .

po wers b y s ubmitting to him the o n e question When “

,
”
will Alexander be caught at his tricks wri tten on eight ,

tablet s ; he go t eight di fferen t answers al l irrelev an t H e , .

m issed no opport unity o f un m asking the rogue and o f ,

 M Y S TE R I A
’

tea c hing the people b y the eviden c e o f their o wn sense s

that th e m an was a vul ga r i m p ostor Th e knav e a ffe c te d .

a mil d fri endship for hi s advers ary b ut h e b ri b e d th e ,

h elm sman o f a vessel o n which Lu c ian sailed to throw

hi m overb oard ; this th e man had not th e c ourage to do : .

Lu c 1an wi shed to have the imp o stor p ut on trial for

this crime b ut th e p ro consul advised hi m not to invoke
,
'

the help o f the law Alexander b eing too high in favor

,

with the o fficials and th e pu b lic The c ity o f A b ono .

t i ch u s h ad coins struck b earing the e ffi g y o f the A e s c ul a

p ius se rp ent an d th e p s e ud o p ro p h et attained th e age o f
,

seventy years enj oy i n g to the en d th e un diminished re

,

sp e c t of the p eople .

M any were the imp osto rs tha t spran g up after Alex

-

ander and wherever th ere was any l ac k o f real one s fi c

, ,
~

t i ti o u s p s e u d o p ro p h et s wer e ima gi ned b y sati ri c writers ,

Lucian s Peregrinu s for exa m ple a renegade Christi an

’

, ,

who devotes himsel f to a death by fi re to win fame It .

was a mad world then New mysteries w e re invented in

.

p lenty ,
and p eople c am e i n c rowds for initiation T h e .

“ ”
Golden As s o f Ap uleius i s a striking satire on thi s
mystery furo re .To this p eriod b elong th e Gno sti c s '
,

wh o se do ctrine s were a mixture of Judaism heathenis m ,

and Christian is m ; th e M ani c hees who gav e a Chri sti an

,

varnish to th e Persian fi re worship ; th e K ab b alists wh o ,

h eap ed a vast a m o unt o f ru bb ish together go t out o f ,

th e H ebrew B ible b y j uggling with its sentences words , ,

l etters an d n um b ers Amid this tangl e o f do ctrines the

.

heathe n reli gi on s sank J udai sm lo st its native land an d

, ,

Chri sti anis m fell into an i n cal c ulab le nu mb e r o f se c ts

ah evil th at was not to b e corrected even b y the arti fi cial

unity of th e Church under the Apo stoli c al See .

13 0 M Y S TE R I A

tion o f printing D uring that period o f a thousand years

.

no addition was m ade to the sum of human knowledge

‘

Arabian and Jewish physicians alone labored to save

the intelle ctual wealth inherited from th e an c ient Greeks .

As for Ch ri stendo m it was involved in p rofound i n t el l e c

,

t ual darkness and the D o c trine o f Light that had b een

,

publi shed by th e C arp enter s Son was lost am id petty ’

controversies and inane interp retations till at last its ,

stri ct ly monotheisti c groundwo rk was forgotten an d ,

there remained vi sible only the sup erstructure o f eth nic

mysticism and o f do ctrines as the Trinity I nc arnation , , ,

Resurrection and Ascen sion b o rrowe d fro m Egyp tian

, ,

and Gre c ian mythology .

And t h i s eth n i c o mysti c stru c ture a c quired a splen

'

dor and a p ower n ever b efo re e qualed so that th e system ,

was credited to divine intervention whereas its p urely ,

human o rigin might easily have b een trac ed Th e root .

i dea o f the ethni c mysticism was to seek the suppo sedly

“
lost deity to find him to b e unified with him An d the
”
, ,
.

sel f sam e idea underlay th e Chri stian mysti c i sm an d it

-
,

was by calling that idea into play and by giving it ex

pression in b rilliant achievement that thi s mystici sm won ,

its highest triu m ph an d aided b y the Papa c y its wi dest

, , ,

influen ce This n ew emb odiment o f the mystical idea

.

was seen in th e Crusades in which the Ch ri stian mysti cs ,

j oined going forth to seek th e lost sep ulchre o f their

,

God and to obtai n c ontrol of it Pos session o f th e s ep ul

,
.

ch re would b e the surest guarantee for the uni fic atio n o f

go d head and humanity .

I n this undertaking the t wo most p owerful estates

—
of th e M idd le A ge took part th e monk s and the knights .

The monks under o rders fro m th e Pope j oine d the

, ,

armies o f the c ro ss; the knights c o mm an ded b y th e Em ,

 TH E KN G I HTS T E M P LA R 13 1

p e ro r,
marched to the Holy Land and conquere d i t .

After the con q uest when there was a kingdo m o f Jer u

,

salem after the model o f the kingdom s of the W est there ,

arose as the necessary summit of mediaeval aspiration

, ,

the union o f mo nkery and chival ry in the monkish o rders ,

of knights whose memb ers wore th e swo rd o f th e k n ight

,

and took the monastic vows o f p ove rty c h astity and , ,

obed ie n ce .

Th ese organization s had their origi n in the gradual

assump tion of knightly elements b y the m o nasti c orders .

Some merchants o f A m al fi oldest commercial empori um ,

o f Italy h ad as early as 1 048 founded a monaste ry and

, , ,

a church at Jerusalem and in conj unction with these a

,

hosp ital in hono r of John th e Bap tist There the m onks .

c ared for pilgrim s wh o were poor or ai ling Pop e P as .

chal I I granted them a m o nastic con stitutio n in 1 1 1 3

.
,

and Godfrey o f B o u illon soon after the capture o f Jeru

,

s al em endowed the m wi th considerab le p rop erties

, .

Th ey to ok th e title o f B rothers H o sp italers o f Saint

J ohn o f Jeru sal em ; their habit consi sted o f a black m antle
wi th a white cro ss A few years l ate r ( 1 1 1 9) the Knigh t s
.

Hugo of Pa yns and Godfrey of Saint O mers associated

, ,

themselves and six other knights all Fren ch i n a mili , ,

“ ”
tary league under the style Poor Knights o f Ch rist
, ,

pledging themselves to keep th e highways o f the H oly

Land s afe for pilgrims and to observe the rule o f Saint
,

B enedi ct Th e members were favore d by King B aldwi n

.

I and the Patria rch o f Jerusalem and cam e to be c al l ed

.
,

Templars b ecause their convent stood o n the site o f th e

,

Solomonic Tem p le The Templars received from the

.

Syno d o f Troyes in 1 1 2 8 reco gnition as a regular order ,

a monasti c rule a mon as tic habit a spe c ial b an n er et c

,
‘

, , .

About the sa m e date th e H osp italers J ohannites or , ,

13 2 M Y S TE R I A

Knights o f Saint J ohn of Jerus alem b e ca m e invested ,

with the knightly character After the H ospitalers came

.

the German Knights whose theatre o f ac tion was princi

,

p ally th e region o f the B altic Sea b ut th ey also s aw ,

se rvi ce in Sp ain in the war against th e S aracen s O ther .

knightly orders were those o f C alatrava of Alcantara o f , ,

Santiago de C o m p o s te l l a in England th e o rder o f the

,

Knights o f th e H oly S epul chre etc ,

.

2 TH E
. TE M P L A R S ‘

None o f these orders rose to high er di stin c tion than

t h e order o f the Templars or o f th e Poor Comp an i ons
“
,
”
o f the Templ e o f Jerusalem as it was styled i n its rule
, .

In tho se days it was full o f th e spiri t o f lowliness b ut '

th e time c am e when the knights were no longer called

themselves Poor Co mp an ions b ut Knights Templar
“ ” “
, .

At first the b rethren begged their bread fasted were dili , ,

.

gent in attendance o n divine worship p erformed th e duties ,

o f their religion fe d the poor cared for th e si ck Plain

, , .

and unadorned was their attire in c olor either bl ack , ,

white or b rown ; an d the b rother who tried to get the

finest ha b it got the shabb iest The hair and b eard were
.

clo se cropped The chase was not p ermitted e xcep t for

.
,

the extermination of beasts of p rey W omen were not .

allowed to live in th e houses of the order ; the b rethren

might not so much as kiss their female relations B ut .

their mo de o f life became in time very di fferent They .

b ecam e ri ch in wo rldly goods an d so b roke the vo w of

,

poverty As an o rder and as indivi du al s they followed

.

their o wn inclinations and thus was their vow o f obedi

,

en c e made nought ; and their vow o f chasti ty fared not

—
better ; whil eth e sp eci fic vow o f th e order p rote c tion o f
p ilgrims to the H o ly Lan d b e c a m e a nullity through
-
 '
13 4 M Y S TE R I A

All thes e religious orders o f knights p o ssessed great

power in the M iddle Age t heir grand ma sters ranking
,

next after Pop es an d monarch s I n fact they reco gnized

.

n o emp ero r o r king as th eir lord b ut o nly th e Pop e ,

.

The orders were favored b y th e Pontiffs who lo aded them ,

with p raise and p rivileges though they feared them I f

,
.

the Po p e s had now the arm o f the flesh and not of th e

spirit only to defend the m against th e se c ular p o wer they ,

ow e d that adva ntage to the knightly o rd ers An d sp ec ial ly .

were they b eholden to th e Temp lars in this regard The .

Te mplars were free fro m all Church tribute and by the ,

Pop e s favor had the right to harb or exco m muni cated

’

knights to conduct divi ne service in church es that were

,

under interdi ct to found c hurche s an d churchyards ;

,
‘

whi c h p rivilege s b ro u ght down upo n them the enmity o f

th e clergy As the o rder was exempt fro m al l epis copal
.

j urisdiction and subj ect only to the Roman See the ,

bishop s endeavored to hav e that and o ther like pri vi

leges abated b y the Lateran Council in 1 1 79 At the .

t ime o f their suppression the Temp la rs p ossessed an em

p ire o f five p rovinces in th e E a st and sixteen in t h
'
e West ,

wi th houses o f th e o rder I n po ssession of such

. .

resources they aime d at nothing sh ort of makin g all

,

Chri ste ndom dependent on their o rder and t o set up a ,

so rt of military ari st o c ratic co mmonwe alth governed o s ,

tensibly b y th e Pop e b ut really by themselves with their

, ,

grand master at the head Th e g ran dmaster o f the Tem

.

p l a rs w a s elected by a college o f e i
“
g h t k n i g h t s four ser ,

vi e n t e s and o n e cleric .Th e Grandmaster was only

pres id ent o f the Council and its rep resentative ; b ut in
’
war h e had sup reme command ; a s th e Pop e s deputy he
had j urisdi ction over th e clerics A splendid re tinu e at
.

tended him and he had a treasu ry at hi s disp o sal Next

,
.
 TH E KN GI HT S T E M P L A R 13 5

. n ran k after him stood the Seneschal h i s dep uty for ,

civil a ffairs and the Marshal for military the Treasurer

, , ,

the D rapier The Council ( Co n ven tu s ) consisted of th e

.

Grandmaster his assis tants ,

th e grand o fficers j ust '

m entioned ) Provincial Masters who might b e present

, ,

and such knights as the Grandmaster might summon .

By addition o f all eminent Templ ars the Council became

the Gen eral C h ap ter ; this was the legisl ative bo dy The .

o t her knightly orders were organized on a plan not e s

s e n t i ai l y different What interests u s most at present is
.

tho se features o f the Tem p lar order which marked it as

i n some re p e cts a s e c r e t s o c i e t y
s
.

The o rder took its first ste p s in this direction in the

thirteenth century moved thereto by desire to safegua rd
‘

its riches and p ow e r Its secret doc trines o r tenets were

.

bo rrowed fro m the heretic al sects of the time—Albigenses

—
and Waldenses o r were such beliefs a s were held in s e
'

cret by many o f t h e most enlightened men S uch views .

were shared by religious men s c hol ars and worldlings , ,

alike by the first class o ut of indi gnation again st the

,

moral degeneratio n o f the rulers of th e Church ; by the

’

second because they suspected that th e Church s dog

,

mas were but inventions of Po p es and councils and by ,

the third , b ecaus e in rej ecting the Chur c h s authority ’

and accepting the heretical doctrines they fan cie d tha t ,

they were freed fro m the obligations of m orality B u t

j
.

the Templars who were neither p ious nor learned

, ,

but of whom many were ve ry worldly i ndeed foun d the ,

enlightened new o p inions to coincide well wi th their i n

t e re s t which p rompted them to care rather fo r their
,

numerou s possessions in the West than for th e few they

held in lands occupied by the Mo slem God sai d they .
, ,

showed his favor to the M ohammedans in the Crusades .

 M Y STE R I A

and evidently wille d th e defeat o f t h e Chri sti an arm s So . .

by adopting th e more enlighten ed vi ews they p rep ared ,

the way for a withdrawal from t h e useless Crusa d es an d ,

a return with b ag and b aggag e to Europe where they ,

could rest fro m their gl o rio us but h a rd an d thankless

martial labors and devote themselves to the service of
,

p rinc es or pas s the time in th e splendid hous e s o f thei r

,

o rder amid O riental luxu ry and surrounded by gardens

, ,

like Fai ryl an d beguiling th e hours wi th gamin g an d the

,

chase with songs and lovemaking the whil e not neglec t

, ,

ing their political interests B ut the T emp lars were

.

rapidly nearing their downfall .

3 . TH E S E CR E T S O F TH E TE lM P I JA R lS '
.

Th e Ar c ana of the Te m pl ars consisted of a s ecret

doctri ne and of a cult b a s ed o n the same The d o ct rin e .
,

which had no groun d in scientifi c res e arch se ems to h ave ,

b een akin to the do ctrine of certain sects specially the ,

Albi genses who w orship ed a sup erior god o f h ave n an d

,
e

an inferio r go d o f eart h and ascribed to the latter the

,

o rigin o f evil Fo r the Templars Christ was no S o n o f

.
,

God had worked no mira c les had n either ri sen from th e

, ,

d ead nor ascended into heaven ; he was in fa c t o ften , ,

’
spoken of as a false p rophet The Church s do ctrine re
. . .

garding the tra nsub stantiation o f the bread in the mass

was fo r them crass sup erstition the eucharist only a co m ,

m emorative rite the sacrament o f p enance a pri estly i m

,

p osture the Trinity a human invention veneration o f the

, ,

cross an a c t of idol atry That the opp osition o f the order

.

to th e last mentioned custom led on fe s tival o c casion s

-
,

and partic ul arly whe n new members were admitted to ,

overt acts of co n te mpt fo r the cross t o spitting on the ,

13 8 M Y S TE R I A

the m e mb ers were forb idden to c onfess to priests that

were not Temp lars By them the communion was t ake n
.

in the natural s p eci es an d sub stance o f bread an d win e ,

an d in token o f brotherly love not as c o m me m o rati v e o f

,

any sa cri fic e .

Two images played a part in the Templar ri tes The .

’
image of John the Baptist typified the o rder s oppositio n
to the Church s creed ’
The other image j ealously
.
,

guarde d fro m the eyes o f o utsiders has been called an ,

“ ”
idol . I t was made c h i e fl v of copp er gi lt and rep re , ,

sented no w a human skull anon the c ountenance of an

-

o ld man h eavily b earded (m ak ro p ro s o p o s ) again a very ,

small fa c e (m i k ro p ro s o p o s ) which would b e now the face

,

o f a man then of a woman anon m ale and fem al e at

, ,

o nce ; it wo uld have now one again two o r three he ad s

,
‘

, ,

with b right shining ey e s o f carbuncles The idol was b y .

so me Te m p lars c alled B as s o m e t but why do e s not ap

“ ”
, ,

p ear . From the statements o f mem b ers o f the o rder it

would see m th at this i dol was a kind o f tal isman tha t
b rought all manner o f good fo rtune ; that it was s e t up
fo r ven erat i o n as rival to th e cro ss and that the y cal le d, ,

“
it the savi o r o f th e order .

There were two forms o f admission the general and ,

th e sp ec ial ( or secret) form : the latter was used only at the

admission of p o stulants that could be truste d with the
se c rets of the order The Scribe acting as Receptor first
.
, ,

asked the brethren in chapter if they had any obj ection

, ,

to m ake th e ad m ission o f th e po stulant I f none o b .

j ec t e d t h e postulant was led into an adj oining roo m

an d questio ned as to h i s purp ose in seeking e n t ran c e to '

t h e o rder whether he knew of any im p ediment o n his

,

p art wh ether h e owed debts that he could not p ay

, ,

whether h e was married or engaged t o be married an d ,

 TH E K
‘
N I GHTS T E M P L A R 139

so forth . The question s having been satisfa c to rily an

s we re d
,
and the minutes of the replies rep o rt ed to the
brethren the matter was again p ut to vote N ext the
,
.
,

c an didate was brought b efore the c hapter an d after , ,

mo re questioning took the vows and was fo rm ally ad

,
.

m i tte d
. I n the secret rite o f ad m issio n the Re c epto r
“
showe d to the c andidate the I dol with the se wo rds : B e ,

lieve in this p ut your trust in this and all w

,
i ll b e wel l ,

with yo u . Then he gi rded the candidate with a c ord of

white wool fibres th e B ap tist s gi rdle as it was c alled
,
’

, ,

whi c h he was to wear over the shirt Th e obligatio n o f

'

. .

s ecrecy was very ste rnly enfor c ed Th ose who b etrayed .

an y of the se c rets of t h e o rd e r were c ast into p ris o n an d

.
,

the c andidate was threa tened with dungeon s and death

should he communi c ate t o an o utsider any in for m ation
about the ceremony o f initiation .

Thus did th e Temp lars an o rder institute d fo r the ,

’
purp ose o f guarding the Church s int erests in th e end ,
’
rej ect the Chu rch s doctrines and adopt principles that ,

tended inevitably to the overthrow not only o f th e Pap acy , ,

b ut o f Christianism itself Such was the irre c on c ilable .

op p osition be tween the avowed and the se c ret convie

‘

tio ns of the Temp lar s and such was the h ypo c risy of t h e
,

order : for th o ugh they had apo statized fro m the c r eeds
,

o f the C h urch they would not fo rm ally quit her com

,

m union ; and though they regarded as tru e ma ny points

o f anti Christi an d o c trine they veiled these wi th m ystery
-
, ,

or even on o cc cas i o n m ade spo rt o f them instead o f p ub

“
,

l i s h i n g the m as so m any p oo r, un arm ed hereti c s did ; an d

,

h e n c e their asp irat io ns were foiled an d th e most powe rful ,

asso ciation o f that ti m e p eri sh ed not in glo rio u s b attle , ,

b ut in igno m inious dun geo n s an d at th e stak e .

 '

M Y S TE R I A

4 . T H E D O VV N F A I J L OF TH E K N I G HTS T E M P L A R ‘ '
.

The Crus ades ha ving failed utterly the H oly Lan d ,

“ ”
having again come under the power o f the i n fi d e l s an d ,

th e o ccup atio n of the knightly o rd ers having gone the ,

Pop es cast about f0r a remed y fo r thi s undesira b l e state

o f things Th e order of Germ an Kni gh ts had alre ady
.

forestalled the p ro b lem b y choosing as their theatre of

action th e countries o n the B alti c Sea and the Spanish ,

orders by waging conti nual wars agai nst th e M oors ; and

the Knight s o f Sai nt J ohn ( Hosp italers ) later found a
place fo r themselves by o cc upying Rhodes B ut th e Te m .

p l ars were wi thout an y fit employment an d that circu m ,

stan ce was th e o cc asion of their down fall A b out th e .

year 1 3 05 Pop e Clem ent V p ropos ed a union o f the

.

Templars with the H o sp italers an d if possi b le wi th oth er

, , ,

orders b ut b o th Tem p lars and H o sp i tal ers rej e c ted t h e

,

advice .

Philip IV (th e Fair) o f Fran c e found in th e Templars

.

a serious o b st ac l e to his a mb ition and i n the early years o f

,

his reign sought to co mp el them by fo r c e to aid him in h i s

schemes ; b ut failing in that design tried to win th em b y ,

loading them with favo rs M any di fferen t expl an ation s

.

h ave b een o ffered to account for another chan ge o f poli c y

o n the p art of Philip but non e o f them i s hi stori c al ly
,

sound ! Pro b ab ly t h e c h an ge noti c e ab le in the ki n g s ’

attitud e to war d the o rder in 1 3 05 was in som e way c o n

n e c t e d with the outrageou s doings o f th e Inquisition i n

the South of Fran c e ; do u b tless rumors o f heresy i n th e

Templ ar order h ad c o m e to the omnip res ent ear o f th e
H oly Co urt Th e I n quisitor G eneral o f Fran c e W illi am
.
-
,

I mbert p rior o f the D ominican s in Paris b egged th e

, ,

Ki ng to call the Templars to ac c o unt Th e Kin g on Nov .

, .
1 42 M Y S TE R I A

the order The King took up h i s residen c e in the Term

.
“

”
ple the Pari s h ous e o f th e o rder in whi ch was hid the
, ,

treasure o f the Grandm aster gold fl o ri n s and ,

twelve h o rs el o ad s o f silver pen ce) I t was not quite .

5 00 ye a rs later when the Temp le b ec a m e the p ri so n o f a

des c endan t o f the King I n that s ame b uilding in p res
.
,

ence of the m asters an d bachelo rs o f the universi ty th e ,

trial of th e Grand master and his b rethren was co m

m en c e d an d p ro ceeded under the direction o f I mbert
,
.

Th e p ro c edure wa s the same as in the ordinary t ri al s fo r

heresy an d wit c h craft in the cou rt o f the I nq u i sition .

Co n fession s were o btained by use o f the torture and it i s ,

impossibl e at this day to tell how much in tho s e c o n fe s

s ion s was due to the employment o f that p eculi a r metho d

o f eli c itin g truth and how mu c h if any p art was p ro mpt

, , ,

ed b y th e desire to atone for past o ffenses by truthful

(even if forc ed ) admission o f guilt .

The Pop e was not p l e ased with this turn of affairs .

