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Exploring the Variety of Random
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 The Project Gutenberg eBook of Sacred
Mysteries Among the Mayas and the Quiches,
11,500 Years Ago
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Title: Sacred Mysteries Among the Mayas and the Quiches, 11,500
Years Ago

Author: Augustus Le Plongeon

Release date: July 7, 2018 [eBook #57458]

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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SACRED

MYSTERIES AMONG THE MAYAS AND THE QUICHES, 11,500 YEARS
AGO ***
 Sacred Mysteries
AMONG

The Mayas and the Quiches,

11,500 YEARS AGO.

THEIR RELATION TO THE SACRED MYSTERIES

OF EGYPT, GREECE, CHALDEA AND INDIA.

FREE MASONRY
In Times Anterior to the Temple of Solomon.

ILLUSTRATED.
 BY

AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON,
Author of "A Sketch of the Ancient Inhabitants of Peru, and their Civilization;"
"Vestiges of the Mayas;" "Essay on Vestiges of Antiquity;" "Essay on
the Causes of Earthquakes;" "Religion of Jesus compared with the
Teachings of the Church;" "The Monuments of Mayax and
their Historical Teachings."

NEW YORK:
Robert Macoy, 4 Barclay Street.
1886.

Entered according to Act of Congress, March 15, 1886, by

AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.

All Rights Reserved.

To

Mr. Pierre Lorillard,

THIS SMALL HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE SACRED MYSTERIES PRACTICED
IN REMOTE AGES BY THE MAYAS AND QUICHES
 Is Respectfully Dedicated,
AS A FEEBLE TESTIMONIAL OF MY APPRECIATION OF HIS EFFORTS TO
HELP IN REMOVING THE VEIL THAT HAS SO LONG HUNG OVER
THE HISTORY, CUSTOMS AND CIVILIZATION OF THE ANCIENT
INHABITANTS OF THIS WESTERN CONTINENT.

AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON.

New York, May 20th, 1886.

PREFACE.

The forests of Yucatan and Central America are to-day, for the
majority of the people of the United States, even those who call
themselves scientific and well informed, as much a terra incognita,
as America was to the inhabitants of Europe before its discovery by
Cristobal Colon in 1498, when for the first time he came in sight of
the northern coast of South America, and navigated along it from
the mouth of the river Orinoco to Porto Cabello in the Golfo Triste.

A few, having perused the books of J. L. Stephens, Norman, and

other tourists who have hurriedly visited the ruins of the ancient
cities that lie hidden in the depths of those forests, have a vague
idea that there exist the remains of stone houses built some time or
other before the discovery, aver authoritatively that "their builders
were but little removed from the state of savagism, and that none of
their handwork is worth the attention of the students of our age.
Their civilization, they confidently say, was at best very crude. They
were ignorant of the art of writing; and the scanty records of their
history chronicled on deer-skins, in pictorial representations, are well
nigh unintelligible. They had no sciences, no mental culture or
intellectual development. They were in fact a race whose intelligence
was for the most part of lower order. From what they did nothing is
to be learned that has any direct bearing on the progress of
civilization." In no wise can they be compared with the Egyptians or
the Chaldees, much less with the Greeks or Romans; it is not,
therefore, worth our while to spend time and money in researches
among the ruins of their cities. It is to Greece, it is to Egypt, to
Chaldea, that Americans must go in order to make new discoveries.
In those countries must be established schools for study of Greek, or
Egyptian, or Chaldean archæology: and American schools have been
established at Athens and Alexandria, and expeditions sent to Syria,
to the shores of the Euphrates.

But the European scientists, who for many years past have explored
those old fields in order to obtain relics to fill the shelves of the
museums of their capitals and turned up the soil of the Orient in
search of archæological treasures, now look to the Western
continent in quest of the origin of those ancient civilizations which
they have been unable to find in the countries where they once
flourished; and they look with that reverence which true learning
begets, on those ancient American temples and palaces that are
objects of contempt for some modern American scientists.

