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Article THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON AS A SYMBOL OF FKE... ← Page 14 of 15 →
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The Temple Of Solomon As A Symbol Of Fke...
of the anarchist or the Utopian , but that great moral and physical equality which affects the whole human race as the children of one common Father , who causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on all alike , and who has so appointed the universal lot of humanity , that
death , the leveller of all human greatness , is made to visit with equal pace the prince ' s palace and the peasant's hut . Here , then , we have three more signs or hieroglyphics added to our alphabet of symbolism . Others there are in this degree , but they belong to a higher grade of interpretation , and cannot be appropriately discussed in an essay on temple symbolism only .
"We now reach the third degree , the Master Masons of the modern science , and the JEpopts , or beholders of tJie sacred tMngs m the ancient mysteries . In the third degree , the symbolic allusions to the Temple of Solomon , and the implements of Masonry employed in its construction , are extended and fully completed . At the building of that edifice ,
we have already seen that one class of the workmen was employed in the preparation of the materials , while another was engaged in placing those materials in their proper position . But there was a third and higher class—the master workmen— -whose duty it was to superintend the two other classes , and to see that the stones were not only duly prepared , but that the most exact accuracy had been
observed in giving to them their true juxtaposition in the edifice . It was then only that the last and finishing labour f was performed and the cement was applied by these skilful workmen , to secure the materials in their appropriate places , and to unite the building in one enduring and connected mass . Hence the trowel ^ we are informed , was the most important , though of course , not the only implement in use among the master builders . They did not permit
this last indelible operation to J > e performed by any hands less skilful than their own . They required that the craftsmen should prove the correctness of their work by the square , level and plumb , and test by these unerring instruments the accuracy of their joints , and when satisfied of the just arrangement of every part , the cement which was to give an unchangeable union to the whole , was then applied by themselves .
Hence , in speculative Masonry , the trowel has been assigned to the third degree as its proper implement , and the symbolic meaning which accompanies it , has a strict and beautiful reference to the pur-* " Pallida mors sequo pulsatpede panperum . tabernas Regumque turres . "—Hon . lib . i . od . 4 .
+ It is worth noticing that the verb natzacli , from which the title of the menatzcJiim ( the overseers or master masons in the ancient Temple ) is derived , signifies also in Hebrew , to be perfected , to be completed . The third degree is the perfection of the symbolism of the Temple , and its lessons lead ' us to the completion of life . In like manner , the mysteries , says Christie , were termed reXeTai , perfections , because they were supposed to induce a perfectness of life . Those who were purified by them were styled teXovixevol , and rerekeo ' iJievoi , that is , brought to perfection . " — Observations on Ouvavojfs Essay on the Eleusinicm Mysteries .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Temple Of Solomon As A Symbol Of Fke...
of the anarchist or the Utopian , but that great moral and physical equality which affects the whole human race as the children of one common Father , who causes his sun to shine and his rain to fall on all alike , and who has so appointed the universal lot of humanity , that
death , the leveller of all human greatness , is made to visit with equal pace the prince ' s palace and the peasant's hut . Here , then , we have three more signs or hieroglyphics added to our alphabet of symbolism . Others there are in this degree , but they belong to a higher grade of interpretation , and cannot be appropriately discussed in an essay on temple symbolism only .
"We now reach the third degree , the Master Masons of the modern science , and the JEpopts , or beholders of tJie sacred tMngs m the ancient mysteries . In the third degree , the symbolic allusions to the Temple of Solomon , and the implements of Masonry employed in its construction , are extended and fully completed . At the building of that edifice ,
we have already seen that one class of the workmen was employed in the preparation of the materials , while another was engaged in placing those materials in their proper position . But there was a third and higher class—the master workmen— -whose duty it was to superintend the two other classes , and to see that the stones were not only duly prepared , but that the most exact accuracy had been
observed in giving to them their true juxtaposition in the edifice . It was then only that the last and finishing labour f was performed and the cement was applied by these skilful workmen , to secure the materials in their appropriate places , and to unite the building in one enduring and connected mass . Hence the trowel ^ we are informed , was the most important , though of course , not the only implement in use among the master builders . They did not permit
this last indelible operation to J > e performed by any hands less skilful than their own . They required that the craftsmen should prove the correctness of their work by the square , level and plumb , and test by these unerring instruments the accuracy of their joints , and when satisfied of the just arrangement of every part , the cement which was to give an unchangeable union to the whole , was then applied by themselves .
Hence , in speculative Masonry , the trowel has been assigned to the third degree as its proper implement , and the symbolic meaning which accompanies it , has a strict and beautiful reference to the pur-* " Pallida mors sequo pulsatpede panperum . tabernas Regumque turres . "—Hon . lib . i . od . 4 .
+ It is worth noticing that the verb natzacli , from which the title of the menatzcJiim ( the overseers or master masons in the ancient Temple ) is derived , signifies also in Hebrew , to be perfected , to be completed . The third degree is the perfection of the symbolism of the Temple , and its lessons lead ' us to the completion of life . In like manner , the mysteries , says Christie , were termed reXeTai , perfections , because they were supposed to induce a perfectness of life . Those who were purified by them were styled teXovixevol , and rerekeo ' iJievoi , that is , brought to perfection . " — Observations on Ouvavojfs Essay on the Eleusinicm Mysteries .