H e clai m ed for himself the right to pro ceed against th e

T emp lars declared that the King was infrin ging th e
,

p rivileges o f the See o f Ro me and attrib uted the ac tio n ,

taken against th e Temp l ars to a desire to get p o ssession

‘

’
o f th e order s tre asury and t o annihilate a so ciety who s e
existen c e was a cau se o f an xiety to the King H e th e re .
,

fore p rotested against th e whole p roce eding and de

, ,

m an d e d th t the arrested Tem p lars and thei r p ro p ert y

a
shoul d b e surrendered to him as j udge of the questio ns at
i ssue Th e King re fused but h e came to an understan d
.
,

ing with the Pop e i n th e matter o f the pro se cution and ,

“
Nov 22 the Pop e by the bull P as to ral i s P rae e m i n e n
.
,
”
tia c ordered the arrest o f all t h e Templars througho ut
,

the Chri stian world The Kin g o f Engl and Edward I I

.
, .

who was Phili p s son i n law obeyed this p re c ept thou gh

’
- -
, ,
 TH E K NIG HT'S r amp a n t 1 43

he had previously expressed disbelief o f the gui lt of the

'

Tem p lars A like change o f mind was seen in Ara gon

.
.

In Cyp rus the Templ ars attempted resistan c e b ut sub ,

m i tt e d
. D enis King o f Portugal refused t o institu t e a
, ,

p ro secution against the m .

Inas m u ch as the m e asure was one th at affe cte d al l

countries the case of the Templ ars b elonged of right to
,

the Papal j uri sdiction Even Philip admitted this ; b ut

.

he mistrusted the Pop e and feared that th e Temp la rs

,

mi ght b e acquitted an d then t ak e revenge o n the King

,
.

Negoti ations w e re opened The Ki ng demanded the.

death o f the Templars but the P o p e wo ul d n ot c onsent

,

to thi s till their guilt was fully p roven ; an d again h e de

m an d e d the surrender to hi m of their p ersons and their
p o ssessions The King at last acc eded to th e deman d
.
,

for h e had need of th e Pop e s assis tan ce in p ro c u ring ’

the election of his b rother as suc c esso r to the assa ssinate d

German King Albert , .

Under the Papal j uri sdiction the trial s were c on

ducted with more lenity : to rture was no t employed B ut .

the Pop e b ec ame convin c ed o f the guilt o f the a c cused ;

till then he had b een in doubt Molay made witho ut .
,

compulsion many ve ry impo rtant admissions as did sev

,
,

eral high o ffi cials o f the order but o n sun dry p oints th e v ,

contradicted one another Nevert heless th e Pope wa s

.
,

still fir m ly of the op inion that only individual Templars

were on trial not the o rder while for the King the anni
, ,

h il ati o n o f the order was th e main thing August 8 .

,

1 3 08 t h e b ull Faciens Miseri c o rdiam ordered a p rose

“
,

c u ti o n o f the Te m plars in every c ountry o f Christendom

and on the 1 2 t h o f th e same month b y the bull Re gnan s

“
,
”
in Co e l i s a council was summoned for the year 1 3 1 0 to
,
,

d et ermine the question o f th e Tem lars Further o rdi

p .
 M Y S TE R I A

nance s of th e Pop e had to do with the su rrender o f the

p roperties o f th e order to th e Church .

M eanwhil e the Pop e had forgotten to ai d the Fre n c h

King s b rother in his pretentions to the crown of th e
’

Ro m an Empire O n th e c ontrary he f avored the elec

.
,

tion o f H enry VI I o f Luxemburg, and was glad to fi n d

.

i n him a prince who would strenuously oppose the over

weeni n g ambition o f Philip I V The ten sion between th e .

Pop e and the French King was in c reasing and the tri al s ,

of the Templars went o n sluggishly for two years more .

There was much arbitrary ill usage o f Templars Th e -

.

b ishop s to who m the Pop e had co mmitted t h e p ro s e c u

,

tion of the individua l memb ers of the order in man y ,

p laces gave loos e rein t o their an cient enmity to ward th e

Templars and freely used the torture ; n evertheless very
,
’
,

many o f the accused m ai n tai n e d th e inno cence o f their

o rder and d eclared th e p rior c o nfessions false This c an
, .

b e explained only by supp o sing that the ab uses i n th e

order did not extend to all the houses M o l ay s b e .
’

havior on hi s trial was n either firm nor di gnified ever ,

balan c ing b etween self accusation and vindication H e

-
.

was never sure of his ground sought to retard p ro ,

c e d u re used equivo c al and obscure phra se s an d c ontinu

, ,

ally protested h i s o rthodoxy ; an d the other memb ers for

t h e mo st p art acted in like manner : b ut their ex cu se i s the
hard usage they endured and M olay was not permitted to ,

complain of th at .

All t h e Te m pl ars arrested in Pari s numberin g 546 , ,

were o n th e 2 8 th o f M ay 1 3 1 0 mustered in the gard en

, ,

o f the B ishop s p ala c e and t h ere the accusa tion was read
’

t o them Six o f th e accused—three knights and three

.

—
cleri c s p rotested i n the name o f all against th e treatment
they had re c ei ve d and de m an ded the release of all
,
 M Y ST E R I A

The unfortun ate G randmaster M olay wh o received ,

a p ittan ce o f four sous per diem to allev i ate his m isery ,

bore his imprisonment with great fortitude ; b ut M arch

11,
1 3 1 3 h e and Godfrey de Charney an o ffic ial o f th e
, ,

order having retra c ted thei r c onfe s sions were s l o wl v

, ,

burnt to death o n an island in th e Seine by o rder o f the

!

King without any j udicial pro c ess Molay it is sai d

, .
, .

' “
cite d the two murderers o f hi s b rethre n P h ilip an d “

Clem ent to appear before the j udgment s eat of Go d

,
.

They both died o ne o f colic the other in consequen c e o f

, ,

a fall from his horse eight and t h irteen month s respect

, ,

i ve l y after th e d eath o f M olay

,
Th e order was s u p .

p r e s e d everywhere exce p t in Portugal where it too k the ,

n a me
“
O rder o f Jesus Christ and continued in existen c e
”
,
.

Its Grandmaster Prin c e H enry the navigator a h u n d re d

, ,

years afterward employed its wealth in p romoting the

,

high ends o f c ivilization I n other countries the Tem .

'
l s either wandered ab o ut as fugitives or entere d the
”

p a r
,
’
o rder of H osp italers The seizure o f the orde r s estate s
.

i n France was annulled by th e bull of su pression but

p ,

Philip n ev erthele ss maintained h i s hold on the house o f

, ,

th e order in Paris an d o n th e tre asure there stored Th e

,
.

remai nder o f the p rop erty was p lundered by the nob ility
and th e Chur c h ; an d the Pop e surely was not fo rgetful o f
his o wn interest The H osp italers afte rward succeeded
.

to their rights but that did the m hardly l ess har m than
,
'

goo d for it co st them a great sum to releas e the estate s

,

o f the T emp lars fro m th e grasp o f th e robbers ; b eside s ,

many a smal l piece o f p roperty was ma de away with b y

p rin c es great lords orders chur c he s and m on as teries
, , , , .
 P AR T S E V EN TH

Th e F e m g e ri cb t e .

‘
I . C O U RT S O F
‘
J USTI CE IN TH E M I D D LE
l A GE .

The wild disorder attending the i rruptio n o f th e

Gothic n ations having sub sided society which had lo st , ,

its bearings had to organize itself an ew The first step

,
.

’
towa rd thi s end was taken whe n society s task was dis
“

tributed among innumerable fra c tional p a rts of itsel f e ach ,

fraction trying to do its own share o f th e work ; the next

step was the uniting o f all thes e fractional parts under
—
o ne religious idea that of Ch ri stianism and under o n e
political law—that o f feudalism Th e Pop e an d the Em
,

p e ro r rep resented the rel i gi o u s an d the p oliti c al ide as re

‘

s p e c t i ve l y As long as one was true to Pop e an d Emp e

.

ror was a goo d Christ i an and a good subj ect—all

was well with him an d he might in all other m atters do
, , ,

as he pleased Th e p rincip le of Justi c e was not regard e d :

.

no wrong act was punished as violating right but al ways ,

as doing harm Ev en m urder was not regarded as i n

.

fri n ge m e n t o f human right to life but simply as harm ,

do ne t o the p eople o f the murdered one I f one was .

without relativ e s his slayer went unp unished ; b ut i f

,

the murdered man l eft a family or kinsmen the murderer , ,

o n p ay ing to the m a ce rtai n sum went fo rth free Thus , .

,

the utmo st unrestraint p revaile d in the several small ag

r
g ge a ti o n s o f peo ple and t h e utmo st
, diversity b etw een
1 47
 '
1 48 U
[MY S TE REA ’

one little c om m unity and anoth e r O f b ureau c rati c cen .

,

t ral i ze d cast iro n government there was no fai ntest

,
-

foreshadow ; nor was govern m ent a function assigned to

any one b ut like th e administration o f j usti c e an ac
, , ,

quired right I n a given p rovince this o ne h ad a c quired

.

th e govern ment that one th e c l vi l and a third the crimi

,

n al j udiciary ; one was obeyed in p eace another com ,

m an d e d the p e0 p 1e in war Jurisdi c tion s were undefined .

and inextri c ably mixed up — a conse quence o f the feudal

system under which the King granted rights now to one
,

man again to another a s favors never inquiring h o w

, , ,

thes e might consist wi th rights p reviously granted to

others I n this way it b ecame p o ssible in th e M iddle
.

Age for s uch j u ristic abno rmities a s the Fe m geri ch te to

come into exi stence Th e F e m g eri c h t e resulted fro m .

the confusion exi sting in j udiciary a ffairs j ust as the ,

religious abnormity of the monasti c orders o f knights re

s u l t e d from th e ve ry oppo site condition o f things in the

Church —the exces s of regul ation Fo r the confusion (ab .

sence o f regulation ) and the excessiv e regu l ation were .

n ear akin ; the y both s p ra ng o ut o f the unrestraint o f

p rivate life in the M iddle Age which unrestraint natu ,

rally prod u ced und er th e rule of the Church a multitude

, ,

o f monasti c rules the Rul e o f St Augustin o f .

,

St B enedict o f St Colum b a
.
,
while on the
.
, ,

contrary the feebleness of th e Empire due to the j ee l

, ,

o u s y of th e Popes and the ambition an d avarice o f th e

feudal lords was fatal to an v o rganization o f the admin

,

i s t rat i ve a n d j udicial fun c tions and though th ere were ,

many codes o f law there could b e n o stan dard for d is,

t i n g u i s h i n g right an d wrong .

The cau se o f this di fferen ce o f develo p ment be twe en

State and Churc h was that th e Chur c h h a d grown from ,
sup e rio r who m ade up the cou rt as to h i m see m ed b est
, ,

an d who even c ared nothing for th e Emp ero r *

W estphalia was th e original ho me o f th e Fem

.

ge

ri chte and they owed their rise to th e fact tha t there the
,

royal b an (Ko en i gs b an n ) that is to say the ri ght po s , ,

se ssed by th e King alone o f conferring the grafship on ,

the grafs was still alive in mo dified for m indeed yet

, , ,

with its su b stan c e uni mp aired O wing to th e granting .

o f vari ous privileges to e c clesiastical and secul ar m ag ’

nate s the j uri sdiction o f the grafs was in ti me divi ded

up B esides there were sp ecial courts fo r freem en and
.
, ,

special c ourts fo r the hal f free an d the unfree the fo rm er -

,

courts b eing und er the free grafs and the other un d er th e ,

'

g a ug ra fa fs ( distri c t g rafs ) Now as the maj ority o f th e .

,

pop ulation were under th e gau grafs the possession o f ,

a gau gra fs h i p develop ed into s o verei gn ity while the po si

tion o f th e free grafs b e c a m e pe c uliar : the o ffi c e was o ften
sold and passed from h and to hand Th e free grafs wh o .
,

were o ften p e rsons o f littl e means in o rder to main tain ,

}

their dignity had to lean on th e King s ban or warrant

,
’
, ,

obtai na b le fro m the King alone B ut o ften th e free gra f .

ship s died out o r th ey were consolidated with gau graf ,

shi p s B ut nowhere did th ey re t ain so mu ch of th eir

‘

—
original c ha racter as in W estphal ia a geograph i c al ex
pression o f various meanings indeed b ut in general it , ,

denoted the re gi on b etw een th e Rhin e and th e W eser .

Th e term Freigraf dates fro m th e twel fth c entu ry .

W h at fi o flllo tws
i
r e ga rd i n g th e F e mg e ri ch t e is b as ed
“

on

T h eo do r I J i nld r
nie r
’
s wo rk ,
“
i i oh t e ,
D i e F ehn g x ef
"
M ii n s lt e r an d Pa

—
d e r b o rn ,
'
18 8 8
( V h a t erver .
V'
h v
m a y la e b ee n t h ’

e o ri g i n a l m e an i n g
o f th e wo r d fe m i n fem g e ri eh t
“ ” “
,
”
it i s e mo wg h i
to k n ‘o nw t a t h
in q ui va l e n t “ ”
fem -geri o h t
‘

u s ag e . it is e to e e o re t ; h en ee s ee re t

j u d g m e nlt , o r s e c re t tr i b u na l ) .
 TH EE! F E M G E R I CH TE
‘

15 1

Not only the King but the duke also h ad influen c e

o ver the free g rafs h ip s After the b reak up of the an c ient
.
-

du c hy o f Saxony eve ry p rincely land p roprietor with in

,

its territo ry was duk e o f Westp hali a ; thi s is sp ec ially

true of the Ar c h b ishop of Colo g ne an d also o f the ,

bisho p s o f Muenster O s n ab ru e ck and Minden and o f the

, ,

D uke o f S axe Lauenburg— dukes o f Westphalia all

-
,

b ut with m ore o r less limitati o n Pro b a b ly the duke was .

entitl ed to preside over any free court and to summon to ,

” “
his own tribunal the b o t d i n g the fre e grafs So too
, , .
, ,

the s t uh l h e rr (lord o f the manor) p os s e ssed the ri ght o f

p residing even when h e was no p rince b ut only a graf ;
, ,

and often he assumed that the free graf gave j udgmen t

only in hi s (th e lord s) na m e and so granted rel ea se fro m
’

the j u risdiction o f the free courts t o cities for exa m ple , , .

The free graf and his assessors the s c h o efi e n ( a lower ,

’

grade o f j udges ) afte rward called frei s c h o e ffe n c onsti

, ,

t u te d the freigeri c ht ( free c ourt ) afterward kn o wn as f ern

gericht These o ffi c es might fall to any free m an —and
,

any one was reckoned a free ma n wh o h ad his o wn “

s m oke i e a ho use o f his o wn

,
”
. .
, .

I n the latter half o f the i 4th and the fi rst hal f o f th e

1 sth centu ry th e empe rors bestowed on the ar c hbi shop s

of Cologn e as dukes of Westphalia and lieuten ants o f th e

,

Emperor the right o f investiture o f all free grafs and

,

supervision o f them all over W estphali a A c h apte r o f .

free grafs was held yearly at Arn s b erg and hen c e the ,

Arn sberg tri b unal o b tained the fi rst rank .

As th e free grafs hel d their investiture fro m th e king ,

th ey loo ked on themselves as king s o ffi c ers and littl e ’

by little went on extendin g th eir j uri sdicti on over th e

whole e m pire—a desi gn favored b y the co nfusio n rei gn
ing ev erywh ere and even app roved b y th e e m perors
,
 MY i
‘
l '
S TE RJIA
'

th emselves At last th e free grafs b egan to think that th ey

.

were higher than the emp eror an d had n o need o f his ,

meddling : this arro gan c e was at its height i n th e re i gn

o f S i g mun d and it was still to b e se en under Frede ric
,

VI I ; i n fact Frederi c for h aving taken step s to p unish

.
, ,

some insubo rdinate free grafs was su m moned by free ,

grafs to stan d trial .

So me o f th e emperors did ind eed s et up free graf , ,

trib unals o utside th e limits o f VVe s tp hial i a ; but these n ever

p rospered I n th e 1 sth century it wa s an axiom that
.
'

such co u rts c ould exist only in Westph alia o r as th e say , ,

“ ”
ing was o n red earth a phrase that do es not o ccur
, ,

p rior to 1 490 an d th e sen se o f which i s no t quite clear ;

,
.

fo r neither i s th e soil of all Westp halia red nor i s red soil ,

con fi ned to Westphalia : an d the same criti c ism may b e

“ ”
made if red earth b e taken fo r b lo o d stai n e d earth
“ ”
-
.

2 TH E
. S E CR E T TR I B U N A L .

“
Th e rly fre e co urt s were i n a c e rtain: s en s e pri
ea

vate courts inasmu c h as they were not op en to al l like

”
,

th e courts o f th e gau grafs (or j ud ges o f distri cts) The .

“ ”
a ss o ciate j udges ( Fre i s ch o e ffen ) were c alled wissende
(w i s e m en knowin
,
g ones ) which in old times meant, , ,
“
j udges .
”
Th e p rivate trib unal o f th e Feme b e c ame
“
.
”

by degrees a se c ret tri b unal about th e middl e o f the 1 4th

“ ”

century as the free grafs b e c ame more c ons cious of their

,

am b itious ai m s Th e S ch o e ffen were now required to

.

bind themselve s b y o ath to ob se rve se c re c y : th e one who

p roved false to his oath was fi rst to hav e his tongu e
p lucked out and th en he
,
was to b e h an ged either three ,

o r seven feet higher th an a t hief The p en alty was ex . .

a c ted ve ry rare ly an d pro b ab ly nev er th e fi rs t it em o f it

,
 M Y ST E R I A
‘
‘

And the long ar m o f the Fe m geri c ht j uri sdicti o n

reached as far as th e host o f wi ssende : the lo c alities i n
which th e a c tivity o f the s e c ret tri b unal s was m anifested
were s c attered all ov er the emp ire ; in fact the p ro c eedin gs ,

o f th ese c ourts which a ffected W estphalia itsel f b e c am e

a ve ry s m all fraction of the whole .

B ut with th e sp read of the Fe m e j urisd i c tio n aro s e

opposition to the sa m e Th ere were seen fai nt b e gi n n ings
.

of oppo sition even in the early p art of the 1 4th c entury ,

when B re m en de c ided not to al low m e mb ers o f the Fe m e

courts to reside within its j urisdi c tion ; to ward the clo se
o f that c entury other c iti es took more e ffe c tive m ea sures ,

and in the i 5th were even fo rm ed lea gues of cities for

self defen se against the en c roa ch ments o f th e Fe m e
-
.

B runswi c k app ealed t o the Pop e and the Emp ero r an d ,

Hi ldeshe i m and Erfurt to th e Coun c il o f B asel I n th e .

“

middle o f the 1 5th c entury several c ities e spec ially in ,

Southern G er m any and in H olland were freed fro m th e ,

j uri sd iction o f the se c ret c ourts by the su preme e cc l e s i

as ti ca l an d c ivil authorities Th en the duk e s of B avaria
.

an d o f S ax o n v fo rbade their subj ects laying c omplai nts i n ,

the W es tp h al i an c ourts and some c ities p unishe d th at o i

,

fen s e with death i m p ri s onment or b an i s h m ent

, ,
.

A Fe m e c ourt c onsi sted of a free raf an d at l ea s t

l
g ;

seven s ch o e ffen The graf was require d to b e a free b orn

.
'

We s tp h al i an o f stainless reputation wh atever his station in

,

life fo r p easants were o ften cho sen t o b e grafs

,
Th e .

s c h o effe n al so had to b e freemen b o rn an d i f not o f W est ,

ph alian b irth were required to p resent p roo fs o f their

,

fitness There was a fee for admissio n t o th e Fe m e As

.
.
.

time we nt on th e examination o f appli can ts b e cam e l es s

and les s stri c t an d o ften very questionable charac ters
, ,

e ven s erfs and men a cc u s ed o f c ri m es w ere ad mi tted z

l s uc h
,
 T H lE F E M G E R I 'C H T E 1 55
‘

admissions were illegal and the men c ho sen under such

,

circ u m stan c es were c alled n o ts ch o e ffen ( m akeshift s ch o e f

fen )
.

The free graf sat at a j udgm en t b oard , on wh i c h l ay a -

n ake d sword an d a rope as sy mb ol s o f ave n gin g j u s tice ,

and the s c h o e ffe n took o ath o n th ese instru ments E a c h .

free graf and each s c h o eft e o f a given c ourt was required

’

not only to b e p resent at a trial b ut to take p art in pro ,

n o u n c i n g s enten c e When the tri al was o n e o f sp e cial

.

im p ortan c e several hundred s c h o effen wo uld b e in at

tendan c e .

Th e F e m ge ri ch te had their sp e c i al c o d e s an d statutes ,

whi c h were fro m time to ti m e amen de d I n the se the .

competen ce o f the courts was defined an d thi s had to do ,

!With matters p urely c riminal at least so far as th e tri als

,

were held in secret The c ri m e s of whi c h the Fe m ge ri ch t e

t ook cognizan c e —ve m ewr o g i ge punkte (po ints fo r femi c
.

an i m ad ve rs i o n ) —
f were a cc ording t o th e list drawn up at
,

Do rtmun d in 1 43 0 as follows : I rob b ery an d ac t s o f

, ,

violence against ecclesiastics or c hurch es ; 2 lar c eny ; ,

3,
ro b b ery o f a wo man in child b ed or o f a dyin g p erso n ;
4, plundering the dead ; 5 arson an d murder
,
:

6 t re ac h e fy ; 7 b etrayal of th e Feme ; 8 rap e ; 9 fo rgery

,
-
, , ,

o f mone y o r of titl e to p roperty ; 1 0 ro bb e ry on th e i m ,

perial highway ; 1 1 perj ury and p erfi d y ; 1 2 refusal to ap

, , ,

pear i n court on su m mons Apo stasy fro m th e Chri stian

.

fait h was p ut at the h ea d o f the list in an assembly held

at Arn sberg 1 43 7 and in 1 490 h eresy an d wit c h c raft were
,

add e d For the pers on f o und guilty there was b ut one

. .

p un i shment death and only on e m anner of death b y th e

, , ,

re pe. Thi s penalty c ould b e infli cted without sen ten ce

if the o ffen der were taken in the act o r if h e c o nfessed ,

gui lt o r if there were ey ewitne s s es o f th e cri m e

, .
 M Y S T'
E-RIA ‘

That among the o ffenses p unishab le b y th e F eme

h eresy and witchcraft held almo st th e first place shows tha t
thes e tri b unal s were no obj e c t o f appre hen sio n to th e c c
c l e s i as t i c al p ower
. Thi s s e c ret associat ion th erefo re dif
, ,

fere d fro m that o f the Templars as also fro m tha t o f th e

,

Ston emasons ( which will b e next c onsidered ) especially in

this that th e Feme was no l eagu e o f I lluminati b ut that
, ,

th eir sp e cial ty was opp osition t o th e l aw o f the stronger

and to the rul e o f p etty states and th at their ai m was t o
,

uphold an d ex aggerate antiquated j udicial institutio ns .