Thus we see established in Paris the "Société des Américanistes"

whose sole object is the study of all things pertaining to ancient
American civilization. That Society, composed of students, spares no
efforts to obtain knowledge respecting the architecture, the
sciences, the arts, the language, and the civilization of the people
who inhabited, in remote ages, the various countries of this Western
continent. A premium of 25,000 francs has been offered for the
discovery of an alphabet or key to the inscriptions carved on the
walls of the monuments in Yucatan and Central America. M. Désiré
Charnay has been sent to obtain molds of the sculptures and other
precious relics that lie hidden and lost in the recesses of the Central
American forests. Casts have been made from such squeezes as he
obtained. These casts adorn the Trocadero Museum at Paris,
duplicates of the same having been presented to the Smithsonian
Institute at Washington by Mr. Pierre Lorillard of New York. This
gentleman is the only American who has ever contributed with his
wealth and influence (he has spent 25,000 dollars) in expeditions for
the recovery of facts and objects that may throw light on the ancient
history of America.

Then again we have in Europe the international "Congrès des

Américanistes" that convenes every four years in one of the capitals
of Europe for the purpose of collecting all new data, obtained in the
interval, concerning ancient American civilization.

In England, at Cambridge, there is in the University a large building

especially dedicated to Central American archæology. There are to
be seen, as I am informed by General Sir Henry Lefroy, the casts and
photographs obtained by Mr. Maudslay, a wealthy gentleman who
has devoted his time and wealth to the work of obtaining fac-similes
in plaster and photographs of the ancient monuments of Honduras
and Guatemala.

But what have we in New York, in the United States, in fact, to offer
to students of American archæology?

True, Mr. George Peabody, among his many benefactions, left a sum
of money for the foundation of a museum to be specially dedicated
to the collection of objects pertaining to American archæology. Such
museum exists at the University of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It
bears his name. Does it contain anything that may throw light on the
history of the ancient inhabitants of this Western Continent? I once
wrote to an influential gentlemen connected with the University
asking him to propose to the trustees the purchase of a copy of my
collections of casts and mural paintings. His answer dated July 23d,
1885, was: "I will send your letter to one of the trustees, enjoining
him to accept its offer, but I fear they will treat that proposal as they
have so many others and say no! The collection of tracings they
ought to secure. The time has come when such things should be got
at any cost. We shall soon be as they are in India, hunting
everywhere for things which were easily to be had a few years ago."

My correspondent has visited the ruined cities of Yucatan; he knows

the value of my collections.

I have done all in my power to call the attention of American

scientists, of the men of leisure and money, to the fact that in New
York perfect fac-similes of the palaces and temples of the Mayas
could be erected in Central Park, both as ornament to the place, and
object of study for the lovers of American archæology who may not
have the means, nor the time, nor the desire, to run the risk of
submitting to the privations and hardships that those who wish to
visit the ruined cities, must inevitably encounter.

But alas! all in vain.

Three years ago I had casts made from some of the stereotyped
moulds made by me of the sculptures at Uxmal and offered them for
exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park. They
have been placed in the cellar, out of the way, "for want of space
against the wall." The public has never seen them. I once
remonstrated with one of the trustees, and proposed to sell to the
museum a copy of the collection of fresco paintings from Chichen
Itza, last remnants of ancient American art. The answer of the
gentleman was "No! those things are not appreciated, they are
looked upon as of no value." Nevertheless, some of the illustrations
in this book are photographs of the same despised casts and mural
paintings.
During the last lecturing season I offered to several literary, scientific
and historical societies, to give lectures illustrated with views made
by us of the monuments, and enlarged with the stereopticon. In
every instance I received the same answer. "Our people are not
interested in such a subject." What! Americans not interested in
American antiquities! in ancient American history! in ancient
American civilization!

Desiring to make the subject known before the lecture season was
over, en desespoir de cause, I asked Dr. John Stoughton Newbury, of
the School of Mines at Columbia College, if he could give me a
chance to present the subject before the members of the New York
Academy of Science. I had no hope of a favorable answer; but to my
great surprise Professor Newbury received my offer enthusiastically.
Mrs. Le Plongeon lectured on the monuments of Yucatan on the 2nd
of March last, at Columbia College. Let the ladies and gentlemen
who were present say if the facts and views presented to them were
of sufficient interest to command their attention. A lady, Mrs. Francis
B. Arnold, residing at 21 West 12th Street, New York, was so pleased
that she asked Mrs. Le Plongeon to lecture at her own house to a
select party of friends. Let again the ladies and gentlemen who were
present at Mrs. Arnold's house, say if there is nothing worth seeing
and studying in the remains of ancient American civilization.

