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Article GEOMETRICAL AND OTHER SYMBOLS. ← Page 6 of 7 →
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Geometrical And Other Symbols.
"In the Royal Arch Degree the name of God is depicted in the centre of old floor-cloths by a double interlacing triangle , thus )( ){ , inscribed within a dark circle representing unlimited beyond the reach of
space light , and the top representing the light shining in darkness , and the darkness comprehending it not . This had been used as a Christian symbol to denote the two natures of Jehovah the God-man , for centuries before the Royal
Arch Degree was ever thought of . In this for SM ^ or this itself V V , it was called the pentangle or Seal of Solomon and the Shield of David , and was employed all
over Asia as a preservative against witchcraft , in which superstition the Jews are said to have participated . It constituted the Pythagorean pentalpha , and was the svmbol of health . "
The pentalpha proper is an interlacement of reversed triangles as well as the hexalpha—and indeed the chief difference between them is that the pental pha is is made up of one continuous line , ending where it began : but , from what is said of both , the hexal pha and the pentalpha have probably both had one and
the same meaning . That of " God-man " is a meaning quite in accordance with what has already been concluded as to that probable meaning . It is somewhat strange , however , that as Dr . Oliver miscalls the hexalpha the pentangle and the pental pha—so he miscalls the pentalpha the hexad . Thus , in his Theocratic Philosophy of IPreemasonry , Ed . 1856 , p . 147 , he says : —
" The duad represented [ with the Pythagoreans ] Light , and the pentad darkness . The hexad or triple triangle was an emblem of Health . The hexad is to this day used among the Jews . " In his Dictionary of Symbolical Masonry , however he quotes Stukely , who more correctly calls the "triple
triangle , "—as Oliver terms it , —the pentalpha , and says that it is " A pentagonal figure called Hygeia . The Pythagoreans used it as a mystical symbol denoting Health \ jnens soma in corpora sano , doubtless , in the highest and most transcedental sense ; as imploring the maturing
, developing , perfecting , and health- bringing influence of the Holy Spirit on the human body possesssed by it . ] And the Cabalistic Jews and Abrahams had the same fancy . It is the pentalpha or pentagrammon among the Egyptians , the mark of prosperity . "
The interlacement of triangles assumes other forms , than either the pentalpha , the hexalpha , or the kindred symbols already treated of . Just somewhat as the H symbol becames duplicated by one N crossing another ; so the pentalpha interlacement is sometimes farther complicated , showing a complete circuit of interlacing and reversed triangles , crosses , and various other symbolical outlines , thus
An example of this form of interlacement of triangles , of large size , Mr . Godwin informs me , may be seen with a glass on the tower of a church in Sussex .
The hexalpha , however , 13 by far the most universal and distinguished , as well as the simplest and-clearest , form of the interlaced and reversed triangles ; and hence , perhaps , it is , that it is the form chosen by the Freemasons , and worn on the breast or neck as a permanent symbolical "jewel" of the Royal Arch degree ,
the true meaning of which the highest order of Ereemasons may understand ; but assuredly this is not the case with the lower orders ; and the not very clear and consistent ideas of Bro . Oliver himself say little even for his knowledge on the subject . I may here , however , quote once more , as to- the hexal pha , from his voluminous Freemasouic writings . In his History of Initiation , at p . 45 , he states thai in the caverns of initiation at Salsette , in India ,
"Amongst an innumerable multitude oi images and symbolical figures with which the walls are covered , the linga , or phallus , was everywhere conspicuous ; often alone , and sometimes . . . . typified' equally by the petal and calyx of the lotus , the point within the circle , and the intersection of two equilateral triangles . ' Maurice savs that , in the Hindu initiations in these
caverns , the candidates were plunged in alternate baths offire and water . This reminds us of the two interlaced triangles themselves , the one denotive of fire and the other of water , —the one of the wrathful , fiery , restrictive , and attractive or concentrative principle , and the other of the beneficent and radiative , expansiveand luminous princilesit also reminds of
, p ; us various symbolical and mythical ideas , indicating ' alternation , as well as reversal . Thus Dr . Barlow describes the alternate reversals of the T in Tuscan ornaments . Thus , too , we obtain a similar idea of alternation and reversal from certain rude sculptures at the-entrance to the"transe" or
passage leading into the " sorcery hall" of the Druidical rites at New Grange , in Ireland : there we find what has been called the water symbol , but wdiich might more properly be called the fire and water symbol , since it is just a series of reversed angles , with their apices alternately up and down ; orin factjust
, , a series of M or W symbols in a connected string ; each H containing , in itself , an alternation and reversal of angles—also a similar series of St . Andrew ' s crosses , laid , as it were , sidelong , so as to form , wdien
the tips of the stalks of the crosses meet , a series of diamond-shaped figures , in which the angles or the Vs and As , or > s and < s rather , are also alternative and reversed . It is the alternation between the human state and the Divine state , —between the waking state and the " God-possessed" state of
entranced repose in the Divine oracular S pirit , —which these and other symbolical and emblematical ideas of alternation and reversal seem to indicate , and the alternation between the waking state and the state of sleep may be taken as a type of such an alternation and reversal of the two life stateshuman and Divine
, , in conjunction . Thus , too , the Druidical " God of Mystery , " Hu , is said by the Taliesin to have " lived and died alternately , " just as Castor and Pollux ' , lived and died alternately ; " each "dying daily , " a " voluntary death ; " the one dying in the other ' s life or revival
, and living in the other ' s death or entrancement , every other " day , "—the day of Castor and the day of Pollux , —the outward day of the human life of the waking Soul , and the ( nocturnal ) day of the divine life of rest in the S pirit ;—so " sharing an immortality
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Geometrical And Other Symbols.