The p ro cedure o f th e Fem ge ri c h te was entirely in ac

cord with the p rinciple o i ancient Teutoni c law that ,
“
where no complainant app ears neither is there any ,
”
j udge It was not the inquisito rial court p ro cedure
.

—
o f the 1 6th 1 9 th c enturi es in which t h e j udge: mad e i n
,

ve s ti gat i o n o n his own a cc ount b ut a pro c edure founded

,

entirely i n the p ra cti c e of civil courts an d one that agreed

,

well with th e independent sp irit o f the M i dd l e A ge and ,

the view that then prevailed that law was a m atter o f p er

s onal rights .

The free tri b unals took up th e c omp l aint fro m what

e ver quarter it came . All s c h o e ffen too were under o b
, ,

li gation to b ring to the attentio n o f th e free courts and ,

to pro se c ute all doings co ming under the animadversion

o f the Fe m e H ence were a s c h o e ffe to give informatio n
.

regarding such o ffen ses to any oth er c ourt h e was li abl e ,

to b e hanged ; and the same fate b e fel the one who hav ,

ing been entrusted with a bill o f a cc us ation sho uld op en ,

th e sa m e and b etray its contents A cc usations wer e not

.

entertain ed unless wh en sub mitted b y wi ssende The ac .

euser h ad to stan d b etw ixt two fellow s ch o e ffen his sp on ,

sors in fro n t o f th e tri b un al in kn eelin g po sture

,
.

I n eve ry c as e the fi r s t thing done was to d e c ide

 M Y S T E RILA

that i s in the c a s tle that he m ust on his app o inted d ay

p resent hi m self before th e free trib unal on behalf o f high ,

est l aw an d the Emperor s ban When th e oppo sitio n ’

.

to th e Fe m g eri c h te b egan to gain force the su mm o ners ,

were in greater p eril o ften than the sum m oned : o fte n the y
lost their lives .

The day o f the trial having arrived i f the a cc user ,

was not o n hand th e a cc used was disch arged B ut if th e .

accuse d failed to app ear th e a c cusation was repeated and ,

testimony taken The free graf then thri c e called th e ac

.

c u s ed by name and asked i f any one was there as his at

,

to rn ey I f there was no app earance o f th e a cc used th e ac

.
,

euser c oul d demand j udgm ent after a s e e n n i gh t

“ ”
In
’
.

making this demand h e kn el t laid two fingers o f the right

,
'

hand on hi s naked s wo rd a ffi r m ed the guilt of the a cc used , ,

and six s ch o e ffen as his sp onsors m aintai ned the truth

, ,

o f what h e swore I f the verdi c t was again st the acc used

.
,

the fre e graf aro se and outlawed the a cc use d in wo rds

, ,

like th ese : The a c cused ( nam e and surname) I ex c ept

“

fro m the p ea c e th e laws and the freedom (of h e em

,
“
t .

pire ) as the same have b een stablished and de c reed by

popes and emperors ; and I cast him down an d plac e h i m
.

in utt erm ost un quiet and disgrace and make him i l l e gi ti ,

m at e b a n n ed outside t h e p eace dishonored in se c ure

, , , , ,

lovel es s ; an d I do outlaw hi m ac co rding to the senten c e

o f the secret tri b unal and d eV o te his n e c k to the rop e
, ,

hi s car c ass to the birds and b easts

. to dev o ur ; and I
c om mend his soul to th e p ower of Go d in h eaven ; and
hi s fi e fs and good s I give up to the lord s o f whom th e fi e fs
are held a nd I make his wife a wi do w and h i s c h ildren
:

o rphan s Then the fre e graf threw a twi sted ce rd o ut

.

over the b ounds o f th e c ourt th e s ch o effen spat out an d ,

.
,

th e n a m e o f th e o utlaw was wri tten i n th e b o o k o f the

 T H E F E MG E R I C H TE
‘
15 9

conde m n ed A m ong the pe rsons thus c onde m ned were

.

n u mbered so me m en o f high station as the dukes H enry ,

and Louis o f B avari a John bishop o f Wurtzb urg , ,

and others All free gr afs an d s ch o effen were he n c eforth

.

under obligatio n to arrest and to execute senten c e upon

the outl aw ( but three me m bers o f the Feme were re
quired ) ; and exe c uting senten c e m eant h angin g th e c ul
prit fro m the nearest tree O ften the relatives of exe c ut ed
.

o utlaws o f th e Feme accu sed the executioners in the fre e

courts as assassins and the court could outlaw its o wn
,

m inisters for c arrying out its o wn decrees M an y we re .

the ab uses that arose assassinati on ) o f inno c ent p er so ns

, ,

for example Murderers too pretended to b e s ch o e ffe n

.
, ,

and h i gh wayfn en robb ed under p retens e of se questering

the prop erty o f p er s ons c onde m n ed b y j udgm en t o f the
Feme .

I f ever th e c onde m ned b eing a wissender and no t

, ,

having overstayed the s e en n i gh t o f gra c e app e ared in

’

c ourt with six compurgators he was s et free ; b ut i f he

con fessed his guilt or was convicted he was exe c uted
, ,

fort h with in the usual way The b an o f th e Feme c ould

.

never b e lifted ; b ut the num b er o f death sentences ac tu

ally carried out was says Lind ner so very small tha t o n e
'

, ,

m ight readily allow the Feme s decree o f o utl awry to b e ’

”
pronounced upo n him Pop e Nicolas V in 1 452 c o n
. .

d e mn ed the capital exe c utions do ne by th e Fe m e .

I f a m an under sentence o f death sh ould b e p roved

innocent b e fo reh e fell into the hand s o f th e exe cu tioners ,

he was if a wi ssender b rought b efore th e c ourt wi th a

, , ,

rop e around his neck we aring white gloves carryi n g a

, ,

green c ro ss and attended b y two s ch o e ffen ; fallin g on

,

his knees b efore the free graf h e pl eaded for m er c y The .

free graf ta king hi m b y the hand b ade hi m ri se re m oved

, , ,
 Fe m e s j udgment)
’
.

Many o f the co nde m ned una b l e to pro c ure th e ent ,

fe m un g ventured to app eal to th e Emperor t h e c amera

, , ,

the P o p e o r a Church Council

, B ut the F e m ge ri ch te .

never recognized su c h app eal s and p rotested strongly to ,

the Emp eror agai n st th e m They regarded the con .

“
dem med as dead an d said that no on e had the right to
,
”
awaken th e de ad The Emp eror Sigmund could think o f
.

n o m ean s o f saving a man under condemnation e x cept ,

by taki n g h i m into his o wn servi c e for th e Fe m geri ch te ,

did not c are to tak e m easure s against o ffi c i al s o f th e

Kaiser and the empire Women too as well as aged .
, ,

m en an d children were excepted from the cogni z an c e

,
“
o f the Fem e
.
also i n theory Jews for J ews wer e ser
, , , ,

vants of the Emp eror s b edch am b er ecclesiasti c s also

’
, ,

for they could in the M iddle Age b e tri ed only in the

s piritual c o urts ; but in the 1 5th century th e Feme dis
'
re g arded these p ro vi sions , an d su m mo n e d b oth J e ws
an d e cc lesiasti c s .

3 . TH E E N D O F TH E P M .

B ut th e I nitiates o f the Red Ea rth leag u e m et th e

fat e th at ove rtakes al l m ove m ents that la g b ehind th e
ti me s
. The Fe m e did by n o mean s render in th e days
o f fau stre ch t (fi s t right th e rule o f the stronger) s o
“ ”
-
,

great s e rvi c es as it has b een c redited with : never was

 S t o n em a s o n s L o d g es ’
of th e M i d d I e A ge s .

1 . M E D I E V A L A RC HIT E C T URE .

W e have already noted as a prom i nent c h ara cteristi c

o fthe M iddle Age this that freedom o f action except
, ,

so far as it interfered with the interests o f the cl er gy or

the nobles was left unrestri cted and that indi vidual s
,

for m ed so cial un i on s for the exercise o f it Thus we .

have seen these two dominan t classes uniting to fo rm

association s whi c h fi n al l v were c ro wned by th e i n s ti tu
'

tion o f th e military orders B ut the medieval world had

.

not followed the a i ts of p eace very long after th e st o rmy

times o f th e barb aria n invasion s b efore it b ecame c on
,

scious o f a need n o t only o f a union o f sword sm en an d

p enmen b ut also and still more o f a union o f handicrafts
,

me n True the M iddle Age could not rise to such an

.
,

intell e c tua l height as would enable it to see that work is

mo re to b e hono red than indolen c e pea c e than w , ar :

hence the worker had to take a sub ordinate place Of .

the a gri cultural laborer this is true without any res e rva
ti o n : b ut the artisan was more favo ra b ly situated as soo n
’

as the c ities had b egun to develop

:

B ut the p rogress made b y the artisans was due to

th eir union in corp oration s or gilds The c o n s ti tu
.

”
tion s o f the t rad e gil d s derive partly fro m t h e collegia
o f arti san s in anc ien t Rom e and p art ly fro m the m o
 TH E ST O N E M A S O N S 163

n asti c orders The collegi a h ad se c ret rites mysteries

.
, ,

but o f these we h ave no reliable information ; and it is

certai n that the medieval gilds had their myst eri es too ,
.

O f not all the gilds is this true ; in some o f the m the

secret c eremonial c onsisted only of p asswords an d
co u ntersign s by which craftsmen re c o gnized their fel ~

lows Th e mo st elaborate o f thes e mysteries was that o f

.

the Sto n e masons And the rea s on if this is obvious for

.
,

of all trad es that of the builder not only makes m o s t de

man ds on the thinking faculty involve s most det ails i s , ,

the first to require n e w methods o f facilitating op era

”
tions new wrinkle s an d these easily are made trade
,
.

secrets : b es i des as builders o f temples the masons a c

, ,

q uired a sa cred and m ystical ch aracter .

After the great m igration s the mason s trade had ’

its home in th e monasterie s As long as ar c hite c ture or .

the builder s art was thus under monasti c guidan c e it

’

a ffected the Romanic style— simp le c olumns roun ded ,

arches squat towers ; but when the monks fo rsoo k art

,

and scien c e i n th e l 1 th and 1 2 th centuries the c rafts

,
'
,

men no longer saw why they shoul d se rv e under the di

rection of men who had no taste for anything but wine ,

the c h ase an d war And so there aro s e unions o f mason s

, .

outside of the monasteries esp ecially in the citie s an d , ,

h enceforth the monasti c churche s were inferi o r to the

city chur c h es in size and sp lendor The c h ange in the .

circumstan c es of the builders unio ns which were now ’

,

sel f controlled was seen in the develo pment o f a new

-
,

styl e . Instead of the single co lumns rose clustere d col

umus sym bo l of free union and o f the stren gth that
, ,

c omes o f harm onious a ction b etween e quals ; in the pl ac e

o f rounded arches p ointed ones to sho w that th e force s
, ,

that con spired to raise the stru c ture did not s ac ri fic e their
 M Y S TE R I A

several individualities but freely contributed ea ch i t s

,

share towa rd th e attain ment o f the end ; in p lace of s quat ,

close towers, tall sp ires asp irin g to i n fi n i tu d e and op en ,

on all sides as much a s to say H ere we stand free and

, ,

o p en acknowled gi ng no laws b ut tho s e of

,

Th en came dec oratio n of the windo w arches whi c h ,

showed a di fferent design in each t h us ente ring a p ro test ,

against all stereotyp ed uniformity This was the true .

Germanic or Gothi c architecture the tri umph o f the free ,

Teutonic sp i rit which favors the unhindered d evelop

,

m en t a n d the unrestri ct e d indep enden c e o f individual

genius It wa s also th e expression of mysticism with
.
,

innumerable spirel ets strivin g heavenward to fi n d the '

D ivine H ence th e Gothic style has so mewhat o f gloom

.

and m el an c h o l v in i t s vast arches and narrow windows .

It invites the free spontaneous spirit o f man to soun d the

d ep ths o f hi s own nature and so is as adverse to o b
,

t ru s i ve dogmati sm as to reckless investigatio n and i l .

l umi n s m which disturb prej udices

,
H enc e as the .

Romanic style i s th e ar c hitecture o f the popedom so i s ,

the Gothic th at o f free churc h life ; and the n the archi

te c ture o f illumini s m foll o wed a s th e style o f the Renai s
s au ce .

2. TH E ST O N E M A SO NS ’
LO D GE S O F GE R M A N Y .

Th e meeting places o f th e masons unions in th e ’

c ities were the b oard huts that stoo d on the site o f

c h ur c h e s in p ro cess o f con str uc tion a ffo rdi n g sh elter to ,

th e mason s o r ston e cutt e rs while at work Th e se huts .

,

“ ”
o r lodge s we re at an early p erio d leagu e d togeth er
, ,

and the m embers of the leagu es in memory o f thei r ,

formerly havin g b ee n inmates o f monaste ries called o n e

‘
'
,

another B rother and thei r union s B rotherhood s ; th ey

,
 M Y S TE R I A ’

the other side o f the M oselle ; and to that o f Vienna ,

Austria H unga ry I taly Swi tzerlan d stoo d apart under

, ,
.

a separate m aster who h ad his s eat at Be rne ; Zu ri c h

,

afterward su cc eeded to the place o f B erne Th e m ason s .

o f Northern G ermany on the right bank o f th e Rhine

were only nomin ally me m
,

( Thuringia Saxony , , b e rs
of the league : as matter o f fact they were su b ordin ate
to non e o f these lodges b ut they adopted a spe c i al o r,
“

”
der for themselves at To rgau in 1 462 I n thes e regula .

tions we fin d m an y striking evidences o f th e sturdy good

sense o f the m asons For examp le they were fo rb id
.
,

den to disp arage d e c eased masters an d their works ; al so

to teach others their art fo r money for they ought t o ,

deal wi th e ach oth e r as friends ; one m aster was no t to

exp el a fellowcra ft ; to do so h e must not onl y take
c ounsel with t wo other masters b ut als o a maj ori ty o f ,

t h e fe l l o w c rafts m ust app ro ve ; differen c es b etween m as

ters should b e settled by arbitrators c hosen fro m m e m ~

b ers of the l e ague .

I n the b roth erhoods b rotherly c o m radeship pl ayed

an important p art Meetings were held monthly and
'

,
.

th e b usiness ended wi th a f east Ea ch Gene ral l odge .

yearl y held a gran d asse mbly ; an d th e f e stivals o f Saint

J ohn th e Baptist and of the s o c alled Four Crown ed
,
“
-

O nes were holidays for the l eague Ea ch meeting o f a

”
,
.

lodge was open ed an d c lo sed with questions an d an

s we rs o f the master and th e comrad e s To th e j ourn ey .

m an a s soon as he b e gan to travel were communi c ated

, ,

—
th e secret sign s of the b rotherho od password s grip , ,

et c With these h e identified himself as a brother m aso n

.

wherever h e went an d so had the right to learn the trade

,

gratis .O n co ming to a hut where stone cutting wa s -

going on h e fi rst shut the door so as to kno c k on it

, ,
 TH E ST O N E M A S O N S 1 67

after the masonic fashion ; then asked Are G erman ,

masons at work here ? Fo rthwith th e c omrades m ade

”

search through the hut shut the doors an d ranged them , ,

selves i n a right angle ; the visitor pla c ed h i s feet at righ t

”
angles saying God bless the worthy mason s ; t o which
, ,

“ ”
the answer was Go d thank the worthy masons and ,

so on q uestion s an d answers many among them

, ,

“ ” “
these : Who sent you forth ? My ho nore d mas
’
ter hono red sureties and th e whole honored masons
, ,
“ ” “
lodge at X What for ? For dis ci p lin e and righ t b e
.

havior ” “
W at is discipline and ri ght b ehav i o r
h .
?” “
Th e
”
usages of the craft and its customs .

O f the rites of initiation in those times we know

nothing : what Fallou has on that head regarding the
usages o f the G er m a n stonemason s i s simply borrowe d
’
fro m the Freem asons ritual o f the p resent time I t i s .

’
highly p robable that in the medieval mason s lo dges the
technical de tails of the craft and its sec rets p l ave d th e
chief p art in the c ere m onies o f initiation The medieval .

stone masons also e m ployed a s sym b ols o f their c raft the

hammer t h e c ir c le th e s quare etc also mysti c fi gures
, . , .
, ,

e g the flaming star (whi c h was th e Pythagorean p enta

gram or the magic hexagram—t wo triangles lai d across
. .
,

each other) the two pillars of Solomon s temp le wine ’

‘

, ,

skins e ars of corn interlace d cords etc

, ,
The only , .

other po int o f any c onsequence o f which we have c er

tain ty i s that th e po stulant swore to ob se rve s e c recy .

B ut th ere i s no doubt th at the drinkin g usages as handed

down to u s are authenti c Fo r example th e glass was .
,

never to b e han ded to the ban q ueter but set on th e table ,

before him ; th en h e must not to u c h it save wi th the

—
,

right h and covered with a white glove o r a white nap

kin wh e n a sp e c ial toas t i s drunk
,
.
 M Y S TE R I A ’

The masons broth erhoods were a distin c tly Chri s

’

“
tian institution : the members were required by the Or
”
dinan c es to co mp l y with all th e us age s o f the Ch ur c h .

This was a survival fro m the time when th e lodges had

their origin in monaste ri es Th e se c ts th at arose o n
.

eve ry side despite bloody p ersecutions an d the i l l um in ,

i sm spread abro ad b y them contributed to b ri ng a b out

,

a c h an ge in th e spirit o f the masons which was noticeable

in the i 4th and 1 5th c enturies : m any p erhap s a ma ,

j o ri ty
, o f th e m acquire d a s p iri t o f o p p osit i on to Roman
ecclesias t i cism and it was very plainly m anifested in their
,

sculpture M ore b itter satire cannot b e imagine d than

.

they emp loyed ; and what is mo st significant is that it

fo u nd expression in the c hurche s themselves Th us in .

a rep re sentatio n o f th e Last Judgment in the B ern e min ,

ster a p ope wearing a glittering ti ara o f gold is s een

tum b li n g headlong i n to H ell ; and in the vesti b ule th e
Wise and th e Foolish V irgin s are shown keeping vigil 1

b ut th e foolish on e s we ar c ardinal s hat s bi sh op s mitres ’

,
’

and priests c ap s The D ob eran Church in M ec k l e n

’
.

b urg shows a mill i n which church dogmas are ground

o ut. At Strasb urg was s een a p ro cession of all manner
o f bea s ts with blazing torc he s and an as s p erfo rming
the m ass ; at B randen b urg wa s s h o wru a fox p rea c hing
to a flo ck o f geese et c , .

I lluminism is t h e foe o f knighthood an d eccl e s i

as ti c i s m
,
fo r illumini sm kno ws no p rivilege o f b i rth or
-

o f rank o r of vo cation H ence in so far as such bo dies

.
,

a s the Templars an d Stonemasons favored illuminism ,

they undermined th e institutions to whic h they owed th eir

existen c e and so were wo rking fo r their own extinctio n
,
.

The down fall o f th e Stone masons b rotherhoo d had its

’

c auses even in the age b efore the Reform ation i n that ,

c ra fts m en fo rm stron g societies with secret c on stitutio n s ,

and usag es .

There are s everal so c ieti es of French c raftsmen

( c omp a gnonnages) b ut they are not distin g uished a c cord
,

ing to locality b ut accordin g to the supposed manner

,

o f thei r first in stitution and the b ran c h o f th e c raft whi ch

they repre sent They are divided first into t wo great
.
, ,

sections t h e Comp agnons d u D evoir ( c omp anion s of

,

duty) and th e Comp agnon s de la Li b erte ( comp anion s

,

o f libe rty) Th e fo rmer a re again divi ded into the En

.

fan t s de M aitre Jacque s ( Master James s children ) and

’

th e En fants de M aitre Sou b ise ( Master Soubise s c hildren ) ’

but th e latter commonly c al led themselves Enfants d c

Salomon B etween the Comp agnon s d u D evoir and the
.

Co mp agnons de la Li b erte as well as b etwe en the c hil ,

‘

dren of James an d tho se o f Soubise there exi sts the b it ,

t e re s t enmity whi c h i s m i rrored in their myth s and tra

d i ti o n s According to th e sto ry o f the D evoir co mrades
.
,

at the b uildin g o f Solomon s temple H iram master ’

, ,

b uild e r to mai ntai n di sciplin e and order among t h e wo rk

,

men institute d so c ieties with sp eci al passwo rds an d secret

,

ritual B ut that act was th e o c c asion of his death for

.
,

so me workmen slew him b ecause he refused to gi ve them

the countersign o f th e masters : thos e evildo ers were the .

fou nders o f th e Co m p agn onnage de la Liberte ! Now :

amo ng the fa ithful workmen were two Gaulis h m asters ,

James stonemason an d So ub ise c arp enter : these after

, , , ,

th e c ompleti o n o f th e te m p le returned ho m e an d landin g , , ,

one at M arseille s th e other at B o rde aux founded so ci e

, ,

tie s after th e p attern o f those instituted b y H iram ; an d

these societies littl e b y littl e admitted craftsmen ot h e r
, ,

than b uilders b ut the two b odies live d in p erpetu al h a

,

t re d o f ea c h other ea c h c lai m i ng p ri o ri ty
, E ach of the m .
 TH E ST O N E M A S O N S 171

refers i ts o wn institution (on what ground s is u n

known ) to the years 558 B C and 550 B C resp ecti vely . . . .
, ,

and e ac h po ssesses authenti c do cuments in p ro o f t hough ,

none h as ever seen them Th e Liberte tradition i s the .

same as that of the D evoir only the respe ctive p a rts o f ,

the chief actors are reversed I n the bo so m o f La

—
.