Let Mrs. Arnold and Dr. Newbury accept our heartfelt-thanks for
affording us an opportunity of presenting ancient America to a few
appreciative minds, if no more.

Mrs. Le Plongeon and I have written two works on Yucatan. One is:
"Monuments of Mayax, and their historical teachings." The other:
"Yucatan, its ancient palaces and modern cities; life and customs of
the Aborigines." We have offered them to several publishing houses,
but the same answer has been given by all. "There is no money in
the publication of such books; American readers do not care for this
subject."

Notwithstanding such rebuffs, I made up my mind to present to

American readers some of the historical facts that have been
brought to light by deciphering the bas-reliefs and mural inscriptions,
by means of the ancient hieratic Maya alphabet discovered by me. I
offer them in this small volume that I take pleasure in dedicating to
Mr. Pierre Lorillard, as the most worthy of it among the Americans,
for his generous help to students of American archæology.

Ancient Maya Egyptian

Hieratic Hieratic
alphabet alphabet
according to according to
mural Messrs.
inscriptions. Champollion le
Jeune and
Bunsen.
If the perusal of this book fails to awaken in this country an interest
in ancient American civilization and history, then I will follow the
advice said to have been given by Jesus of Nazareth to his disciples
when sending them on their mission of spreading the gospel among
the nations: "And whomsoever shall not receive you, nor hear you,
when ye depart thence, shake off the dust under your feet...." St.
Mark, chap. vi., verse 11—for I shall consider it useless to spend
more time, labor, and money on the subject in the United States,
remembering the fate of Professor Morse, when he asked Congress
for permission to introduce his electric telegraph in this country.

In this small book (which two of the most prominent firms in New
York have positively refused to publish believing it to be a bad
speculation), I present only such facts as can be proved by the
works of well-known writers ancient and modern, and by the
inscriptions carved on stone by the Maya learned men and
historians. It is for you, Reader, to judge if they are worthy your
consideration.

ILLUSTRATIONS.[1]

PAGE.
Symbolical stone
found in the
Mausoleum of
high pontiff Cay
at Chichen. 19
View of the pyramid 34
called "House of
 the Dwarf," at
Uxmal,
Ground plan of the
Sanctuary, 35
Ground plan of the
Temple of
Mysteries, 36
Part of cornice
surrounding the
Sanctuary, 39
Cross bones and
skeletons carved
on the cornice of
the Sanctuary, 39
Part of a statue with
apron on which is
sculptured the
image of an
extended hand.
(From Uxmal.) 40
Symbolical slab with
title of the high
pontiff, 45
Symbols from the
turret dedicated
to the high
pontiff Cay in the
palace of King
Can, at Uxmal, 65
Tableau of the 72
creation, from
the east façade
 of the palace at
Chichen-Itza,
Prince Coh in battle
(from mural
paintings at
Chichen-Itza), 78
Prince Coh's body laid
out for cremation
(from mural
paintings at
Chichen-Itza), 80
Slab from Prince
Coh's
Mausoleum, at
Chichen, leopard
eating the heart
of his enemies, 85
Dying leopard with
human head,
from Prince Coh's
Mausoleum at
Chichen-Itza, 86
Priest of Osiris making
an offering (from
the tombs of
Thebes), 86
Statue of Prince Coh, 87
found in his
Mausoleum at
Chichen-Itza,
now in the
National Museum
 in the City of
Mexico,
Slab from Prince
Coh's Mausoleum
at Chichen,
representing
Queen Moo,
under the figure
of a macaw,
eating the heart
of her enemies, 88
Tableau of the
Mastodon
worship, at
Chichen, 93
Small terra cotta
heads from
British Honduras, 104
Sculptures on
monolith gate at
Tiahuanuco
(Peru), from a
model in the
museum of the
Long Island
Historical Society
in Brooklyn, 104
Bas-reliefs from small
room at the foot
of Prince Coh's
monument at
Chichen-Itza, 115, 118
Symbols of lower
Egypt (from Sir
Gardner
Wilkinson's works
on Egypt), 115
Plate XVII, part II. of
Troano M.S., 116
Plate XXV. part II. of
Troano M.S.,
head dress of
mother Earth, 118
Maps of the Maya
Empire, 120
Yaxche, sacred tree of
the Mayas, 124
Plate VI., part II. of
Troano M.S., 126
Worship of sacred
tree (Papaya)
from a Mexican
M.S., in the
library of the
British Museum, 134
Plate XXIV., part I.,
Troano M.S., 137
Sons of King Can, 139
represented
under the symbol
of deer-heads,
totem of the
country, plate
 XVI, part II. of
Troano M.S.,