"In the Royal Arch Degree the name of God is depicted in the centre of old floor-cloths by a double interlacing triangle , thus )( ){ , inscribed within a dark circle representing unlimited beyond the reach of
space light , and the top representing the light shining in darkness , and the darkness comprehending it not . This had been used as a Christian symbol to denote the two natures of Jehovah the God-man , for centuries before the Royal
Arch Degree was ever thought of . In this for SM ^ or this itself V V , it was called the pentangle or Seal of Solomon and the Shield of David , and was employed all
over Asia as a preservative against witchcraft , in which superstition the Jews are said to have participated . It constituted the Pythagorean pentalpha , and was the svmbol of health . "
The pentalpha proper is an interlacement of reversed triangles as well as the hexalpha—and indeed the chief difference between them is that the pental pha is is made up of one continuous line , ending where it began : but , from what is said of both , the hexal pha and the pentalpha have probably both had one and
the same meaning . That of " God-man " is a meaning quite in accordance with what has already been concluded as to that probable meaning . It is somewhat strange , however , that as Dr . Oliver miscalls the hexalpha the pentangle and the pental pha—so he miscalls the pentalpha the hexad . Thus , in his Theocratic Philosophy of IPreemasonry , Ed . 1856 , p . 147 , he says : —
" The duad represented [ with the Pythagoreans ] Light , and the pentad darkness . The hexad or triple triangle was an emblem of Health . The hexad is to this day used among the Jews . " In his Dictionary of Symbolical Masonry , however he quotes Stukely , who more correctly calls the "triple
triangle , "—as Oliver terms it , —the pentalpha , and says that it is " A pentagonal figure called Hygeia . The Pythagoreans used it as a mystical symbol denoting Health \ jnens soma in corpora sano , doubtless , in the highest and most transcedental sense ; as imploring the maturing
, developing , perfecting , and health- bringing influence of the Holy Spirit on the human body possesssed by it . ] And the Cabalistic Jews and Abrahams had the same fancy . It is the pentalpha or pentagrammon among the Egyptians , the mark of prosperity . "
The interlacement of triangles assumes other forms , than either the pentalpha , the hexalpha , or the kindred symbols already treated of . Just somewhat as the H symbol becames duplicated by one N crossing another ; so the pentalpha interlacement is sometimes farther complicated , showing a complete circuit of interlacing and reversed triangles , crosses , and various other symbolical outlines , thus
An example of this form of interlacement of triangles , of large size , Mr . Godwin informs me , may be seen with a glass on the tower of a church in Sussex .
The hexalpha , however , 13 by far the most universal and distinguished , as well as the simplest and-clearest , form of the interlaced and reversed triangles ; and hence , perhaps , it is , that it is the form chosen by the Freemasons , and worn on the breast or neck as a permanent symbolical "jewel" of the Royal Arch degree ,
the true meaning of which the highest order of Ereemasons may understand ; but assuredly this is not the case with the lower orders ; and the not very clear and consistent ideas of Bro . Oliver himself say little even for his knowledge on the subject . I may here , however , quote once more , as to- the hexal pha , from his voluminous Freemasouic writings . In his History of Initiation , at p . 45 , he states thai in the caverns of initiation at Salsette , in India ,
"Amongst an innumerable multitude oi images and symbolical figures with which the walls are covered , the linga , or phallus , was everywhere conspicuous ; often alone , and sometimes . . . . typified' equally by the petal and calyx of the lotus , the point within the circle , and the intersection of two equilateral triangles . ' Maurice savs that , in the Hindu initiations in these
caverns , the candidates were plunged in alternate baths offire and water . This reminds us of the two interlaced triangles themselves , the one denotive of fire and the other of water , —the one of the wrathful , fiery , restrictive , and attractive or concentrative principle , and the other of the beneficent and radiative , expansiveand luminous princilesit also reminds of
, p ; us various symbolical and mythical ideas , indicating ' alternation , as well as reversal . Thus Dr . Barlow describes the alternate reversals of the T in Tuscan ornaments . Thus , too , we obtain a similar idea of alternation and reversal from certain rude sculptures at the-entrance to the"transe" or
passage leading into the " sorcery hall" of the Druidical rites at New Grange , in Ireland : there we find what has been called the water symbol , but wdiich might more properly be called the fire and water symbol , since it is just a series of reversed angles , with their apices alternately up and down ; orin factjust
, , a series of M or W symbols in a connected string ; each H containing , in itself , an alternation and reversal of angles—also a similar series of St . Andrew ' s crosses , laid , as it were , sidelong , so as to form , wdien
the tips of the stalks of the crosses meet , a series of diamond-shaped figures , in which the angles or the Vs and As , or > s and < s rather , are also alternative and reversed . It is the alternation between the human state and the Divine state , —between the waking state and the " God-possessed" state of
entranced repose in the Divine oracular S pirit , —which these and other symbolical and emblematical ideas of alternation and reversal seem to indicate , and the alternation between the waking state and the state of sleep may be taken as a type of such an alternation and reversal of the two life stateshuman and Divine
, , in conjunction . Thus , too , the Druidical " God of Mystery , " Hu , is said by the Taliesin to have " lived and died alternately , " just as Castor and Pollux ' , lived and died alternately ; " each "dying daily , " a " voluntary death ; " the one dying in the other ' s life or revival
, and living in the other ' s death or entrancement , every other " day , "—the day of Castor and the day of Pollux , —the outward day of the human life of the waking Soul , and the ( nocturnal ) day of the divine life of rest in the S pirit ;—so " sharing an immortality