Li b erte are gathered four crafts ston emas o ns c arp en ,

ters j oiners l oc ksmiths Th e D evoir includes 2 8 c rafts

, ,
.
,

and o f these the children o f Soubise comp ri se the c ar

p e n t e rs ro o fe
,
r s and p lasterers
r
; t o t h e c hildren o f J ames
b elong the stonem asons j oiners locksmiths and 2 2 other , , ,

trades introduced i n later times b u t all conne c ted with

, ,

ho us eb u ilding except hatmakers All other c ra ftsmen

,
.

whos e work i s the production o f c lothing and foodstu ffs

are excluded from the comp agn onnages and form sep a ,

rate societi es o f their o wn The sh o emakers an d the .

bakers in p articular are h el d in contempt and p ers e

, , ,
'

c u t e d in every way by t h e compagnons ; while among

.

James s chil d ren even t h e memb ers o f th e building crafts

’

de s p ise their j un iors (trades o f less ancient lineag e) and ,

in their i g noran c e derive th e word com p agno n fro m

“
comp as ( a pair o f comp asses) the symbol o f the art ,

o f building ; hence in dae i r eye s the other trades are quite

”

destitute of art or skill .

Even craftsmen o f th e same trade but b elonging to ,

di fferent leagues wh ether D evoir or Lib e rte oppo se each

, ,

other in every way Th e carpe n ters o f Pari s h ave mad e

.

an end o f thi s strife by dividing the co smopolitan city

b etween th ems elves the com p agn o n s d u D evoir t aking
,

the left and thos e o f La Lib erte the right b ank o f th e

Seine W ith the other trades and i n t h e provin ces the
.

'
cas e is worse t h e ho stile leagu es o ften en aging i n
,
g .

street fights an d p itc h e d battles Even in the same trad e .

and in th e same league hostilities o ften b reak o ut .

 M Y S TE R I A .

O f the Fren c h corp oration s o f c raftsmen tho se of th e ,

b uilding trades especially the stonemasons p ro b ab ly

, ,
’
arose about the same time as the German maso ns lod ges :
at least th ere existed in the M iddl e Age in south e rn
France a so c iety o f b ridge b uilders wh o for th e behoof
,
-
, ,

o f p il g rims to the H oly Lan d an d wayfarers in general

-
,

maintained b ridges road s and inns The earliest, .

known charter was granted in 1 1 8 9 b y Pope Clement , ,

I I I wh o like hi s third p rede c essor Luci u s I I I took

.
, , ,
.
,

them under hi s p rotection As emblem they wore o n .

the b reast a p ointed hammer Th e other co mp agnon .

~

nages c an sho w n o authenti c record s o f earlier date than

the 1 4th c entury The mo st an cient o f th em i s the soc i
.

ety o f the Dyers dating from 1 3 30 Admission to th ese

, .
‘

societies involves many c ere m o nie s derived fro m th e

ritual of th e Catholic Chur c h ; h en ce th e Tailo rs and ,

Sho e makers were in 1 645 denounced to the e c clesi asti cal

trib unals and their meetings forbidden b y th e theo l o gi cal
,

fac ul t y o f P aris .

4 . TH E E N G‘ I J I S H
‘

O
S T N E MA S O NS .

W hile G erm an so c ieti e s o f handi c raft s m en were

th e
oppressed by th e imp erial power and the French so c ie ,

ties lived i n o b s c urity th e Englis h m ason s lodges on th e,

’

contrary attained high imp o rtan ce

,
T ra d ition tra c e s .

English ( operative) masonry b ack to King Alfred th e

Great (8 7 1 and his successor Athel stan who s e , ,

youn ger son Edwin i s said to have cal le d meetings o f

, ,

masons an d to h ave given laws to their lodges

,
H OW .

ever that m ay b e it is c ertai n that i n En gla nd as i n

, ,

Germ any impo rtant edifices were erected b y the cl ergy

, ,

and th at D unstan , ar c hbis h o p o f Can t erb ury was an ac ,

 A s tr o l o g e r s an d A l c h em i s ts .

Th e e p och o f the Refo rmation c losed with the re

co ve ry to th e Catholi c Church o f a large prop orti o n of

i t s lost territory through the labors o f the Jesuits L ong .

b efo re th e Thirty Y ears War th e zeal fo r religious c ree ds

’

h ad died out ; p e 0p 1e had grown weary of theological

strifes though they h ad littl e ta ste for oth er serious mat
,

ters an d thus it cam e ab out that in th e transition fro m the

l ot h to th e 1 7th century such p seudo scien c es as Alchemy -

and Astrolo gy had great vogue The study o f Astrology .

h ad fo r its ai m only fame and g l o rv and therefore was . . ,

p ursu ed op enly ; while Alche m y being inspired mai n ly b y

avarice had its la b oratories in dark cellars and made a
, ,

stri c t secret o f its processes .

H ence it was natural that Al ch e my or th e p retended

, ,

art of producing gold and silver should give rise to ‘

,

secret association s especially as it employed sundry

,

m ystic theosophic and ka bb alisti c mean s fo r attaining

, ,

its e nds such as were u sed by th e p u p ils and follo wers of

,

t h e famou s Th eophrastu s B o m b a s t u s Paracelsus re fo r ,

'
.

er o f th e medical art and one of th e most ze alous o f

,

astronom ers an d alch emists That was the era o f a J a c ob

.

B oehme shoemaker and philo soph er who though he

, , ,

h ad non e of the a c c urs t h un ge r for th e pre c iou s metals

“ ”
,

gave an i m petus to fatuous investigation s of divine things .

th e b eginning o f the 1 7th century a multitude o f

writings a b o ut this mystic and superstitious b u s iness ap
 A ST R O L O GE R S AND A L C H E M ISTS 1 75

p e are d ,
o and contra
pr I n this battle o f g o o s e qui l l s the
.

Lutheran theolo gi an J ohn Valentine A n d raea o f Tueb i n

,

gen (b 1 58 6 d.
,
took a ve ry p ro minent part
.
.

A n d rc ae in 1 6 1 4 con c eived the thought o f playing a tri c k

on the se m y sti c s by p ublishing two satirical pie c es in ,

whi c h was given an ac c ount o f an alleged se c ret so ciety

design ed to p romote studies o f that kind ; to thi s society
he gave a name suggested by th e design o f his o wn fa m ily
seal ( a Saint A n drew 9 c ross with ro ses at the ends of its
"
,

fo u r arm s)— Ro sicrucians “

These writings Fama Fra.
,

”
t e m i t at i s Ro s eae Cru ci s ( Fame o f the B rotherhood o f th e
“ ”
Rosy Cro ss) and Confessio Frat e rn i tati s ( Confession of
Faith o f th e B rotherhood ) traced the p retended societ y
back to a monk named Chri stian Ro senkreu z who , ,

in the 1 4th an d 1 5th centuri es vi s te d the holy l and , ,

was instru ct e d i n th e occult s c ien c es in the East founde d

—
,

among his fellow monks the brotherhoo d c alled by

'

his n am e an d died at the age o f 1 06 years

, .
After .

a lap se o f 1 20 years in his tom b which in ac c ordance

, , ,

with the rule o f the o rder was kept se c ret b ut whi c h was
, ,

a magnifi c ent stru c ture in a vault was fo und resting o n ,

his incorrup t b od y a p archment book c ont aining the c o n

s t i t ut i o n and th e s ecrets o f the order A later document .

“ ”
Ch y m i s c h e H ochzeit Chri stiani Rosenkreuz (al c h ym i c
nuptial s o f Christian Ro s enkreuz) which appeared i n ,

1 6 1 6 spa n the st o ry o ut to greater lengt h

, Now so .
,

great was the alchemisti c fu rore o f th at time th at the tal e

pa s sed for solemn ! truth an d a swarm o f writings fol ,

lowed championing or b attling against th e So c iety o f th e

,

Ro sicrucians To the opponents of the Rosy Cross b e

.

longed th e theolo gi ans who sni ffed hereti c al tenets i n th e

,
“
do cuments and t h e medi c al men who scent e d danger
.

to their close gild ; while the al ch emists and parti c ularl y

'

,
 M Y S TE R I A '

th e f ollowers o f Para c elsus in q uired dili g ently aft er the

,

Rosicrucians and m ai n tain ed th e auth enti c ity o f their

,

Con stitution . No r was there la c k o f atte m pts at inter

p r e t i n g in a mystical sense the sym b ol o f the Ros y Cro ss :
it signi fi ed H oliness j oined with S i l en ti o u s n e s s ; it typ e
fl e d the rose — colored B loo d o f Ch rist po ured out on th e
cross . Asto unded by the war o f no wits against little wits - -

o cc asioned unintentionally b y himself A n d reae tried to ,

undo the m ischief by putting forth two p ie c es , M yth o “

” “
logia Christiana and Turri s B abel to p rov e that the
, ,
’

whol e thing was a j oke that the B rotherho o d was a fi c

,

tion and non — exist e nt B ut as he neglecte d to na me him

.

s e lf as author o f th e first two writings in vai n did he pour ,

out on th e Ro s i c ru c i an i s t i c p artisan s all the vitriol o f his

conte mpt I n vai n w ith a V i ew to lead m en s fancy in
. ,
’

oth er dir ec tion s did he found a Christian B roth erhoo d

,
“ ”

for the purp ose o f p urging religio n of ab uses and plant

i n g true p iety Th e in sanity p ersisted Alch emy b are
. .
,

l y a lluded to in A n d reae s writings b e c a m e th e su b j e c t

’

o f a multitu d e o f n ew b oo ks whos e authors gave o u t that

,

they were m e m b ers of the alleged society The incid ent .

was al s o turne d to account by adventurers and b y fac .

tions o f every sort ; th e thin g went so far that in th e

Rhineland and th e Low Countries se c ret al c hemi s ti c s o
c i e t i e s we re founded under the na m e o f Rosi c r ucian s ,

which also took the styl e Fraternitas Roris C o o ti

'

( B rotherhood of B oiled D ew) that i s o f th e Ph ilosoph ers

’

, ,

Ston e ; b ut these so ci eties had no general organizati o n ‘

a m ong the m selv e s M any a Wi ght was c hou sed out o f

.
'

h i s m oney b y th ese sch e m e rs Ther e were b ranch s o .

c ieties in G erman y and Italy I n England D r Rob e rt . .

Fludd an arden t mystic and alch emist p ropagated th e

, ,
'

sin gul ar o rder b y p u b lishin g a n umb er o f writings W ith .

 Ri s e an d Co n s ti t u ti o n of F r e e m a s o n ry .

1 . R IS E O F F R E E M A S O N R Y .

The Reformation an d th e events c onn ec ted with it

"

h ad given p eopl e m u ch matter of meditation B ut th e .

intol erance sho wn by the authorities an d by th e members

of b oth creeds in m altreatin g and persecutin g th eir o p
,

p o n e n t s so,ali enated all human e minded men that secretly

peop le b egan to c are neither for the interest o f Protestant
i sm nor for t h at of Catholicism and in the common ,

brotherhood o f mankind to d i sregard all di fferen c es o f

“ ”
creed I lluminism which h ad b een good form though
.
,

in a frivolou s s ense among the Te mplars and in a satiri c ,

se ns e among th e Stonemason s too k a more dignified ,

shape no t of incredulity b ut o f earn est desire to b u ild up

‘

, ,

and to this cons u mmatio n th e English m asb n s con

trib uted materiall y I n En gl an d people h ad had enough
.

o f strife ov e r cre eds enough of p ersecution o f Protestant s

,

under B loo dy M ary and o f Catholics under th e i n

“ ”

flexible Elizab eth and they longed for toler a n ce

,
They .

derived th e p rinci p le s of toleran ce from re nascent lite ra

ture an d art which made s u ch imp ression that as in an
,

earlier age the Ro mani c archite c ture s o now the Gothi c , ,

a s the exp ression o f a definite pha se o f b elief lo st its fol ,

lowing and the s o called Augustan o r Renaissan c e

“

—
-
,

style an i mitation o f the an cient Grecian an d Roman

s tyle s — wo n the d ay wi th all who knew an ything o f art .

1 78
 FRE E M A S O N R Y 179

Th e Renaissan c e style was b rought to En gland by the

p ainter Inigo Jones w h o h a d le arn ed his art in I taly and
, ,

who under James I b e ca m e in 1 607 superintendent gen

,
.
,

eral of roya l constru ctio ns and at the same time president,

o f the Freemas ons whose lodges h e reformed I nstead

,
.

of the yearly general meetings h e instituted quarterly

meetings : such masons as adhered to th e manual c raft
and cared nothing for intellectual aims were p ermitted
to go back into th e trade gilds ; while on th e other hand , ,
’
men of tal ent not belonging to the mason s trade but ,

who were interested in architec ture and in the aspira

tions of t h e time were taken into th e lodges under the
,
“ ”
name of accep ted brethren Under the alte red Ci r.

c u m s tan ce s a new b old s p irit awoke a mong the Free

,

masons and it found suppo rt in th e sentiment o f b rother

,

l i n e s s irres p ective o f creeds the n everywhere p revalent

, , .

Thi s dispo sition o f minds was p ro moted in an i n cal c u

lable degree by the pictures drawn by Sir Thomas M ore
“ ” “
in his Uto p ia and by Sir Fran ci s B acon in his New
,

Atlanti s o f countries existing indeed onl y in thei r

, , ,

i m agination b u t whic h p resented ideal conditions su c h as

, ,

enlightened mind s might desire to realize up on this earth ;

also by the writings of the B ohemian p reacher Amo s ,

Ko mensky (latinized Comenius) who during the Thirty , ,

Y ears W ar was ex p elled from his country b y t h e parti

’

sans o f the Emperor and came to England in 1 64 1 ,

writings that condemned all churchly bigotry and pleaded

fo r c osmop olitanism As men o f the most diverse vie ws
.
,

p oliti cal and religious were in the lodges the order suf
, ,

fe re d severely d u ri n g t h e civil commo tions o f th e first

and se cond revol u tion but on the return o f p eace it more
,

than recovered lost p restige The rebuilding o f Lon .

don and in p artic u lar St Paul s Cathedral

, . added ’
 ’

M Y S TE R I A

greatly to the fa m e o f English masonry? Sir Chri stopher

Wren b uilder o f Saint Paul s was of th e b roth erhood
,
’

,
.

B ut about the time of the deat h of William I I I .

owing to sla c kness of oc cu patio n i n the b uildin g trades ,

the F re e m aso n lodge s b ecam e conscious o f a serious de

i
fec t in the r o rganization Th e memb ers who
. were prae
ti cal ly connected with the op erative craft of masonry were
ste adily de c lini ng in numb er and th e ac c epted masons
“ ”
,

had becom e the maj ority The lo dges therefore had .

, ,

come to b e a sort o f club s an d thi s tran sfo rmation sp read

,

rap idly in London .

Anoth er influence that cam e in to a ffect th e develop

ment o f English freemasonry was the di ffusion of dei stical
O p inion s by Locke s school in p h ilo sophy Though the
’
.

lodges th en as now made loud p rotestation s o f ortho

, ,

doxy they could not withdraw themselves out o f th e

,
“

deisti c al atmosphere o f the pe riod .

The resultan t o f these di fferent influen ce s gained th e

upp er hand in the clu b s o r lodges o f the q uondam mason s ,

now Freemasons They now aimed at a more thorough

.

b etterm ent of mo rals on a conservatively deistical basis .

B ut th e necessity o f a clo ser organization was recognized .

Two th eologian s Theop hilus D e s agu l i e rs (wh o was both

,

a naturalist and a mathemati cian ) and James Anderson ,

to gether with George Payn e anti quary were the fore , ,

mo st men of those who i n th e year 1 7 1 7 e ffe c ted th e

, ,

union of the four lodge s of masons in Lo ndon in one

Grand Lodge ari d p ro cure d th e election o f a Grand M as
,

ter and two Grand Warden s thus instituting the Free ,

m asons Unio n as it exists at this day ; W h at Je rusalem

’

i s to Je w s an d Me c c a to M ohammedans and Rome to ,

C atholics that London is to Freemasons

,
.

H en c eforth the mason s of Englan d were n o l o nger

 M Y S TE R I A

p ro c eeds . Po litical p arties al so were not re garded

, ,

among Freemason s : one p ri nci p l e alone was co mmon to

l —
the m a l love of country resp ect for law and o rder de
, ,

sire for the co mmon wel fare .

I nas m uch as th e league must prize unity one of ,

t h e first decrees o f the Grand Lodge was one declaring

’
illegitimate all lo dges created witho ut its s anction H ence .

to thi s day no lodge s are reco gnized as s u ch which are

not founded origina lly and mediately from London D e .

s p ite this restri ction there s p rung up even in th e first

years after the institution o f the Grand Lodge a multi
tude o f new lodges which re ceived authorization fro m th e
,

Grand Lodge . With these numerous a cc ession s th e

.

need of gene ra l laws b ecame pre ssing and at request of ,

the Gran d Lodg e And erso n on e of the founders under

, , ,

too k to comp are th e existing statutes o f the o rde r with

the ancient record s an d usages o f t h e Stonemason s an d ,

to co mp ile them in on e b ody of law Th e result was .

th e B ook o f Constitutions whi c h i s s till th e gro und

“
,
.

work of F reemasonry It ha s been p rinted repeatedly

.
,

and is accessibl e to every one Anot he r foundation stone .

o f Freemasonry was laid by the Gran d Lodge in 1 72 4 ,

“
when it in stituted the committee for b en e fi c e n c e thu s ,

giving play to on e o f th e most ad mirable features o f the

o rder— that o f gi vi n g help to th e n eedy and unfortunate
'

whether within the orde r or witho u t .

The inner o rganiza tion o f t h e o rder fi n ally was com , ,

p l e t e d by the introduction of the D egre es Brother s .

who had filled the post o f M asters on retiring fro m o i ,

fi c e did not return to the grad e o f Fellows but consti

, ,

t u t e d a new degre e that of M asters : on the other han d

, ,

newly admitted memb ers were no longer fo rthwith Fel

lows b ut only app rentices : thes e degrees were i nstituted
,
 FR E E MA S O NR Y 1 83

p ro b a b ly in 1 720 ; at th at time no other higher degrees

were known Th e right to pro mote a p p rentices to the
.

degree of Fellow an d Fellows to that o f M aster pre

, ,

vi o u s l y a function of the Grand Lodge was a c co rded to ,

the s u bo rdinate lo d ges in 1 72 5 .

Soon Freemason ry sp read ab road Lodges aro se .

i n all civilized co untri es fo unded by English mason s or

,

by foreigners who had received masonic initiatio n in En g

l a nd ; these lodges when su fficiently numerous united
. ,

u nder Gra nd Lodges The Gran d Lodge o f I reland

.

was create d in 1 7 3 0 those o f Scotl and an d of Fran ce

,

in 1 7 3 6 a p rovincial lodge o f England at H am b urg in

,

1 7 40 the Unity Lodge of Frankfort o n the M ai n in 1 742

,
- - -
,

and in the same year a lodge at Vienn a the Grand ,

Mother Lodge of the Three World sp h ere s at B erlin in -

1 744 etc
, . A lodge was instituted at B o st o n Mas s in , ,

I 7 3 3 and fro m B oston the order sp read to Philadelphia

,
.

Thus in the space o f thirty years from its o rigin free

masonry e xi sted in all civilized lands and so d id not lag ,

b ehind its o p posite pole Jesuitism in resp ect o f rap idity

, ,

of propa gation O pp osite p oles these two so cieties are

.
,

for each p ossesses p recisely tho se q ualities which the .

other lack s Th e Jesuits are strongly centralized th e

.
,

freemasons only confed erated Jesuits are contro lled b y

. .

’
one man s will Freemasons are under maj o rity rule
, .

Jesuits bottom morality in expediency Free mas o ns in ,

regard for the wellbeing o f mankind Jes u its recogn ize

. .

only one cre ed Freemasons hold in resp ect all hones t

,

convi ctions Jesuits seek to b reak do wn p erso nal inde

.

p en d e n c
, e Free m ason s to b uild i t up .
 2
. C O N STITUTI O N O F TH E OR DE R .

The Society o f Fre e masons b ecause o f its histo ri c ,

propagation through sets fro m the English sto ck and

,

through further budding an d b ranching o f th ese fo rms ,

no unita ry o rganic whole I t has no c entral or supreme .

authority no co mmon head wh ether acknowled ged or

, ,

unacknowledged Its sole unity consists in a c ommon

.

name and a co mmo n end in th e common reco gn ition ,

sign s i n agreement as to the general intern al polit y an d

, ,

in a general unifo rmity o f usages th o ugh t h ese sho w ,

marked di fferences also B ut very di ffere nt b etween one

.

country a n d another are the methods employed fo r at

taining th e ends o f Freemasonry ; di fferent also is the o r
a n i z at i o n o f th e lodge and th e a rrangement o f the work
g .

Regardin g the co mmon end and aim of Freemasonry

there is l a c k o f p erfec t d efi n i t en es s In this regard Free .
-
c

masonry p re sents a strong contra st to its rival Jesuiti sm

“

, ,

which has only too cl ear perception o f its aim B ut so .

muc h i s a b so lutely indisp utable that th e end o f Free ,

masonry i s neither religio us nor p o liti c al b ut p urely

‘

moral . Freem as onry l abors to pro mote the wellbein g

”
o f mankind : here al l Freemasons are at o n e though ,

so me o f them may lay more stress o n material well

b eing so me o n purely mo ral some on spiritual welfare
,
'
, ,

while a gai n o th e rs will con sider the wellb eing o f the

whole and still others the wellb eing o f individual s as the
, ,

o b j ect of the society B ut a s th e s e several views are by

.

no means mutually exclusiv e b ut in fact complementary , , ,

of on e another this l ack o f definition in th e end of the

,
'

so ci ety cannot b e any hindrance to the so ciety s b en e fi ’

cent labors . And as matt e r o f fact the society has

wro ught much goo d Not only do e s it help its own
.
 M Y S TE R I A

No do ubt m any p ersons are desirous of k n o wi ng

what takes p la c e o n the admission of a would b e Free -

mason . Fo r the sake of such p erson s it m ay b e re

marked that thes e ceremonies are di fferent in di fferent
s yste m s and that con se quently an expo sition o f t h e m
,

would re quire a more than ordinarily voluminous wo rk ;

that furthermo re when communicated in writing th ey
, , ,

lo se all the e ffe ct they have wh en employed in the a c t o f

i n itiation ; an d that th ev would b e likely t o m ak e n o i m
'

pression whatever o n one who s ho uld desire to know

them o ut of m ere curiosity .

