-
Articles/Ads
Article MUSIC IN MASONRY. ← Page 2 of 2 Article MASONIC JOTTINGS, No. 76. Page 1 of 2 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Music In Masonry.
attention of the people , and more firmly to instil the formulae of prophecy , law and faith into the popular mind and heart . Some of the Fathers positively affirm that the music of the Christians
drew many Gentiles into the Church . Among the Greeks , neither tragedy , comedy , nor oration , was delivered without being accompanied by music , so that even impassioned elocution was considered impotent without either musical
intonation or instrumental accompaniment . To these striking particulars Ave ought to add the cure of Saul . The first Book of Samuel informs us that " when the evil spirit from God was npon Saul , David took the harp , and played with his hand :
St . Saul was refreshed and was well , and the evil spii'ifc departed from him . " We know that even in our day music sets the spirits in motion , and we should not be surprised , therefore , that this evil one , by the same means , Avas driven out of Saul .
King David , the " sweet Psalmist of Israel , " was an enthusiastic lover of the harp , and ever had around him a great corps of musicians ; and as in Egypt the profession of Music was hereditary , so among the Israelites , musicians were all of one family—that of Levi—which was exclusively
consecrated to the service of God , and fche cultivation of music . In the reign of our first Grand Master , King Solomon , Hebrew music attained its highest perfection , when it formed a part of the Temple worship , and must have been participated in by
those who Avrought on the House of the Lord . What was Masonic then , must be Masonic noAv ; and when Ave , in addition , consider that Music is one of the liberal arts , especially patronised by the Craft ; that it formed an essential part of the
ancient mysteries from which Freemasonry took its origin ; that the Church of God incorporates ifc into its solemn services ; Ave cannot conceive of any valid ground of objection to its introduction as an accompaniment to the Avork of any Masonic
Lodge . It is no innovation , bufc in consonance with all the teachings and the spirit of Freemasonry . We hope to see the time when no Lodge will be without music . The interest , the impressiveness , the solemnity thafc it adds to the
rituals , are wonderful . The mind sees clearly its master truths ; the heart vibrates in unison with the sweet sounds , and the Avhole man is lifted up to a higher plane . Music is angelic ; music is Masonic ; let us have music . —Keystone ,
Masonic Jottings, No. 76.
MASONIC JOTTINGS , No . 76 .
BY A PAST PEOVINCIAL GEAND MASTER .
TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP . My answer to the inquiry of a young brother is , that Tree and Serpent Worship is , in my judgment , a subject Avhich may usefully employ a portion of an instructed Mason ' s time . I recommend
my brother to read the communication " on Tree and Serpent Worship , as exemplified by some recently discovered Indian monuments ; being an abstract of a paper read at the Eoyal Institution of Great Britain , by James Ferguson , Esq ., F . R . S ., Friday , February 5 th , 1869 . "— " Freemasons' Magazine , " vol . xxi ., page 23 .
THE PLATFORM . An American brother writes thafc Christianity of the most comprehensive kind—Christianity embracing all Churches , all sects—is the " Platform " of the Charges of 1723 .
CONFESSION OF FAITH . A brother asks , how Charges , which form no part of the Book of Constitutions , published by the Grand Lodge of England , can be the Freemasons " Confession of Faith ? *
CHRISTIAN PRAYERS OF THE CRAFT . If , asks a correspondent , to talk of Christian Freemasonry is a contradiction in terms , f how has it come to pass that every decade of our Masonic history ( including that in which we live ) may be illustrated by specimens of the Christian Prayers of the Craft ?
ANDERSONS' GENEALOGY I beg a London brother to accept my thanks for his note on Anderson's work . A copy of his "Eoyal Genealogies , " with numerous manuscripfc additions , was once in my library . Findel musfc
be mistaken in stating that Anderson was a Preacher in the English High Church . See Jotting , Freemasons' Magazine , vol . xxiv ., page 285 . The only biographical dictionary access-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Music In Masonry.
attention of the people , and more firmly to instil the formulae of prophecy , law and faith into the popular mind and heart . Some of the Fathers positively affirm that the music of the Christians
drew many Gentiles into the Church . Among the Greeks , neither tragedy , comedy , nor oration , was delivered without being accompanied by music , so that even impassioned elocution was considered impotent without either musical
intonation or instrumental accompaniment . To these striking particulars Ave ought to add the cure of Saul . The first Book of Samuel informs us that " when the evil spirit from God was npon Saul , David took the harp , and played with his hand :
St . Saul was refreshed and was well , and the evil spii'ifc departed from him . " We know that even in our day music sets the spirits in motion , and we should not be surprised , therefore , that this evil one , by the same means , Avas driven out of Saul .
King David , the " sweet Psalmist of Israel , " was an enthusiastic lover of the harp , and ever had around him a great corps of musicians ; and as in Egypt the profession of Music was hereditary , so among the Israelites , musicians were all of one family—that of Levi—which was exclusively
consecrated to the service of God , and fche cultivation of music . In the reign of our first Grand Master , King Solomon , Hebrew music attained its highest perfection , when it formed a part of the Temple worship , and must have been participated in by
those who Avrought on the House of the Lord . What was Masonic then , must be Masonic noAv ; and when Ave , in addition , consider that Music is one of the liberal arts , especially patronised by the Craft ; that it formed an essential part of the
ancient mysteries from which Freemasonry took its origin ; that the Church of God incorporates ifc into its solemn services ; Ave cannot conceive of any valid ground of objection to its introduction as an accompaniment to the Avork of any Masonic
Lodge . It is no innovation , bufc in consonance with all the teachings and the spirit of Freemasonry . We hope to see the time when no Lodge will be without music . The interest , the impressiveness , the solemnity thafc it adds to the
rituals , are wonderful . The mind sees clearly its master truths ; the heart vibrates in unison with the sweet sounds , and the Avhole man is lifted up to a higher plane . Music is angelic ; music is Masonic ; let us have music . —Keystone ,
Masonic Jottings, No. 76.
MASONIC JOTTINGS , No . 76 .
BY A PAST PEOVINCIAL GEAND MASTER .
TREE AND SERPENT WORSHIP . My answer to the inquiry of a young brother is , that Tree and Serpent Worship is , in my judgment , a subject Avhich may usefully employ a portion of an instructed Mason ' s time . I recommend
my brother to read the communication " on Tree and Serpent Worship , as exemplified by some recently discovered Indian monuments ; being an abstract of a paper read at the Eoyal Institution of Great Britain , by James Ferguson , Esq ., F . R . S ., Friday , February 5 th , 1869 . "— " Freemasons' Magazine , " vol . xxi ., page 23 .
THE PLATFORM . An American brother writes thafc Christianity of the most comprehensive kind—Christianity embracing all Churches , all sects—is the " Platform " of the Charges of 1723 .
CONFESSION OF FAITH . A brother asks , how Charges , which form no part of the Book of Constitutions , published by the Grand Lodge of England , can be the Freemasons " Confession of Faith ? *
CHRISTIAN PRAYERS OF THE CRAFT . If , asks a correspondent , to talk of Christian Freemasonry is a contradiction in terms , f how has it come to pass that every decade of our Masonic history ( including that in which we live ) may be illustrated by specimens of the Christian Prayers of the Craft ?
ANDERSONS' GENEALOGY I beg a London brother to accept my thanks for his note on Anderson's work . A copy of his "Eoyal Genealogies , " with numerous manuscripfc additions , was once in my library . Findel musfc
be mistaken in stating that Anderson was a Preacher in the English High Church . See Jotting , Freemasons' Magazine , vol . xxiv ., page 285 . The only biographical dictionary access-