In th e cere m onial of Free m asonry symbol s or e m

Ll e m ati c devi c es hol d a p ro minent place O f these th e .

’
most ancie n t are b o rrowed fro m th e stonemason s lodges ,

’
and therefore rep resent mason s tools and i mplements ;
, ,

other sy mb o lic device s are reminiscent o f various secret

so c i eties or o f e cc lesiasti c al rites B ut both in sym b olism
.

an d in c eremonial many a b use s have in the course of ,

ti me crept in and innovation s have b een mad e which

, ,

mar th e native simplicity o f the order and divert it fro m

the p ursuit o f more useful ends "

The re c ognition signs the c e remonial and the sym

, ,

b ols are the only secrets in Freemason ry Mysteries .

,

that i s to say knowledge of things that are hidden fro m

,

all o ther p ersons the o rder ha s none and the cl aims that
, ,

have b een m ade in that regard are witho ut foundation .

D iscretion with resp e c t to the business o f the lodges an d

,

t h e m em b ership Freemason ry enjo ins in common with

,

many other so cieties ; and so far th e o rder i s a close

s o c iety o r a p rivate so c iety and not a s ecret so c i ety
, , Of .

s e c ret ma c hinations and intrigues such as are hatched in

the Jesuit o rder and in th e secret political asso c iations of

o u r t i m e th ere i s no trace in Freemas onry
, .
o
 FR E E M A S ON R Y
'
18 7

The m asoni c organization o f ea ch co untry exists for

itself and in entire independence of other c ountries A
'

m in o r union of Freemasons consisting o f memb ers all , ,

o f who m as a rul e attend its meetings is called a Lodge

, , ,
.

The place ( city town village in which there are

, , ,

one or more lodges is called O rient ; the presiding o fficer

o f a lodge is the Master and wit h him are asso ciated two ,

W ardens b esides oth er o ffi c ers Th e asse m blage o f the .

memb ers a s well as the place in which they meet is

, ,

called a lodge A lodge may b e an isolated one that

.
,

is entirely independent ; but that i s rarely th e c as e ; as a

,

rule e ach lodge belongs to a unio n of lo dges called ,

Gran d Lodge o r Gran d O rient The several lodges of

,
.

such a union work sometimes o n o ne co mmon system ,

so metimes on di fferent systems Again th e grand .

,

lodges di ffer greatly in their organization As a rul e .

they have a Grand M aster with several Gran d O fficers

,
, ,

and these are either elected by delegates fro m all the as

so ciate lodges or are named by certain s p ecially p riv
,

ileged lodges The freest masoni c constitution is that

.

o f Switzerland adopted in 1 8 44 : there the seat of the

,

Grand Lodge is chan ged i n every five ye ars I n mon .

arc hi cal countries the royal residen ce city i s usually the

seat o f th e Grand Lodge There are in Germany eight .

grand lodges whose j u risdictions overlap one another so

, ,

that o ften there may b e in a give n c ity several lodges b e

longing to as many di fferent gran d lodges : b ut t h at doe s
no p rej udice to fraternal harmony France B elgium .
, ,

S p ain an d B raz il have each two grand lo dges each with

, ,

a distin c t syste m o f ritua l B ut i n H oll and Switzerland .

, ,

D en m ark Sweden England Scotland Ireland H un

, , , , ,

gary Italy Portugal and Greec e al l the lodges of e ach

, , ,

c o untry b elong to one grand lo dge I n ea c h o f the states .

 M Y S TE R I A ’

o f the A m eri c an Union there i s a grand lodge and the ,

same i s to b e s ai d of th e l arger states of Central and

South Ameri c a In the B ritish colonie s and depend
.

en ci e s India the Cap e Australasia etc the lodges are

, , , .
, ,

under th e j uri sdictio n o f th e Grand Lodge o f the United

Ki n gdom : B ritish America however has its own Grand , ,

Lodge The grand lodge s o f the world number more

.

th an 90 th e subordinate lodges m ore than

, and
the m em b ers p erhap s one million reckoning only thos e
, , ,

in good an d regular standing ; b ut this i s only a rough

estimate ; precise figures are not obtaina b l e in default o f
a unita ry o rgani zation .

3 . TH E L O DG E .

Th e several lodge s are na m ed after p er so ns virtues , ,

ma soni c emb lems historic events et c I n America and

, , .

England they are often desi gnated b y num b ers indicative

o f th e time o f their foundation A lodge may b e erected .

wherever a certain num b er o f resident a c cepted b rethren ,

among the m at l east three masters desire to e ffect ,

an organization a n d obtain the approval of the grand

,

lodge having j urisdiction An indispensable re q uisite

for a lodge is a wel l tiled apartment—one well p ro
.

t e ct e d against the intrusion of outsiders spies or eaves , ,

droppers Usuall y th e lodge i s a s quare o blon g h all o r

.

roo m furnish ed after the m anner o f the time and country

, ,

and decorated with th e masonic insignia The attire o f .

t h e assem b led b rethren i s usually black with white gloves ,

( e mb le m atic o f han ds not soiled by unj ust gain ) and a

sho rt white leather apro n a m emento o f the stonemason s
,

and of th e o bligation to labor The u se of other insignia .

and o f tokens to indi c ate the ran k o f the o fficials i s left

to the dis c retio n o f the several lodges I n Englan d an d .
 M Y S TE B I A

a re
'
also known as the Saint John degrees and the lodge s ,

as lodges o f St J ohn the Baptist b eing the cho sen p a

.
, .

tron o f the o rder as he was also o f th e medieval stone

,

mas o ns and o f th e Templars The fact that th e masons .

are u nder the p atronage o f Saint Joh n the B a p tist i s i n ~

t e rp ret e d t o mea n tha t the o rder i s the fore ru nner o f a

hap p ier condition o f mankind as John was the forer u n ,
~

ner of J esus O n the fea st o f Saint John (J une 2 4t h ) or

.

th ereab out in t h e year 1 7 1 7 th e first meeting of the

, ,

Grand Lodge o f London was held ; and on that sam e day

there i s held in ev ery masoni c lo d ge th rougho ut the
world a festival at o n ce grave and
All ma les who hav e attained legal maj ority an d ,

wh o are o f go o d rep ute an d their own masters are eligible ,

fo r admission to th e o rder without regard to r ac e sta , ,

tion c alling o r creed

, Unfortunately Freemasons ha v e
,
.
,

not always and eve rywhere b een free fro m antiquated

pre j ud ices in the admissio n o f new m emb ers : D own to
thi s day lodges i n th e United States s h ut th eir doors in
th e face o f m en o f colo r i e of those who are n o t whit es ; ,
. .
,

and man y German Danish , and Swedish lodges both , ,

grand and p articu lar exclude Jews ; i n consequence , ,

there are very man y lodges o f colored men and in Ger

many some Jewi sh lodges wh erea s in the British col ,

o n i e s brethren o f all colors and c r ee d s work to gether in

th e same lodges .

Wo men and c hildren are not alto g eth er shut o ut

*
W e ma k e no m en t i o n h ere o f th e s o -c a l l e d hi g h er de
gr e es ,
”
h h
w ic ar e , i n fa o t , b ut a m a te ur i s h fa b ri ca t i o n s , wi t h .

o ut a ny p ra c ti cal aim . Th ey a re d i s t a s t e fu l f o rm s o f t h e t ru e
.
,

h
fre e m a s o n ry ; t e y d i ffe r a s t o n a m e a n d nu m ber b et o ne

t h
s y s em an d an o t e r ; a n d t h e t r u e l o d g e s o f Sain t J o h n free s

ma s o n s rec o gn i ze no s ue h “
s up e rg ra d u a t i o n .
”
Th e hi gh er de
g r ee s are co n si d e re d in ano t h er p ar t o f this
. wo rk .
 FR E E M A S O N R Y 19 1

fro m Freemasonry everywhere I t is the al mo st u niversa l .

c u stom to admit before the att ainment of maj ority ma

, ,
~

son s sons who may have b een instructed by t heir fathers

’

as to the meaning of Freemasonry There are also sp e .

c i al meetin g s which the wives the b etrothed t h e si sters

, , ,

and the da u ghters of masons are p ermitted to attend B u t .

we have an un mas o n i c excrescen c e and an abus e when as ,

in French lodges with doors op en to the p ublic a m a

, ,
~

soni c baptism an d a masonic marriage c eremony are p er

formed with s p ecial ri t ual ; still mor e wo rthy o f repro b a
’
tion are the Adoption lodges or Wo men s lodges insti ,

t ut e d at v ario us times in France : in these wo men were

initiated with a ceremonial adapted to the occ asion and ,

were p ro m oted to various degrees ; thus before the Revo ,

l u ti o n th e luckless Prin cess de L amb alle in the tim e o f ,

Na p ol eo n the Emp ress Josephine an d under the Re s t o ra ,

tion th e D uc hess de Laro ch e fo u c aul d were presidents o f

lodges I n other qu arters also the cry h as been raised
.

for th e ad mission o f th e fair sex : but ne edle s s to say that

such an innovatio n would very se riou sly c omp romise the .

gravity th e di gnity and the secre c y o f the order an d

, , ,

breed tro u b le b oth in the lodges an d i n t h e families o f the

,

memb ers .O n c e a woman was unwittingly admitted

t o th e se c rets of Freemasonry Elizab et h Aldwo rth .
,

daughter of the Irish V iscount D o n n erai l e in who se ho use ,

a lodge used to hold its meetings on one o cc a sion in her , ,

young girlhoo d p eeped through a c rack in a partitio n and

,

witne ssed the admi ssion of a mason She was caught i n .

the a c t and to p revent b etrayal was herself initiated I n

, , , .

her after life she was noted for her acts o f b enevolen ce ,

and once wearing the m asoni c togs he aded a public walk

, ,

o f t h e brethre n The Emp ress Maria Theresa also it i s

.
,

said dress ed in m an s apparel on c e stole into a l o dge i n

,
’
,
19 4 M Y S TE R I A

w oman .Th ere were Esperan c e lodges in several cities of

Germany ; at Go ett i n g e n th e university students j oin ed the
ord e r for the sake o f th e refinement o f mann e rs got from
asso c iation w i th the l adies There i s some doubt as to th e .

true c haracter o f the O rder o f Saint Jonath an (after

“ ”

“
ward of Saint Joachim) q u alified as fo r True and Per ,

” “
feet Friendshi p o r fo r the D efense of th e H onor o f
,

”
D ivine Provid e n ce I ts end would seem to have been
.

to p ropagate belief in the Trinity to refrain from th e ,

dan c e ( esp eci ally the waltz) and fro m games o f chance ; ,

al so (this fo r t h e femal e members) to nurs e their o wn

children I t was fo u nded by some German nobles and
.
,

its first gran dmaster wa s Chri stian Fran cis D uk e o f ,

Saxe Coburg Though Protestants an d Catholics w ere

-
.

mem b ers o f th e o rder it took on a strongly Catholi c ,

ch ara c ter and in I 78 5 adopted th e style o f the knightly

,
“

Secular Chapter o f the O rder o f Saint Joa c him the b les s ed ,

Father o f th e H oly Virgin M ary M other o f O ur Lord ,

”
and Savior Jesus Christ (ri tt e rl i ch we l tl i c h e s o rd en s k a b ~

p itel von St Joachim etc ) Th e so cie ty p assed q uietly

.
,
.

out o f exi stence The O rder of the Pilgrims Chain

“
.
’

( Kette der P i l g ri m e ) in Germany and ,

D en mark who se ,

memb ers b elonged to the high er classes had for its motto ,

“
Co urtesy Ste adfastness and Silence (Wil l faeh ri gk e i t
,
”
, ,

B e s t ae n d i gk e i t Still schweigen ) and wore in a b utton

, ,

hole a white rib b on bearing the i nitial letters

o f t h o se three words The mem b ers male and .
,

fe mal e were cal led Favorites ( favoriten ) ; to admit

,

a new memb er was to ad d a link to the c hain ;

“ ”

an d any m emb er could add any link who m he

might have known for half a year The sym bolism .

”
was borrowed fro m travel The O rder o f Argonauts
“
.

wa s fo unded in 1 7 7 2 by Conrad von Rh etz a B run s wi ck ,

 S E C R E T S O C I E TI E S O F 18 TH CE N TU R Y 19 5

Free m ason O n an islet in a p ond l eas e d to him by t h e

.

stat e he b uilt a temple in whi c h th e me m bers were i n i ti

at e d They app roa c hed the templ e in b arges an d there
.

Were entertai ned by th e G ran d Ad m iral as the founder ,

was styled Th ere was no fee for ad m issi o n The m otto

. .

was Long Live Gladness the b ad g e o f th e o rde r wa s

“

a g reen en ameled anchor o f silver The o fficers be si des

-
.
,

the Gran d Admiral were the Pilot th e Ship s Ch aplai n

, ,
’

and so fo rth an d the me m be rs were Argonauts After

,
.

'

the founder s deat h the order went to wr e ck and the

’

temple dis appe ared leaving n o vestige The re n own ed

, .

“
Fe ne lo n found ed at D ouai an order called the Palladi
um its se cret diale c t was tak en fro m hi s ro m an c e Tele
,
” “

”
masque .

The O rder of the M ustardseed s aid to have b een .

founde d in En gland in 1 708 : it sp read over H olland and

Germany : it assumed th e form o f a Protesta n t c lerico ‘

knightly order and con c erned itself chi efly wi th reli gious
'

a ffa irs : its emblem was a gold cro ss wi th mustard tre e in ,

the m i d dle This soci ety was reputed to b e c onne c ted

.

with the H errnhuters ( Moravian b reth ren) .

Th e O rde r of t h e L eal ( O rd e n d e r E c hten ) found ed

“ ”
s
,

in 1 7 58 at Landes h ut b y B essel a Pru ssian milita ry o f

, , ,

fi c e r had for its end simp ly g ood fellowship : it l ab o re d

,
-

to wi n over to Prussia the Silesian nobility .

Th e So c iety of the D ucats ( D uk at en s o ci etat) had

“ ”

for its founder ( 1 746) Count Louis of N euwied colonel ,

i n t h e Prussi an Army The memb ers contri b uted one

.

ducat a month ; b ut when a member indu ced outsiders to

j oin the society then for the fi rst o utsider hi s o wn c on
,

tri b uti o n for the month cu rren t was remitted ; fo r th e

third fifth and each followin g odd numb ered n ew ac
,
-

c ession p ro curred by h i m h e re c eived a du c at Thi s vul .

 M Y S TE R I A

gar s windle which was the sole end of the so c iety

‘

, ,

worked finely and the membership grew rapidly : but the

,

So c iety of the D u c ats was suppressed by th e government

after an existen c e o f two years .

Att empts to establish other fraudulent orders we re

made by a swindler who understood the foible o f his
co ntemporaries for mysteries
'
M atthew Gro s s i n ge r or
.

‘
,

a s hle styled himself Franc 1 s Rudolf von Gro ssing

,
son ,

o f a b ut c her b o rn 1 752 at Komo rn in H unga ry would

, , , ,

see m to h ave b e en once a Jesuit After the supp ression .

of his o rder h e o ffered to sell to Freder i c the Great some

,

Austrian o f fi cial do c u ments but met with a rep ulse ; then

,

h e represented himself to Jo seph I I as a victi m o f the .

rea c tiona ry policy of the pre cedin g reign and in 1 78 4 ,

founded in the interest o f hi s o wn p o c ket the O rder o f

”
the Ro s e and again in 1 78 8 donning wo men s clothes ’
‘

. , ,

the O rder o f H armo n v both o rders admitting members

“
,
“ ”
o f either sex H e named F rau von Ro senwald a non
.
,

existent p ersonage as h ead o f the o rder with th e title

, ,

S t i ft s ro s e (The I nstitute s Ro se)

’
The several local so cie
.

ties were kno wn as Ro ses and th eir p resi ding o fficers as

,

Ro s yl o rd s an d Ro s yl ad i e s ( Ro s e n h e rre n Ro s e n d am e n ) ,
.

B ut in fact Gro ssing was all in all an d he app rop ri ated to ,

himself the very lib eral contri b utions and all oth er i n
co me : for that en d alone were the so cieties established .

H e died i n wretched circumstance s having al way s ,

s quandered his gains in luxury an d extrav agance .

2 . O B S C U R A N TIST IN F LU E N C E S .

The dayb reak o f illum i n i sm i n the 1 8 th century gave

to the pa rtis an s of the an cient despotism o f creed and
p rivilege matter o f mo st serious con c ern They saw all .
 M Y S TE R I A

exile fro m the en d o f th e 1 7 th centu ry b ut aided b y , ,

France materially and by R ome intellectually wa s ever ,

striving to regain th e lo st throne The e fforts o f kings and .

kings son s in exile po sses s a po eti c al an d romantic

’

qu ality It was p ossible to win over all symp athetic e n

.

th u s i a s ts b y exploiting their foibles the nobles an d l e i ti

g ,

mists (the Tories) by preachi ng legitimacy and the whol e ,

body o f th e Catholics by appealing to their loyalty to the

Church Now th e masonic ord er was a se c ret so cie ty
.
, ,

and as such o f course was a rallyin g point for all e n

, ,

th u s i a s t s mystics and dreamers

, , B esides the nobility .
,

was strongly represented in the so c iety : afte r the first

four grand m asters o f the Grand Lodge o f England who ,

were all p ractical masons (archite c ts) all the suc c eeding
“

grandmasters belonged to th e highest nobility of the

realm A mong them we find dukes o f Mo ntague Rich
.
,

mond Norfolk Chando s to say nothing o f a lon g series

, , ,

of vi scounts earls and marquises As for th e Catholic

, ,
.

element it had many things in co mmo n with F re e m a

,

so n ry
— ceremonies and mysticism hierarchic degrees and , ,

co smop ol itan extension ; he n ce with a little Jesuit finesse, ,

the order might gradually and insensibly b e made Gatho

li c as had b een done with the B uddhist ceremonial in
,

India : in thi s way the So ciety of Saint John might b e trans

fo rmed into a preparatory school for the So ciety of J esus .

And now if we consider what a scandal it must have b een

,

t o th e coronetted chi e fs o f F re m a s o n ry that their order

originated among m echanics we can see how easy it ,

wo u ld b e by dishing up a few fables in p roo f of a nobler

,

origin to make converts o f them fo r any ends whatever

,
.

I n th e event of su c cess th e st ronghold o f illuminism would

,

b e cap tured and w ith the help of its forme r champ ions
,

the most p owerful kin gdom in Europe and a gre at ,

 S E C R E T S OC IE TI E S O F I S TH C E N TU R Y 1 99

centre o f illu m inism would b e g i ven b ack to a Ca tholi c

,

King and thereby t h e road to con q uest op ened for the

,

Church of Rome O f course these vast desi gn s could

.
,

not b e carried out all at once The work had to pro ceed b y .

stages as thus : 1 Ari sto cratic sentiment woul d be grati

,
.

fi e d by the institution of higher masonic degrees ; 2 These .

degrees wo u ld b e connected with the religious o rders o f

knighthood by a chain o f fable ; 3 O b stinate Protestants .

would b e quiete d by the o ffer o f a cryptic Catholicism

whi c h ap p arently wo u ld b e i n accordance with their own
beliefs ; 4 Person s inaccessible to religious consideration s
.

wo uld be in fluenced by hopes o f riches to b e acquired

thro u gh th e secret arts of al c hemy and the like ; 5 The ,
.

whole p urpos e of t h e order woul d b e dire ct ed toward

sp iritual and Catholi c ends ; finally 6 when the pro cess , ,

was completed there would stand forth in al l its n aked

,

ness the savage fu ry o f the Inquisition .

3 . TH E HI G H D E G R E E S S W IN D L E .

Witho ut any su ffi c ient reason assigned t h ere arose ,

in England b etween the years 1 74 1 and 1 74 3 a new de

gree Royal Arch at first as a high er division o f the
, ,
-

’
master s degree afterward as an indep endent degree Its .

content was a hotchpotch o f New T estament p assages re ,

l i g i o u s dogmas and masonic or rather u n m as o n i c i a

, , , ,

b les Its tradition went back to the b uildin g of th e sec

.

ond Temp le o f Jerusalem after the retu rn fro m B ab yl o ,

n i an captivity ; hence the pre sident o f a Royal Arc h lodg e

took the name o f Z er ubbab el and wo re a vesture o f scar ,

“ ”
let and purple The meeting was called a chapter ; the
.

three masonic degrees were du b b ed p ro b atio nary de

“

gr ees and soon on the title p age of th e rules of the

,
 M Y S TE R I A
’

degree was rep res e nted an ark with th e ins c ription ,

“ ”
Nulla Salus Extra (no safety outside) wh ereby we are ,

reminded that acco rding to Catho lic doctrine the ark

o f Noah was a typ e o f th e Church Afterward th e Royal .

Arc h d egree p ub l i s h ed a p rogram o f its work in which

'

masonry is divided into O p erative and Sp e c ulative and ,

the former su b divided into manual inst rumental an d , ,

”
scienti fic ; the aim o f the o rder was defined to be to
“
,

gather th e hum an race in one fol d under t h e great Shep

herd o f souls For th e rest the work o f this degree was
.
,

c hildish p lay .

Even b efore this fruit was b orne in En gland there ,

'
came into circ u lation in France how e r why nobody ,

knows a state m ent that Freemason ry arose in Palestine

,

durin g t h e Crusad e s an d was there consolidated with

,

th e Knights o f St J ohn ( Ho spitalers) wherefore the

.
,

lodges ca m e to b e called Sa int J ohn s lodges ; that after ’

th e Crusades the order was esta b lished in S c otland was ,

thence afterward intro du c ed into England and later into ,

other countries This histori c lie was o f course wel

.
, ,

comed by the nobles who were members o f the order ;

as for the many uneducated m embers who had b een
admitted into th e F re n ch lodges they we re easily de
‘
'

,
'

l ud ed . Thence forward there were H i gh D e grees o f al l

sorts in Fran ce And as the fab le assigned t o Scotlan d
.

the fore m o st place in th e history of m asonry th e highest ,

degre s b egan to b e known as Scottish or after th e name , ,

o f S c otland s patro n Saint Andrew Saint Andrew s de

’

, ,
’

’
grees and the lo d ges S cottish o r Saint Andrew s lod ges
,
.

I n their rite s of admi ssion they adopted from the tradi

tions of the English an d French ston emasons a lot of
myths about th e death o f H i ra m and taught the aspirant s ,

for admission to avenge that death th e meaning b eing ,

 M Y S TE R I A ‘
.

in t hat the G rand Lodge o f Scotland an d the oldest l o dges

o f that an c ient kingdo m know nothing o f any su c h crea
tion o f a so c iety ; an d furthe rmore the ob j ects and th e
, ,

sentiments o f Te m plaris m and mason ry di ffer too widely

for any uni fic ation to take place b etween them I n the .

on e body free thinkin g th rough levity o f temp erament :

in th e other re p udiation o f o dium th eo l o gi cu m out of
love o f fellowmen ; on one side egoti sm : o n the other ,

regard fo r the general weal ; on one side pride o f aris

'

t o c ra cy : o n the other regard only fo r the dignity o f man

hood .

And yet the most eminent men of the 1 8 th century

were fooled into b elieving that th e Freemasons are de
scended fro m the Templars Th e first seri o us and formal
.

introduction of spurious Templarism into m asonry took

pl ace in Fran ce The Chevalier de B oneville on Novem
.
,

ber 2 4 1 764 founded at Pari s a ch a pter of th e h i gh de

’
‘
, , ,

grees called (app are n tl y in honor o f the th en grand

master o f Freemaso ns Loui s de B ourb on c ount of
, ,

“
Clermo nt) th e Clermont chapter its members were for ,

the most p art p artisan s o f th e Stuarts and th ere fore o f

, ,

the Jesuits also H ere it was that the story o f the won
.

d ro u s transformation of Templ ars into Fre e m asons in

Scotla nd was invented taught and employed as p art o f
, ,

the ceremonial o f admission to the highe r degrees Th e .

m emb ers wore th e masoni c togs and in their ritual the ,

death o f the Grandmaster Molay too k th e pla c e o f that .

of Hiram ; and i n fact by H i ra m as some asse rted

, , , ,

Molay was m eant Fro m this chapter the influen c e of

.

the Jesuits extended soon over th e whol e fi eld o f French

Freemasonry Surely it was not by ac c ident no r o ut of
.
,

patriotism that the very next vear th e French Grand

Lodge till then dependent on England declared itself
, ,
 S E C R E T S O C I E TI E S O F I S TH CE N TU R Y 203

independent and adopted statutes according to which

,

“ ”
t he Scottish Masters ( unknown both in England an d
Scotland) were to have oversight o f the work .

4 . AP
’
O ST L E S‘
OF

Soon the craze s p read furthe r still a n d first o f ‘

, ,

course through Germany where in those degenerate

, , ,

d ays whatever bore the Fren ch stam p was received wi th

,

reverence and conscientiously a p ed Th e Scottis h lodges .

got entrance into B erlin as early as 1 742 The d u bious .

honor o f this importation belongs to B aron E G von . .

Marschall who had b een initiated into the n ew Templar

,

ism at Paris Dying soo n afterward he was succeeded by

.
,

a man who p resented the c u rious sp ectacle o f noblest and

most strenuous endeavor toward a fantastic goal o f the ,

nature o f wh i c h he knew nothing Charles Gotthilf I m

.
.
.
,
'

p erial B aron o f H und an d A l t e n g ro t t k au ( so h e was

styled ) bo rn in 1 7 2 2 was a nobleman o f Lusatia and
, ,

actual p rivy councilor o f the Empero r ; h e was a man o f

n a rrow mind without high educ ation b ut he was an
, ,

idealist a chivalrous ho spitable an d kindly gentleman

, , .

At Paris he was received into the Catholic Church and

into the s p uriou s order o f Tem p lars to which h e was de ,

“
voted heart and soul : he was commissioned M as ter o f
”
the H ost in Germany H e founded a lodge on one of .

his estate s which bore the ominous name o f Unwurde

,

( unwo rth ) and soon had

, several su b ordinat e lodges u nder
hi s j urisdiction .

“
Ab out this time says a contemporary writer the , ,

S even -Y ears War broke o ut Th e Fren ch tr0 0p s c am e .

into Ge rm any an d with them m an y J e s u i ts With the

'

, .

Fren ch Army an d particularly in its Co mmiss ariat were a

, ,

r e
g at man y Freemason s o f the higher degrees and some ,
 M Y S TE -R I A
’
.

o f thos e gentlemen h ad calculated to make a go o d deal

‘

o f money by the sale o f merch andise in Germ any I kne w .

one Frenc h co mmissary wh o h ad a whol e wago nload o f

d e c o rations for som e forty fi ve degrees and these he p ed
-
,

d l e d all the way fro m Strasb urg to H amburg Th ere .

a fter no Germ an lodge was any longer c ontent with th e

three symboli c degrees but nearly every one o f them had
,

a s eries o f h igher degrees of one brand or another a cc ord ,

ing to the p articular wind b ag each fell victim to ; and so

they d ropped one system and took up anothe r wh en a
n ew ap o stle c am e that way and reformed them
‘ ”
.

Such a n ap ostl e o f fra u d was the M ar q uis de Ler

nais or L e rn ey Taken p riso ner of war to B erlin h e
.
,

there made known the Jesuiti cal do ctrine o f the Chapter

o f Clermont and even founded a c h apter in the Gran d
,

Lodge o f the Three World Spheres To sp read these -

.

c hap ters over the rest o f G erm any or in plain terms to , , ,

give the whole co u ntry into th e h ands o f th e J esuits a ,

character by no mean s ambigu ous on e Philip Samuel ,

Ros a o nce a Protestant cl ergyman counsel t o th e c o n s i s

, ,

tory an d sup erintendent but afte rward dep osed for 1m

, ,
’
mo ral ity wa s employed Ro sa s whole endeavor was to
,
.

make m o ney J oining the Chapter of Cl erm ont he got

.

the title Kn ight o f J erusalem and Prior of the Chapter o f

“

”
H alle As h e traveled up and down th e land the lodge
.
,

at H all e pai d hi s exp en ses The eyes o f the deluded .

b rethre n were at last op ened o n th e dis cov ery o f the re

,

l at i o n s b e t ween Ro sa and another swindler one Leu c hte , ,

wh o p almed hims e lf o ff as an En g lishman B aron J ohn ,

son and wh o fo unded a G rand Chapte r admitted novices

, ,

an d k n i gh t s l ) o a s t e d o f armies and fleets at his comman d

, ,

and sent fo rth to all Templars in Germany an encyclical

letter summoning them t o his standard M any were h i s .
 M Y S TE R I A
’

p rin c e s j oined th e o rder and so p uffed up were its dirc e

'

tors i n c onsequen c e that forthwith they divided Eu ro p e

up into provin c es after the manner o f the Templar s and
,

the J esuits na m ing for each p rovin c e a Master o f the

,

Ho st T he sub division s o f p rovinces were call ed as

.
,

a mong the Templars Priories Prefectures Comptroller

, , ,

ship s etc , To give these subdi visions something more

.

than an existen ce on p ap er H und disp atched the B aron ,

G A von Weiler Knight o f the Golden Ear (o f whe at

. .
, ,

barl ey et c ) to Fran c e an d Italy wh ere he founded several

, .
,

chap ters : even the Grand O ri ent o f France united itself

with the Stri c t O b se rvan c e Toward those Ge rman .

l odges whi ch held alo of fro m this b astard mason ry the

H u n d i an Templars were supremely disdain ful and but ,

few of the lod ges had th e spirit to sp eak out against the
”
O b s c urantist innovations
“
Chief among the few was the .

gallant o ld Lodge of Unity at Fran k fo rt o n the M ain ,

‘

whic h de c l are d itself an En glish p rovinc ia l lodge to

‘

show its independence o f p seudo Templarism -

.

A zealous ap o stl e o f the Stri ct O bse rvan ce was J o hn

Christian S chubart o f Kleefeld Knight o f the O stri c h , ;

who was consta ntl y on the road co nverting lodges to

that system S c hubart devised a plan by which the o rder
.

’
was to acquire great wealth H und s finan cial a ffairs .

were in c o n fusi on in con se quence o f the war and he p ro

, ,

p osed to b equeath his prop erty to the order in co nsidera ,

tion o f a certai n sum in cash : b ut the order had n o t the

'

money S chubart now propo sed to exact enormous fee s

.

for initiations an d admissions to high degree s ( for ex am

ple 3 50 thalers for admission ) B ut the s cheme could
,
.

not b e wo rk ed an d S c hu b art withdr ew fro m th e order

,
. .

The order had no longer any use for Hund Th e .

time had c o m e for the J esuit influen ce to as s ert itself : it

 S E C R E T S O C I E TI E S O F I S TH C E N TU R Y 207

would have no more fooleries with helmets s wo rds ac , ,

c o u tre m e n t s and Templar s m antles It was seen by the

’
.

original p roj e c tors o f the o rder that if they would suc

“ ”

c e e d i n their design o f winning over Freemason ry to the

p la n of c a t h o l i z i n
g Germany they must b etimes
,
provide a
cl e rical directorate for the organization which till now h ad ,

worn the m ask o f knighthood They found a c onveni ent .

instrument in the person o f the Protestant theologian ,

John -Augustus von Stark bo rn at Schwerin in 1 74 1 ,

.

While a st u dent in Go ett i n g en Stark was admitted ( 1 76 1 )

to the masoni c order ; then he wa s a teacher in Peters
b urg where he adopted the mysti c syste m of on e M ele
,

sino a Greek The ceremonial o f M e l s i no s syste m

,
.
’

comprised a number of p rayers and g e n u fl e cti o n s an d ,

even a mass ; the high degree meetings were called Con

-

claves an d the m
, emb ers wo re s u rp l i ce s La ter at Pari s .
, ,

Stark took an interest in O riental manu scripts and j oined ,

the Catholi c Church b ut all the same on his return home

, ,

he served as p rofessor o f theolo gy at Koenigs berg and ,

then as c ourt p reacher and gene ral ec clesiastical sup er

i n t en d en t in th e same city an d aft e rward i n ; D armst ad t
,
.

Through so m e a c qua intances who were members o f th e ,

Strict O b servance he got an introduction to H und to

, ,

who m he revealed the great se c ret which he had learned

at Petersburg namely th at the grand mysteries o f the
, ,

Templars were revealed not to the knights b ut only to ,

the c lerical members and that these mysteries had been

,

kept and handed down to that time ; furt her tha t th e true ,

chief of the order o f Templars was none other but the

Knight of th e Golden Sun Charle s Edward Stuart the , ,

Pretender then resident in Florence D elighted at the

, .

pro sp e c t o f an enhan c ement o f w h at h e fanc ied to b e hi s

sci enc es H und r e c o gnize d Star k an d two o f Stark s
,
’
 M Y S TE R I A

fri end s as Cleri c s o f th e O rder o f Templ ars . Th ese cl eri i

c al Templ ars thereupon d rew up a c eremonial and c reated

degrees o f their own and as a sp ecial favo r initiated some
,

se cu lar knights into their mysteries B ut b e ca u s e H und .

de c lined to a cc ommodate Stark with a loan of two hun

dred thalers to defray th e expenses o f a j o u rney to Peters
b urg where Pylades head of th e Templar clerics resided
, , , ,

th e t wo fell o ut an d Stark announ c ed h i s purpo se to

,

keep th e Cleri c ate indep endent o f the O rder

“ ” ”
Ne ver .

t h el e s s he begged a friend to negotiate o n his b ehalf with

,

th e se c ular Temp l ars This friend was a noble personage

.
,

Ernest Werner von Raven Knight o f the Pearl a w eal th y , ,

lando wner p rio r i n the o rder m ember o f a Chapter

“ ”
,
“ ”
,

under Rosa and H und and also an initiate in Stark s

’

own cleri c al order of Templars Like H und he was a .

,

m an o f honor b ut vain and narrow minded a mystic and

,
-
,

an al c hemist Raven in 1 772 attended a convention held

.
, ,

at Kohlo in Lu satia for the p urp os e o f b rin gi ng a b o u t

, ,

an understanding b etween th e Knights an d the cleri cs .

H e app eared in the costume o f t h e Temp lar cleri cs viz ; ,

.

white casso ck with red cro ss o n t h e b re as t an d a hat like

‘

that: of a cardinal H e p resented t o the meeting a p ro

.

j e ct of unio n drawn up b y Stark whi c h the knights re ,

c ei ve d wi t l i p l audits o f satisfa c ti o n H und wa s dep os e d ‘

.

fro m hi s high o ffi c e and appointe d o n e o f t h e Masters

,

of th e H ost while D uke Ferdinand o f B runswick wa s

,

m ad e Gran dmaster an d other p rinc es were named to b e

,

Sup eriors; and Protectors under him .

B ut th e ritual isti c p o mp o f th e Clerics had already

awakened suspicion in th e minds o f t h e Protestant m e m
b ers and they began to cry out against mysteries of
,

forei g n origin and a gainst the dictation o f unknown

Sup eriors Th i s disc o ntent found exp ression in the con
.
 M Y S TE R I A .

Cyp rus (not in S c otland th en ) an d the archbishop s o f

, ,

Cyp rus were th e successors o f the G ran dm asters The

degree s o f Free ma s o nry (thu s h e driveled on ) wer e a
later innovation on the o riginal cl eri c al an d knightly sys
tem whi c h in its organizati on was he said ex actly the
, , ,

sa m e as the Jesuit o rder The one thing needed in o rde r

.

to instruct m en in the o cc ult s cien c es was a holy templ e .

O n the comp letion of su c h a temple th e n atural fire

“ ”

woul d fall fro m he aven etc M an y person s reco gnized

, .

th e fraud ; others walked into th e trap and were initiated ,

.

B ut seeing how little confidence was placed in him Gugo ,

mo s ab s c onded an d that was the end of J esuit Free

,

masonry .

B ut th e farce of Templa rism lived a few years yet ,

though p e 0p 1e were growing tired of it Some o f th e .

mem b ers went b ack to the old fas hi oned m asonry ; others
-

turned to new lights of mystici sm that ha d for some tim e

been l o oming o ut th e horizo n —the Swedish Rite an d th e
N ew Ro si c ru c i anis m .

5 . TH E S W E D ISH R IT E ’
.

Swe dish Freemasons as early as the m iddle of the

,

1 8 th c entury had found the genuin e English masonry t o o

,

simpl e and inornate : they longed for more glitter and

p omp mysteries and degrees King Gust avus I I I at
,
. .

te m pted to satisfy this want by con c octing a new system

th e in gredients b eing genuine freemasonry th e Stri ct O b ,
”
servan ce and th e system then known at Rosi cru c i anism
,
“
,

an d in largest p roportio n the Clermont system : th e doc

trin es of the famous m ysti c and seer Swedenborg may , ,

al so have give n a flavo r to th e compound I n founding .

the Swedi sh Rite or System Gustavus co unted on obtai n

,

mg the he lp o f th e m em b ers in hi s e ffort to rid himself

!
 S E C R E T S O C I E TI E S O F I S TH C E N TU R Y 21 1

o the party o f the nobles Th e Sw e dish Rite has t en

f .

degrees It is founded on two stories one that certain

.
,

secrets have descended to it from Chri st thro ugh the

Ap o stles the cleri cal Templars and the Freemasons ; the
, ,

other that a nephew o f the Grandmaster B eaulieu a

, ,

p redecessor o f Molay visited M olay in prison and at the

, , ,
’
suggestion o f Molay went down into his uncle s sepulchr e
, ,

where in a casket he found th e insignia and the records

, ,

o f the order ; that from Paris h e took these into Scotland ,

and thence into Sweden The symbols of the higher de .

grees refer to Templarism and Catholicism The cere .

monies o f the highest degre e are s aid c lo sely to re sembl e

the m ass O ther alleged usages are the wearing o f the
.
,

red cro ss of the Templars on the breast reciting every ,

’
night Saint B ernard s prayer to the Lamb o f God fasting ,

on Good Fri day till sundown then eating three sli c es o f ,

bread with oil and salt The title of the head o f th e

, .

System is Vi car of Solo mon S everal distin guished .

memb ers o f the Swedish System among them the cele ,

b rat e d poet J H Voss have chara c teri z ed its c ere m onie s

. .
,
“ ”
as vain useles s and ridiculous
,
.

6 . TH E N E W R O SI CR U C I A N IS M '
A ND AL LI E D SY S T E M S .

Th e New Rosicrucianism had its ri se in Southern

Germany ab out the year 1 760 while Rosa and J ohnson ,

were busy with their systems Its o riginators had no .

connection with Freemasonry and o f its nine degrees ,

not even the first three were name d after the m asoni c
degrees Several discontented members of the Strict
O b servance j oined the new order The memb ers as .

sumed fanciful names as Fo eb ro n O rm e s u s C ed ri n u s

, , ,
“ ”
the lodge s were called Circles Un questioning obedi .

en c e was to b e rend ered to th eESupe riors The m em b ers

-
‘
.
 M Y S TE R I A .

learned only the myste ri e s of their own particular c i rc le .

“ ”
The motto was : M ay God an d H i s Wo rd be with us .

They claimed to po sses s a crypti c Book containing a

sacred histo ry of events pri o r to the creation o f the world ,

esp e cial ly o f th e Fall o f the Angels .

Their sp eci alty was a mystical kab b alistic and totally , ,

ab surd inte rp retatio n of the B ibl e and o f other allege d ,

sacred or o ccult writi gs whence they d educed an ex

n
,

p lanation o f the universe For example they taught

.
,

t hat th e planet s an d th e other heavenly bodies reflect

b ack on the sun th e light they receive fro m him thus ,

conserving his might an d hi s splendo r They also p rac .

ticed n ecrom ancy exorcization alche my the art of m ak

, , ,
-x

ing gold of preparing the elixir o f life : they studied such

,

p roblems as th e p roduction of the noble metal s fro m rain

water urine and other b odies and even o f evolving h u
, , ,

man b eings by ch emical p ro cesses In their assemblie s .

the m embers wore white and black scarfs b ut tho se o f ,

the higher degree s wo re priestly vestments with cro sses ,

o f silver or gold At the initiation th e candid ates swore

.

fearful oaths Asp irants to the ninth de gree were as

.

sured that o nce they should attain that eminence they .

’
would understand all nature s secrets and possess suprem e
'

control o f angels devils and m en The first prophet

, ,
.

o f the New Rosicr ucianis m was John George S ch rep fe r ,

co ffee house ke ep er in Leip si c

-
In 1 77 7 he fo unded in
.

his own shop a lodge o f th e S cottis h Rite to a fford hi s ,

custo mers a better styl e o f masonry than was found in

the ordinary lo dges The D uke o f Courland p rotector
.
,

o f on e o f the masonic lodges had the man p ubli cly ,

b astinadoed : b ut S ch rep fer shortly afterward in spired

both hi m an d the D uke o f B runswick with a curiosity to
b e instructed in th e mysteries and vi sited them at D res
,
214 M Y S TE R I A

th e odious Edict o f Religion o f 1 788 wh ich was expe c ted ,

to p rove a d e athblow to illuminism and fre e thought : b u t

the death o f the King upset all thei r cal cul ations That . .

was the end o f th e N ew Ro sicrucian ism .

Si m ul taneously with the order o f the Rosi c rucian s

aro se two variant form s of the same the soc iety o f the ,

Asiat i c B rethren an l that of th e Afri can B u i l d i n g m as ters

,

(Asiatische B ru ed er Afrikani sch e ,

Th e
Asiati c B re th re n s order was founded in Vienn a b y B aro n
’
.

H ans Henry von Eckhofen an ex Rosicrucian : it ad ,

-

m i tt e d only Freemasons but did not exclude Jews and

, ,

its aims were the sa m e as tho se of th e Ro sicru ci ans Its .

chief seat was at Vienna called by them Th ess alonica

, ,

for they gave a foreign n ame to ev ery p lac e Its head .

o ffi cers were styled I n quisitors The re were five degrees

.
,

viz t wo probationary—tho s e of Seeker s and o f Su fferers

.
,

— and three sup eri o r degree s The memb ers in th e two

.

lower degree s wo re round bla c k hats with distin ctive

feathers for ea c h degree b lac k mantles and white or
, ,

black ribbons b roidered wi th di fferent emblems ; t h e s e

,

in the higher degrees wore red hats and mantles ; the at

tire o f tho se in th e high est degree was all ro sy red Ten -
.

memb ers constituted a M astership ten mastership s a D e c ,

ade and so on
,
Th e o rder b ecame sho ckingly corrupt
.

in Austria .

The Afri ca n soc iety fo unded by War Cou n c ilor

,

Koepp en in B erlin h ad rather higher aims than th e Rosi

,

cruci an s and th e Asiati c B rethren : they s tu d i e d th e his o

t o ry o f Freemason ry admitted to their order only sch olars

,

an d artists ,
conducted their business in Latin and of ,

fe re d p rizes for s cientifi c researche s : b ut they indulged in

farfe tch ed an d ab surd symbo lism kabb alism magic and , , ,

mysticism Th eir degrees were five inferior or p repara

.
 S E CRE T S O C I E TI E S O F I S TH C E N TU R Y 215

to ry and five high er or esoteric Th e order live d fo r a

, .

few years only .

Th ere were many other so c ieties instituted mo stl y ,

for the p urp o se o f fraud an d moneymaking : o f these we

give no account here B ut there still remain s one society
.

—
w h ich i s wo rthy of mention that of the Brethren o f the
Cro ss ( Kreu zb ru e d er) or D evotee s o f the Cross ( Kreuz
fromm e) founded by Count Christian von H aug wi tz
,

( 1 7 52 who wa s at on e time Knight o f th e H oly

Mount in the Strict O bservanc e afterward belonged to a ,

German imitation o f the Swedish rite and at last founded ,

“
a so ciety which was describ ed by a contemp orary as a
cons p iracy of des p otism against liberty of vice against ,

vi rtue of stup idity again st tal ent o f darkness against e u

, ,

Th e D ev otees o f the Cro ss observed the

”
l i gh t e n m e n t .

strictest secrecy corres p onded in cipher inveigled prin c es

, , ,

in order to rul e i n their stead ( after th e ma nner of B is

c h o fs w e rd e r an d Wo e l l n er) and pra c ticed al l manner of

sup erstition s to make an end of science They had no .

connectio n whatever wi th Freemasonry .

Unfortunately thi s multi p li c ation o f mystical orders

wa s n o t without e ffect on the fo rtunes of the masonic b ody ,

“ ”
in that it has led to a vicious growth o f high degrees .

It was a Fre n ch ad venturer S t ep h eni Morin who in , , ’

,

1 76 1 ,
introduced into the United States the 3 3 degrees :
they entered France again in 1 8 03 an d were regarded as ,

a n ovelty having been forgotten during the Revolution

,
.

The titles of these degree s are at o nce bombastic and un

m eaning : Grand Scots Kni ghts of the East H igh Princes
, ,

o f Jerusalem Princes of Gr ace Grand In q uisitors Prin c es

, , ,

of the Royal Secre t etc and in som e of the variation s

;
.
,

of these ridic u lous degrees we have Knights o f the Ap e ,

and of the Lion and Em p eror o f Ea st and West

,
.
 P AR T E LE V E N TI I .

Th e I l l um i n a ti an d Th e i r E ra .

1 . TH E ILL U M I NA TI
- .

B y th e supp ressio n o f the J esuit order b y Cl e m ent

X IV the results of two centuri es of painful toil in th e
.
,

interest o f a univ ersal e cclesiasti c al dom i nion were u n

done Then it was that an ingenious mind co n ceived th e
.

thought o f emp loying on b ehalf of enlightenment such

instrum entality as the J esuits had emp loyed against it .

It was a pup il of the J e suits to who m this thought first

o ccurred : their mechanical soul s ti fl i n g method o f educ a
,
-

tion had mad e him their enemy ; but besides he had

learned t h e artifi c e s and the secrets of the Jesuits and ,

ho p ed that by imitating th em in a Catholi c country

likely to b e influenced by such arts he might thereby ,

p romot e the ve l y oppo site interests Ada m Weishaupt

.

was born in 1 748 and when only 2 5 ye ars o f age wa s p ro

,

fe s s o r of canon law and j urisprudence i n the university o f

Ingolstadt and also lecturer o n histo ry an d philosop hy
, ,

b eing the first in that institute to deliver le ctures in

the German language and in c o nsonance with the more
,

enlightene d sp irit o f the age Th e intrigues of the ousted

.

Fathers against their successor in a pro fesso ri al chai r

w hich th ey had h e ld for ne arly a centu ry forced to ma
t u ri ty t he thought which he h ad cherish ed from his
student days : and th e fo unding in the neigh b ori n g village
o f B urghausen of a lo d ge o f Ro si c ru c ians who wer e try ,

216
218 M Y S TE R I A

whose acquaintan ce he made was destined to be after ,

Weishaupt the mo st e ffective pro moter of the new s o

,

c i e ty
. This was B aron Adolf von Knigge wel l kno wn ,

for his much read b ook Ue b er den Umgang mit M e m

.

s c hen ”
. H e was bo rn in 1 7 52 an d from his youth up ,

had been an amateur of sp iriti sm (gh o s t s e ers h i p) He .

was already an I nitiate o f the higher degrees o f th e Stri ct

Ob servan ce ; but dissatisfied with that order he ad o pted
, ,

the idea o f I lluminism enthusiastically and bro ught into ,

the system a number o f men wh o b e c ame its ap ostles ; for

examp le B ode the transl ator ; Franci s von D itfu rth as
, , ,

so ciate j ustice o f Weimar W ith thes e two Knigge at

, .

tended th e C o n ven tu s of VV il h el m s ba d and there cham ,

pioned th e c ause o f I llu m inism sto utl y an d help ed to ,

give the deathblow to Temp lari sm And now as Knigge

,
.
,

who suppo sed the o rder t o b e an an cient one entered ,

into a corre s pondence with Weisha up t h e was not a littl e ,

ast o nished on le arning fro m hi m that th e society wa s

as yet no more than an embryo : in fac t it had only the ,

degree o f the mino r Illuminates ( Kleine I lluminaten ) .

Nothin g dishea rtened however he j ou rneyed to B avar 1a

, , ,

an d was admitted to the o rder in sp lendid style B ut .

hi s lively fan cy led him to develop the order further ; a nd

the so b er mindel Weish aupt who se gi fts were tho se of th e
-
,

thinker rath e r t h an of the contriver o f forms l e ft to

'

Knigge the ela b oration o f th e seve ral degree s an d their

Lessons in whi c h b oth were agre ed th at al l usion s to the
,

fi re wo rs h ip an d l i gh two rs h i p o f the P ersians s h ould be

employed as typi c al o f the spiri tual fire and spi ritual light
,

o f I lluminism .

Th e groundwork of the polity o f the I lluminati was

as follows : A sup reme p resident ruled the whole h aving ,

n ext below hi m t wo o fficers each o f who m again had ,

 ILLU M I N A TI 219

two others under him and so on so tha t the first could , ,

most conveniently govern all The doings o f the order .

were kept most strictly secret Each memb er took t h e .

name of some historic o r mythic p ersonage o f distinction :

Wei shaupt was Sp art acus ; Zwac k h Cato ; Co stan zo D io , ,

mede ; Knigge Philo ; D itfurth M inos ; Ni c ola i Luci an

, , , ,

and so on Co untries an d cities also had pseu donyms :

.

Munich was Athen s ; Frankfort Edessa ; Austria Egypt ; , ,

F ran co n i a Illyria, and so forth I n corresponden ce the

,
.

memb ers used a secret ci p her numb ers taking th e

'

p lace of letters ; in reckoning time they followed t he

calendar o f the ancient Persia n s with the P ersian name s
o f months an d the Persian aera . .

"

The number o f degrees an d their designation s were

n ever d efinitely fixed hence they are di ff e rent in di fferent
,

localities . B ut all the account s agree that there were

three principal degrees The first of the se the S chool o f .
,

Plants ( P fl an z s c h u l e ) was design ed to rec eive youths ap

h i adult age The candid te fo r admi ssion was at
’

p r o a c n
g a .

first a Novice and except the one who indo ctrinated him
, , ,

knew no member o f the order H e was re q uired by .

,

s u bmittin g a detail e d acco unt o f his lif e with full p art ic u ,

lars as to all his doings and by keep ing a j o u rnal to , ,

p rove himself a fit sub j ect fo r admission and one likely ,

to be of service to the order Fro m t h e grade o f Novice .

he p assed to that of M ine rval Th e members o f the .

M inerval class form ed a sort o f learned so c iety which o c ,

c u p i e d itself with answering q u estion s in the domain o f

‘

morals Th e Minervals furthermore were re q uired to

.
, ,

make known what they thought of the o rder and what ,

they exp ected o f it and they assumed the obli ga tio n o f

,

ob edienc e They were under the eye of their s u peri or

.

officers read and wrot e whatever sup eriors required o f

,
220 M Y S TE R I A ’
.

them and spi ed on each other an d reported o n e an

, ,
’
other s faults to sup eriors as in th e Jesuit system The .

leaders o f the M in erv al s were call ed M inor I llu m inati ;

were taken b y surp rise at the meeting s o f t h eir degree
and nominated to tha t dignity—a method that wonderfully
stimulat ed ambition ; they were in s tructed in the man age
ment an d oversight o f their subj ects an d p racticed them ,

selves i n that art ; th ey were b esides required to rep ort

their exp erien ces Th e second p rincip al degre e was Free
.

mason ry through th e three original de grees o i w hich an d

,

the two s o called Sc ottish degrees the I lluminati passed ;

-

and strenuous e ffort was made to have the masonic lo d ge s

adopt a system agreeabl e to th e i deas o f the I lluminati ,

so that the memb ership o f the order might b e steadil y i n

cre ased Th e th ree o riginal degrees o f m asonry were i m
.

parted to th e regul ar I lluminati wi thout ce remonies The .

memb ers of the two Sc o ttish degrees were called Greater

I lluminati and th e task o f these wa s to study the char
,

a c t ers o f thei r fe l l o w m e m b e rs ; and D irigent I lluminati ,

who p resided over th e several divisions o f the illuministi c

masonry . The third and highest degree was th at o f the
Mysteries comprisin g th e four stages o f Priest Regent
, , ,

M agus and King (rex ) Thi s principal degree was elabo

.

rated only i n part and was not b rough t into use

, In .

these four division s of th e third d egre e the ends of th e

’
o rder were a cco rding to Knigge s p lan to b e ex p lained
, , .

The supreme he ads o f t h e seve ral divisions o f the order

were called A re o p agite s b ut their fu nc tion s wer e n ever
-
,

fully defined I t wa s p ropo sed also to add a dep artmen t

.

fo r wo men The aims o f thi s organization o f the I l l um i

.

nati remind us forcibl y o f those of the Pythagorean

'

Leagu e . They contempl ated not a sudden and violen t

,

but a gradual an d p ea c eful revolution in wh 1ch the ,

 M Y S TE R I A .
’

M o n tgi l as , aft er ward minister o f state ; President C ount

Geinshei m ; th e
celebrated philosopher B aader ; Pro
fe s so rs S e m m er o f I go l s tad t Moldenhauer o f Kiel
.

,
'

Feder of Go etti n gen ; the ed u ca tor Leuch s en ri n g

of D armstadt ; the Catholi c cathedral p reb endarie s
S c h ro e ck en s t e i n of Ei c h stadt and Schmelzer o f Mayen c e ;
Haefelin b isho p of M unich ; t h e authors B ah rd t B iester
, , ,

Gedike B ode Ni colai etc Go ethe H erder and p rob

, , , .
, ,

ably Pestalozzi also b elon ged to the o rder Th e lea gue .

“ ”
i n Wilh elm M ei ster reminds u s strongly o f t h e I l l um i
nati.

The o rder was n o t yet sp read abro a d b eyond the ”

G erma n bo rders th o u gh a few Frenchmen h ad b een ad

,
'

m i tt e d while vi siting Germany ; b ut its p l an s were al ,

~

re ady reaching out farther And now the hea d o f th e .

who l e organization was t o b e th e G eneral (as amon g the

J esuits) ; under him there was to b e in e ach country a
h ead o ffi c er th e N ational ; in ea c h p rincip al divi sion o f
,

a country a Provincial ; in subd i visions o f p rovinces a

Prefe c t and s o on
'

, .

This ap in g o f J esuit p olity and t h e i mp rudent admi s

sion o f ob j ectionable or indi fferent ch arac ters p rove d the
ruin of th e order D esp oti c rule and espionage coul d
.

never p romote th e cause o f liberty and enlightenment

and the fo un der o f the order propo s ed to ma k e enlighten
ment th e mean s of attai nin g li b e rty .

Then the dissensions ever growi ng more seriou s

between Wei s haup t and Knigge Whereas W eishaup t .

cared only for the ends of the society all else b ein g in his ,

eyes only in cid ental mere formalism Knigge on the

, , ,

other hand b eing a man of th e world shrank in horror

, ,
.

fro m th e p ro gram o f his asso ci ate : reli g ion mo rality

“

the State were imp e riled H e d readed Liberal ist b oo ks

. ,
 ILLU M I N A TI 223

and would have b een far better p leased to see the order
working on the lines o f the Freemasons o f that day ,

though with an elabo rate ceremonial and mani fol d de ‘

grees and mysteries and with so me harmless inno cent

, ,

ideal of human welfare and brotherly lov e a s the obj ect

o f their endeavors Weis h aupt c alled Knigge s p et con
.
’

t ri van c e tinsel and trump ery and child s p laythings and

’

the pair o f Areopagites grew steadily ever m o re asun

“ ”

der.

This rising storm within boded less ill to th e orde r

than the atta c k s from witho ut growing fro m d ay to
day more vio lent I lluminism was as sailed by enemies
.
“

o f all so rts th at sp rung up like mushrooms First there

, .

we re th e masonic systems of the reactionary or sup er

’

s t i tio u s kind such as the Rosicrucians the Asiatic B reth

, ,

ren the Afri ca n M as t e rb u i l d e rs the Swedish Rite th e

, , ,

remnant o f th e Strict O b servance etc ; then such o f the ,

.

I ll u minati as thought the hop es o f th e o rde r had b een

disa ppointed or who exp ected to p rofit by a b etrayal of
,

the order to the enemies o f lib e rty an d light ; finally and ,

a b ove all there were the sons o f Loyo la ever laboring

, ,

industriously in the dark though their so ciety had b een

supp ressed and now again thanks to t h e licentious
, , ,

bigoted desp otic Elector Charles Theodore po ssessin g ,

great influen c e in B avaria the country m which t h e ,

memb ership of the O rder of I llu m inati was o f longest

standing and most numerous At that court the seat .
,

of corruption some courtiers p ro fessors and clergymen

, , ,

who had been members of the order wi th the secret ,

p amphleteer Joseph Utz sc h n e id e r at their head played

, , ,

traitor charging th e order wi th rebellion infidelity and

, , ,

all manner o f vi c es and crimes and at th e same time , ,

Without ado classing with the I lluminati th e Freemasons

,
.
 M Y S TE R I A

By a decree of August the lodges o f all secret

so ci eties establishe d without government s app rov a l i n ’

c luding th e I lluminati an d th e Freemasons were b anned , .

The maso nic lodges s u b mitted at once and clo sed their ,

doors ; but Weishaupt and his associates went on with

th eir work hop ing t o change th e mind o f th e Ele c tor by
,

b ringing up fo r p ub li c discussion their rules and their

usages Vain h0p e The Ele ctor s confessor Father
. .
’

Frank an ex J es ui t who already h ad la b ore d against

,
~
,

Freemasonry p rocured on M arch 2 1 7 8 1 a second de

, , ,
~

cree by which the previo u s one was c onfirmed and all

, ,

secret organization s that continued to exi st in violation

of it and sp ecifi cally th e O rder o f I lluminati were fo r
,
'

b idden to hold meetings and all thei r p roperty was con ,

fi s cat e d Th e M inister o f State Aloy sius X avier Kreit

.
,

mayr distinguished himself b y th e ri gor with which he

,

executed the ukaz W eishaup t was depo sed from his .

p la c e at I ngolstadt exp elled fro m that city and declared

, ,

incapable o f legal defense ; he had to flee the co unt ry .

H e fi rst tarried in Ratisbon ; b u t soon i n conse q uen ce ,

o f the discovery o f co mpromising documents in a search

o f the ho u ses of I lluminati very grave charges were ,

b rought against the memb ers and the Elector b e c ame ,

alarmed for hi s throne Withou t distinction o f clas s or .

station a p ro secutio n was entered against all p ersons ao

c u s e d o f memb ership in t h e o rder or even s u s p ected of ,

symp athy with it and they were imprisoned de p osed

, ,

fro m o ffice b ani shed and i n the case o f p ersons o f the

, ,

lower c lasses punish e d wi th strip es This whole b usi

,
.

nes was managed without any re c ourse t o the regular

'

tribunals b y a sp ecial commission under Court dirce

,

tion This p ersecution lasted till after the outbreak o f

.

th e Fren c h Revolution and a refusal to c ondemn the ,

 M Y S TE R I A \

2 . Il M TTAY
I I ON S
‘ ‘

O F I LLU M INIS M
'
.

No t long after the break -up o f the O rder of I llu m inat i

in the South a similar order sp ran g up in Nort hern Ge r
,

m any I t originated in the b rain o f a man unfortunately

.

at on c e a zealo us I lluminist and a morally dep raved

vaga b ond who mad e a d eplora b le m isuse o f th e talents
,

with whi c h n ature h ad endowed h i m ri c hly Th is was .

D r Charles Frederi c B ah rdt P rotestant theolo gi an ,

.
,

so meti m e p reacher p ro fes so r or teacher in sund ry places

, , ,

and on c e even keep er o f an eating house at H alle I n .

1 7 88 it o c curred to him to foun d an association to p ro

mote enlighten ed vie ws and his plan wa s to c o m b ine it ,

with the m asoni c society o f which h e had b e c o m e a ,

memb er in En gl and Th e p roj ected asso c iatio n he called

.

“ ”
the Germ an Union o f th e X X I I ( D euts che Union der .

X X I I ) fo r th e reason as h e explained in a c ircular let

, ,

ter that twenty two m en had formed a union for the

,
-

ends set fo rth Th e Union was to b e organized on t h e

.

plan o f J esus Chri st whom B ah rd t in a voluminous wo rk

,

portrayed as th e founder o f a sort o f Free m asonry and ,

o f who se mi ra c les h e o ffered a rather fo rced natural ex

plan ation I n a cc ordan c e with this plan the asso c ia
.

tion was to b e a si lent b ro the rhood that was to hurl

“ ”

fro m th eir throne sup erstitio n and fanati c ism and thi s ,

c hiefly by the literary a c tivity o f the m em b ers The literary .

labor was ingeniously o rganized in such fashion that the

Union woul d b y diligent effo rt in time gain c ontrol o f
the p ress and fh e whol e b ook trade thus a c quiring th e ,

mean s o f insurin g th e triump h o f enlightenme n t O ut .

ward ly the Union was to have the app earan c e o f a p urely

literary asso ciation ; b ut inwa rdly it was to c onsist o f thre e
de gree s o f whi c h th e l o wer ones were to b e si m ply read
,
 ILLU M INA TI 227

ing societies while the third alon e would understan d th e

,

real pu rpo se o f the o rder viz advancement of scien ce ,

.
, ,

a rt commerce and religion betterment o f education e n

, , , ,

c o u rage m e n t o f men o f talent remuneration for servi c es , ,

p rovisio n for merito riou s workers in age and m i s fo r

tune also for the widows an d orphan s of memb ers B ut
,
.

inas m u ch as B ah rd t had p ainted this b eautiful pi c ture

solely to make mon ey the D eutsche Union existed only ,

on pap er ; but it wro ught for its proj ecto r a protracted

term of imp risonment which h e su rv i ve d b ut a short ,
'

ti m e ; he died in 1 7 9 2 .

Another imitation o f th e O rder o f I lluminati th e ,

Leagu e o f the E ve rget e s ( B un d der E verget en o r b ene ,

fa c tors o r welldo ers ) which sp ran g up at the c lose o f

,

t h e 1 8 th c entury had a longer term o f life t hough but

, ,

little expan sion Its a c t i vity extend ed over all the arts
.

and scien c es ex c ept p ositive theolo gy an d p o sitive j uris

,

p ruden ce The memb er s were design ated after the man

.

n er o f the I lluminati ; but they acknowledged no un

known su p eriors Time was re c koned fro m the death
.

o f Socrates B C 400 ,
Th e sup reme head was called
. . .

A rc h i ep i s t at (arch i ep i s t at e s chief overseer) ; there were ,

two degrees of whi ch o nly th e higher one had a political

, .

ai m popular rep resentation

, Fessler b y hi s protests .
,

against su c h tenden c ies brought a b out a split i n the as ,

~

sociation and afte rward his adversaries tried to convert

,

it into a sort o f moral Femgeric h t by tracking an d b rand

ing al l o ffenses O ne o f the three leaders b etrayed the
.

other two and was with them put in p rison b ut soo n

, ,

after ward released : that ended the asso c iation .

 4 . F R E E M AJS O N R Y AN D TH E F R E N C‘H RE V O L UTI O N .

That there was any allian c e o f th e Freemason s or ,

even o f the I lluminists with the men of th e Fren c h Rev o

,

l ut i o n whi c h b roke o ut i n 1 7 8 9 c an b e affirmed only b y

tho s e who are i gno rant of hi story or wilfully b lind —
, ,

by
men like th e Privy Coun cilor Gro l m an o f Giessen fri end ,

o f Stark ( si gnifi c antly named in th e Strict O b se rvance

,

Knight o f the Golden Cra b ) o r like th e a bb e and canon

, ,

Augustin B arru el in France , or the ship s captain an d ’

p ro fessor John Robinson in England : thei r allegations

, ,

were received only with ridicule an d p assed into oblivion , .

As we have seen th e I lluminati were to b e fo und only

,

in Germany where no revolution took place : in fact

, ,

they were no longer in existen c e when the French revo

l ut i o n broke o ut As for the Freemasons we have al
.
,

ready sho wn that they were o ppo sed to the movement ;

but that movement could have n o other gro u nd than the
dissatisfaction of th e people of Franc e wi th the shameful
B ourbon dynasty whose mischief could not b e repaired
,

by th e well intention ed b u t narrow minded Lo uis XVI

- -
.

No critical or serious work o f histo ry gi ves any j u s ti fi

cation o f th e b elief that Freemason ry had a hand in
b rin ging ab out that Revolution : but a deci sive p roof of
the t rue relation o f Freemason ry to the troubles o f those
times is had in th e fact that the Terror made an end o f the
Grand O rient o f Fran ce All the club s of the Fren ch
.

Revolutio n were open : th e p eople would n o t tolerate

secret clu b s not even p rivate assem b lages and hence as
, ,

early as 1 7 9 1 b egan to persecut e th e Freemasons as ari s

t o c rat s Th e Gran dmaster then existing Louis Philip
.
,

Joseph D u ke o f O rlean s gave up his title as we know

, , , ,

and called himself Citizen Equality and at last in 1 79 3 , , ,

 S e cr e t S o ci e ti es of V a ri o u s K i n d s .

1 . S O C I E TI E S O F W I TS .

Th e Co m i c: has a p l ac e eve ry where in histo ry : th e r e

i s n o la c k o f it i n se c ret so c ieties ; indeed in such s o c ieti es
,

it assume s m any di fferent form s For there b e secret .

so c ietie s th at would b e c o m i c ; there b e se c ret so c ietie s

that are c o m i c witho ut kn o wing it ; an d fin ally th ere be
m en and p arties that b y their action a gainst s o c alled -

s e c ret s o c ieties m a k e them s elves c o m i c wi thout intending

it .

While G oethe live d at W eimar there was fo rm ed in ,

that city a satiri c al So c iety o f Chevaliers C uriou s ly .

enough it was suggested by Frederi c von Go ne a Knight ,

“

o f th e Stri ct Ob se rvanc e and a strong b eliever in the

de s c ent o f Free m ason ry fro m Templari sm b ut a comical ,

old soul w ithal and autho r o f a p arody o f Goethe s

,
’

We rther The m e mb ers too k knightly na m e s : Go ethe

.
,

for example was Go etz von B erli chi n gen ; they spoke i n
,

the styl e o f c hivalry and they had four degree s I n sar

,
.

c as t i c allusion to the revelation s pro m ised (b ut never

c o mm uni c ated ) in th e high p s e ud o m as o n i c degrees th e ,

degrees o f the So c iety o f Chev al iers were 1 Transition ; , ,

’
2 Transiti o n s Transition ; 3 Transition s Transition to
’
, ,

Tran s i tio n ; 4 Tra n s ition s Tran sitio n to Tran s i tion o f

,
’

230
 S E CR E T S O C I E T I E S O F V A R I O US K INDS 23 1

Transition O nly the initiate d understood th e pro foun d

.

m eaning of the D egrees .

Another so ciety o f simil ar nature was that o f th e

Mad Cou rt Councilors founded at Fran kfo rt o n the - -

Main by the physician Ehrm ann in 1 809 M embership .

c o n s isted onl y in the receipt fro m the founder ( in reco g

n i t i o n of so me hu m orous p iece
) o f a Diploma written in
b urles que style in Latin and bearing the impres s o f a ,

broad s eal Among men honored with the diploma were

.

J ean Paul E M Arndt Go ethe I ffi an d Schloss er

, . .
, , , _
,

C re u ze r Ch l ad n y et c G oethe earned his d iploma by a

—
.
, ,

parody o f hi s own Wes to e s c e r D iwan

“
t l i h
” “
O cc id en ta ,

l i s c h c r O rientalismus
”
.

M any so c ieties o f this sort hav e sin c e arisen b ut ,

tho s e o f V ienna are wo rthy of sp ecial mention O ne of .

“
these was called L u d l am s h o e h l e after a not very suc ,

c e s s fu l drama o f O eh l e n s c h l ag e r s It had m any di s ’

.

t i n gu i s h e d men in its membership The me mb ers were .

called B odies the c andidates Shadows Though mirth

, .

was the only obj ect the p oli c e thought it b est to sup
,
~

p res s t h e so ciety in 1 8 2 6 I n 1 8 55 app e ared th e G reen

.

I sland a co mic c h eval re s qu e so ciety though it rendered

,
-
,

good service to literature and art Several writers an d .

actors o f note b elonged to it A socie t y the A l l s ch l ar .

,

affi a was founded at Pra g ue in the fi ft i e s whi c h in 1 88 5 ’

, , ,

had eighty fi ve affiliated so cieties in G er m any Austria

- :
, ,

Swit z erland an d other c ountries A congr es s o f th e .

,

leagued so cietie s met at Leipsi c in 1 8 76 an d another at ,

P rague in 1 8 8 3 The presid ent o f each S ch l araffen rei c h

.

( or so c iety ) was c alled Uhu but on festive o ccasion

, s w a s

Aha and in c onde m ning o ffense s against the Al l s ch l ar

,

affi a, Oho .
 M Y S TE R I A

2. IM IT A TI O N S O F '
TH E A N C I E NT M YST I C LE A G UE S .

There have b een an d still are in Fran c e secret s o

c i et i e s that hav e thought th ey c ould in o ur ti m e tran s

plan t to Europ e under M asonic forms th e Egyptian;

, ,

Mysteri es O n c e there was a H oly O rder o f the S o

.

o h i s i an s found ed by Fren c h military o fficers who h ad

,

b een with Bon ap arte in Egypt Th e highest dig nita rie s

.

were called I s i arc h s and the rest of th e o fficers of th e

,

so ciety bo re similar titles ( mo stly fi ctitious) o f Egyptian

p riests . Th e lodge s were Pyramids an d their aera b egan ,

years before Christ Two orders whi c h still sub

.

sist are those o f M i s rai m an d o f M em p his b oth of which ,

i n do wnright earnest tra c e their o ri gin b a c k to Egyptian

anti quity an d re g ard all th e secret asso ciations mentioned
in th e pre sen t volume ex c ept tho se having p oliti c al aims
, .

as members o f on e grand as so ciation The fa c t i s that .

th e M i s rai m system had its ori gi n in 1 80 5 an d was ,

founded by so me men of loose m orals who c on tr i ved to ,

’
get th emselve s received into a Freemasons lodge in
M ilan b ut who b ecause they were not p romoted as they
, ,

h ad hop e d to b e went out and formed a Fre emasonry o f

,

their o wn The o rder sp read first over Italy an d i n 1 8 1 4

.

to Fran c e The syste m has no fewer than ninety degrees

.
,

group ed i n seventeen c las ses an d three series O nly the

'

,
.

“ ”
Gran dmaster received the nineti eth de g ree : the content '

of all the de gree s i s p ure n onsen se The M e m phis s y ste m .

wa s introduced into France in 1 8 1 4 b y a Cairene ad

venturer It held its fi rst lodge at Montau b an in 1 8 1 5
. ,

but has o ften sin c e that ti m e b een obliged to interru p t

i t s work Th e G rand Lodge of Paris was c alled O siris
. ,

the head o f the order was G randm aster of Li g h t ; th e

hierarchy o f o fficials was c ompl ex and showy The de .
~

grees were more than ninety in nu mb er to whi c h were ,

 M Y S TE R I A .

too the highest grade b eing that o f B ishop The rules

, .

o f the New Te mp lari s m permitted none to b e admitted to

the order save m en o i no b le b irth : b ut many a shop
’

keep er wo re th e white mantle with red cro ss .

There are New Templars also in England S c otlan d; ,

Ireland and th e United States almo st all of who m have ,

received the s o c alled higher de gree s o f Freemasonry

-
.

The En g lish Te mplars are divided into two opposing

p a rt ies fro m on e o f wh i ch c ame th e I rish an d th e Ameri
,
‘ ‘

can Te m plars No o ne is co mp etent fo r admission to

.

any of these Templar societies wh o does not b elieve that

Christ cam e on earth to save sinners wi th hi s blood and ,

'
th e memb ers must swear to defend this b elief with th eir
swords and with th eir lives B ut n o one alas has yet .
, ,

heard of their deeds on b ehalf of tho se i mp e riled articles

o f faith Th eir lodges are c alled Co mmanderies Th ey
. .

have Sword b earers B an n erb e arers Prelates , , .

3 . IMI TA TI O NS O F F R E E M A S O N R Y ’

The resuscitation o f the ancient ord er o f D ruids i s

another example of imitati o n o f the se c ret societies of
anti quity Among the Kelts of Gaul an d B ritain th e
.

D ruid s were next after the no b les and the warriors the
, ,

highest estate Religion art and science were their ex

.
, ,

c l u s i ve p rovin c e : hence th ey were priests poets an d , ,

scholars Th eir head was a Ch i ef D ruid an d they formed

.
,

an order wi th sp ecial garb a special mode of writing de , ,

grees an d m yste ries Th e mysteries were c ertain theo

.
~

logical philo sophical medi c al math ematical etc dog

, , , ,
.
,

mata and thes e were conveyed in three mem b ered sen

,
-

t e n c e s ( tri ads) The y b elieved in th e immortality o f the

.

soul and its t ransm i gration in o n e god c reation o f the , ,

 S E CRE T S O C I E TI E S O F V A R I O US K I N DS 23 5

world out o f nothing an d its transformation (not d e s t ruc

,

tion ) by water and fi re Their assemblies were held in

.

caverns and forests o n mo untains and w

,
ithin circles , ,

ringed round with e no rmous b locks o f stone Th e .

Roman e mp erors persecuted them as they did J ews and

Christians becaus e the D ruidic mysterie s seemed to
,

them dangerous to the state I n B ritain the B ards i e.

,
. .
,

tho se o f the D ruids who c ultivated po etry and song were ,

the mo st influential divisio n of their order There were .

—
three degrees o f the B ard s Probationers Passed S chol ,

ars and Le arned Bards .

I n 1 7 8 1 a so c iety was formed in Londo n whose

mem b ers called themselves D ruids and who p ra c ticed ,

rites resembling tho se of Freemason ry I n 1 8 58 there .

were twenty — seven mutually inde p endent societies o f

D ruids in B ritain b ut by consolidation the numb er is
,

now reduced to fifteen D ruidism was introdu c ed into

.

the United State s in 1 8 3 3 Their lo c al o rganization s

.

are called Groves and th e c entral o rganizations G rand

,

Groves They have three d egrees to which are appended

.
,

other higher degrees each with its own High Arch Chap
,
~

ter There is no close connection between Britis h an d

’

Ameri ca n D ruidism I n 1 8 7 2 D ruidism was imp orted

.

into G erm any from the United States : there are in th e

German empire forty Groves wi th ab out mem b ers
, .

The order of O dd Fellows i s o f En glish ori gi n , but i s

very strong in the United States I t wa s founded toward .

the end o f the first hal f o f the 1 8 th century but app ears ,
”
t o have b een at fi rst a c onvivi al society o f goodfellows
“
,

or o d d fellows with m utual benefi t a s a seconda ry obj ect

,
.

I t was reorganized in 1 8 1 2 th e feature o f c onviviality

‘

dropped and the b en e fi c en t ends m ade p aramount ; this

,

i s th e I ndep endent O rder o f O dd Fellows A rather .

 M Y S TE R I A

si m ilar organization th e An cient O rder o f Foresters

, ,

was founded in England a b out the same time with th e

O dd Fello w s order Forestry also h as b een tran splanted
’
.

to the United State s Ameri c an O ddfellowship severed

.

its c o n ne c tion with th e B ritish Grand Lodge in 1 8 42 .

There were in the United States in 1 88 9 m o re th an 600 ,

000 O ddfellow s in lodges A so c iety of American

’

o rigi n i s that of the Knights o f Pythias founde d in W ash ,

i n gt o n in 1 8 64 ; its obj ect i s to disseminate th e gr eat

p rinciples of fri endship charity and ben evolen c e : it had
,
”
,

in 1 8 8 5 separate lodge s and m embers The .

O rd e r o f Red M en ( I mp roved O rder of Red M en ) is

o f earlier ori g i n than the p rec e di n g zt h e mem b ers in th eir
lodge meetings i m itate so m e o f the customs o f th e Ameri
c an aboriginals and wear an attire resembling that o f th e
,

I ndians B eside s these there are in the United States

.

very many oth er se c ret so cieties having for their end

m utual b en e fi c en ce as Knights o f M alta Senate o f Sparta
, , ,

Knights o f the Mystic Chain Legio n o f the Red Cross , ,

Knights o f Friendship Royal Arc anum ,

Th e Grand .

Army o f th e Rep ublic was founded soon after th e clo s e

of th e c ivil war Its m . emb ers are veteran so ldiers o f
that war I ts ends are t o p erp etuate the asso c iations o f
.

comrade s in arms to relieve distress o f me m bers and pro

,
 I N DE X

R e, t h e s u n g o d , b ec o m i n g F re e m a s o n ry i n t h e F re n c h
t h e o n e g o d , i h ; w o rs i p o f . h v
re o l u t i o n 228 sqq .

a n im als and p l an ts 12 ,

m y s te ri e s 20
E gyp ti an g o Shu S et
.

ds
o t, Th Ge rm a n U nio n o f th e

N
u n u , Tu m
,

o ro s R e sis
.

H
,

I XX II 226
h
,

an i m al s
,

Go d s
.

O
s i ri s , N e i t, P ta , A mon, , an d p l an ts as ,
H h
a t o r, H
a rm a c h i s 1 3 s q q .
11 ;
b
of E gy p t, 13 0 s q q ; o f .

E l e u s i n i a n m y s t e r i e s , 49 s q q ; .
B a y l o n i a , 27 sqq ; of In.

b
as i l eu s , as i l i s s a, 51 ; E u b 33 sqq
F F
.

m o l p i d a e K e ry t a e 5 1 ; i e ro h G ra c e s , a te s , uri e s 8
h
, ,
G re c i a n re l igio n, 38 sqq
p a n t , 5 1 ; w a rs s u s p en d e d
d u ri n g t h e s o l e m n i t i e s , 5 2 ; k n ew gma, no d
no r o 39 ;
th e m y th u n d e rl y i n g th e
v
d e i l s , 4 0; h
o s p i t a l e t o fo r b
E l eu s i n i a 53 ; le s s er and
ei g h go d s , 4 0; w o rs i p , a h
g re a t e r E l e u s i n i a ,
,

5 4 ; p ro St a t e fu n c t i o n , 41 ; ri t u a l

c es s i o n t o E l e u s i s 55 ; m y s an d s a c ri c e , fi
43 ; s e e r s h i p
t a e e p o p t a e , 5 0; t h e M y s t i c
,
an d p ro p h ecy , 44 ; o ra c l e s ,

H
,

o us e ib ; . c o n j u ra t i o n . 45
E s se nes a P a l es tin i an o rd e r
G re e k i n i ti ates o f E gy p ti an
m y s t e ri e s
,

or o f p u r i t a n s , 94 s q q
s ec t 21
Th Gu g o m o m y s t e r i o us
.

s a p er
c al l ed al s o e ra p e u t a e , 9 5 ;
'

ri t e s of ad m is s ion , 96 ; s o n a ge 209
E s s e n i s m a m i d d l e t e rm b e
t w ee n th e G re c i a n mys H v ea en an d
E a rt as go d s 7 h
fe r i e s a n d C r i s t i a n i s m 98 h . . H ll e e n i c m y s t e ri e s , 45 s q q
E ve r g e t e s , l e a g u e o f 227 an a n o m al y , 47 ; E uri p i d es ,
h i s p r a i s e o f t h e m y s t e ri e s ,
F e m g e ri c h t e f W es tp al i a , h a l s o C i c e ro s , 4 8 ; t e i r m e a n
’
h
—
o
1 4 7 s q q ; o r i g i n , 1 48 ; f e m i c
. ing p u r i fi ca t i o n a n d e xp i a
“
c o u rt s e x e rc i s e j u ri s d i c t i o n tio n , 49 ; s ee E leus in i an
al l o er th e v e m p i re 154 ; M y s te r i e s ”

H L b
.

h
,

p r o c e d u re 1 6 5 ; d e a t b y th e
,
e ro d o t u s o n t h e g re a t a y
ro p e , 159 ; co n d em n i n g to ri n t h , 18 ; o n E g y p ti a n m y s
d ea t h to wn s p o p ul a t i o n ,
’
a
1 61 : fe m i c c o u rt s s up er Hi g l y p h
e ro s 23
c e de d Hi ph t
e ro an 51
“
Hig h D g e re e s 195 sqq
Fi W o rs h i p h
.
,

re R o y a l A r c , 19 9 ; m y t h i c d e
F o re s t e rs 23 6 s c e n t f ro m e m p l a ri s m T 200;
S h S
. .
,

F r e e m a s o n ry 1 7 8 s q q ; g re w co t t i s ( o r a i n t A n d re w s )
’

S h h
, .

o ut f th e to n em a s o n s o r d e g r e e s , 201 ; p e d d l i n g ig
’
o

g a n i z a ti o n 1 80; r s t g ra n d fi d e g re e s , 203 ; L e rn a i s ( M a r
q
,

l o d ge i n s t i tu t e d 17 17 , i h uis) R o s a ( P h i l S a m ) 204 ; .
,

h h T
. ,

re co g n i e s z
um an ro t e r b t h e n ew e m p l a ri s m i n Ger
h oo d r e g a rd l e s s o i ra c e or m a n y i b ; tri c t O s e r a n c e
, . S b v ,

c re e d 18 1 : i n s t i tu t i o n o f t h e 205 s q q ; fa n t a s t i c ti tl es
h h h
.
.

t re e d e g r e e s , 1 8 2 ; d i ffu s i o n K n i g t o f t h e C o c k c a fe r ,
o f t h e o r d e r , 1 83 ; i t s a i m s , e tc 206 ; J o n A u g h
t a rk S
v T
.

1 84 ; s i g n s , r i t u a l sym ol s, , b i n e n t s c l e ri c a l e m p l a ri s m ,
1 8 6 ; g ra n d an d p a rti c u l a r 207 ; Gu g o m o s t ra c e s th e
l o d g e s , 1 8 7 ; wo m e n n o t a d
’
h i gh d e g re e s a ck to b
m i t t e d to th e l o d g e , 1 90 M o se s 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 209
 I ND E X 23 9

Hi ra m my t h 1 99 202 215 fa i t hf ul to g en u i n e fre e

H
. . , ,

d,
un B a ro n vo n, a Don m a s o n ry 206
! u i xo t e 203 sqq L
‘
o s t Go d th e 46
Ly
.
.

c u rg u s in E gyp t 21
I h acc os
v D i ty
Il l m i
u n a ti qq 21 6 s . M an
h
ri al i n g
hip
e 2
Imit ti
.

a o ns of a n ci en t m y s ti c Mit ra s w o rs i m p o rt e d
l eag u e s 23 2 s q q ; o l y .
H fr o m P e r s i a i n t o R o m e 6 8 ; ,

O d
r er
,

o f S o p h i s i '
a n s ,
23 2 : b
e l a o ra t e s y m b
o l i sm o f th e

O rd e r o f M i s ra i m O rd e r o f i n i t i a t i o n , h u m a n s a c ri c e s , fi
M em p hi s
,

ib 69 ; H b
e l i o g a a l u s a n i n i t i a te
h
. . ,

I
.

ni t i a te s 5; i n i t i a ti o n i n to 7 0; M i t r a s c o up l ed w i th
,

E gyp tian m y s t e ri e s . . 22 Z
a g re u s an d A t ti s , a n d th e
co m p o u n d d e i ty c a l l e d S a
I s t a r, Ch al d a e a n g o d d e s s , h er b azius 7 0; i n i t i a t i o n
,

b z
t h e S a a i a n m y s t e ri e s
in to
71
d es cen t i n to t h e i n fe rn a l
v
. .

31 M y s te r i e s , i n e n t i o n o f, 3 ; o f
re a l m
E gyp t i n cl u d e d M o n o th e
ism 23
J asios son o f Z eus ,
in v en to r
M yt o lo gy h
.

of n a t u ra l ph e
.

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91
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be c a m e n e s t s o f m e n d i c an t s
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3 7 .
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Kn i gge, B a ro n A dolf vo n ,
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fo u n d e r o f l l u m i n i s m , 21 ; I ,

a p o s t at i es z .
225 h
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h
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l i e fs 1 3 5 ; c o n t e m p t fo r t h e P l a to i n E gy p t 22
h
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,

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h
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sqq ; C a i ri , ih p al l i c t u a r t , C a rl e s E d w a r d 207
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R o s i c ru c i a n i s m 21 2 T e m p l a ri s m an d F re e m a
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fra u d 206
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ea g u es am o ng s av Vi h s nu
ag es . 36
S e c re t S o ci e tie s , m i s c el l a n e W e i s haup t A d am , fa t e r o f h
W o o d s p l i t t e rs Il l
,

o us : Th e 1 92 um i n i s m 21 6 s q q
H S
, .

Ord er o f o p e , 1 93 ; o f ai n t
J 0n a t h a n ( o r J o ac hi m) , 194 ; Z a ra t h u s t ro t e m a
-
32
32s q q
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By A LICE B S TOCKHA M n D . , . .

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re l a ,

a s a c re d fu n c t i o n t h a t m ay b e e m

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fo r h i gh e r i n d i i d u al e ve l o p m e n t v
o f b o d y , m i n d a n d s o u l , wi h o u p ro p aga i o n t t t .

v
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C O M P L E TE C ON TRO L O F TH E CR E A TI V E P O WE R .

K A R E ZZ A co n t ro v e rt s i d e as o f t h e p re v a il i n g

b as e n e s s an d d e g rad a t i o n as s o c i at e d wi t h t h e
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ri gh t fo r t h e c h i l d , fo r a c o n t ro l l ed an d d es i gn e d
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t h e m o s t s ac re d re l at i o n s t o t h e i d e al m a rri age , .

H E A L TH CUL TURE : KA R E ZZ A i s a b o o k t h a t al l
wh o a re m a rri e d an d t h o s e c o n t em p l at i n g m ar
t i ago wi l l re a d wi t h i n t e re s t a n d p ro fi t .

DR . J As . A . S M I L L I E : I h a e rec e i e d m o re v v
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t u d e kn o ws no b o und s . v
E e ry d ay I am s t ro n ge r,
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C H A S M C C OR M I C K , M D : I re gard
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p re c i a t e an d re wa rd y o u r e ffo rt s .

Ext ra Le v an t Cl o t h , P re p a i d ,
H OW TO LIV E FO REV ER
THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE
B y H A RRY GAZE

Th i s w o r k e xa ct l y h o w t o p e rp e t u a t e
s h o ws
l i fe i n p h y s i c a l e m b o d i m e n t B y c o o p e ra t i o n .

w i th k n o w n l a w s o f c h a n g e a n d g ro w th m a n m a y ,

h a v e et e rn a l h e a l t h a n d i m m o rt a l y o u t h Ol d .

a g e i s a d i s e a s e t h a t m a y b e p r e v e n t e d a n d c u re d .

H a r ry G a ze i s t h o ro u g h l y s c i e n t i fi c an d ,

fo u n d s h i s t h e o r i e s o n t h e l a t e s t b i o l o g i c a l d i s
co ve r i e s . Th ro u g h k n o w l ed g e h e g i v e s l i fe m o re

a b u n d an tl y . Th i s i s s ci en ti fi c O p ti m i s m .

W R C L a t s o n M D E d i t o r o f H e a l th C u l “

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i n t h e a cce p t e d fa ct s o f p h y s i o l o g i c a l s c i e n c e b y
w h i c h h i s p o s i t i o n c a n b e r e fu te d I c a n h e a rt i l y .

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wi t h m o s t o f t h e N e w Th o u g h t t h e o r i e s b u t I b e ,

l i e ve t h i s b o o k s u rp a s s e s t h e m a l l .

El egantl y bo und i n c o l th and go l d o ver 200 pp .

Price . Pre pai d ,

STOCKHAM PUB CO . 7 0 Dearbo m St , Ch i c ago

 S to c k h a rn P u b l i s h i n g C o .

( In c q rp o ra te d )
7 0 De a r b o rn S t re e t. C H IC AGO , I L L .

BOO KS O N H EA LTH A N D S EXUA L S C I EN C E

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N T L ULTU
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P A RS I FA L Th H l G i l Th S i l t T or h e o y ra e en e ac er.

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