SACRED MYSTERIES
AMONG

THE MAYAS AND THE QUICHES.

There are authors who attribute the origin of modern Free Masonry
to the followers of Pythagoras, because some of the speculations of
that Philosopher concerning the meaning of the numbers are to be
found in the esoteric doctrines taught in the masonic lodges. Others,
on account of the Christian symbols that have been incorporated in
the decoration of things pertaining to Masonry, following the
Swedish system, say that the Essenes and first Christians founded it.
Others, again, make it originate in the building of Solomon's temple,
many Jewish names, emblems and legends, taken from the Bible,
having found their way into the rites of initiation to several degrees.
Others, still, make it go back to Adam. Ask them why—they do not
know. While not a few, and I among them, earnestly believe that
Masonry existed before Adam was created. I believe it, because I am
convinced that this pretended ancestor of man is a myth—and has
never existed. Thomas Payne and those of his school say that the
Druids were the fathers of the craft; they being worshipers of the
sun, moon and stars: and these jewels of the firmament being
represented on the ceilings of the M⸫ lodges. Dance of Villoison
speaks of Herculaneum as its birth place, because of the many
similarities that existed between the collegia of the Romans and the
lodges of the operative Masons of the middle ages. Michael Andrew
Ramsay, a Scotch gentleman, in a discourse delivered in Paris in
1740, suggested the possibility of the fraternity having its origin, in
the time of the crusades, among the Knight Templars, and he
explains it in this way:—

The Pope, Clement V., and Phillippe-le-bel, King of France, fearing

the power of the Templars and coveting their immense wealth,
resolved to destroy the Order. When, in 1308, Jacques de Molay,
then Grand Master of the Order, was preparing an expedition to
avenge the wrongs and disasters suffered by the Christians in the
East, the Pope, who was the only power to which, in the spiritual,
the Templars owed allegiance, enticed him to France.

On his arrival he was received with every mark of friendship: but,

soon after, the King caused him to be arrested together with some of
the other dignitaries, accusing them of the most heinous crimes,
imputing to them the secret rites of their initiation. By order of the
Archbishop of Sens and his provincial council, Jacques de Molay, Guy
of Auvergne and several other officers of the Order were burned
alive on March 18, 1314.

The Pope, by a bull dated on the 2d of April, and published on the

2d of May, 1312, that he issued on his own responsibility, the Council
of Vienne, in Dauphiné, being adverse to hasty measures, declared
the Order abolished throughout the world. The execution of the
Grand Master and his companions gave the coup de grace to the
Order. Some of the Knights who had escaped to Portugal continued
the Order. They assumed the title of Knights of Christ, which it bears
to this day; but it never recovered its former prestige and power.

Jacques de Molay, before dying had appointed Johan Marcus

Larmenio as his successor to the office of Grand Master. The Knights
who, fleeing from the persecution, had taken refuge in Scotland at
the Court of King Robert Bruce, refused to recognize his authority;
and pretending to reëstablish the Order of the Temple, under the
allegory and title of Architects, protected by the King, laid the
foundation of the Order of Free and Accepted Masons of the Scottish
Rite in 1314.

This new society soon forgot the meaning of the execratory oath
that the members were obliged to take at their initiation; the death
of Clement V., of Phillippe-le-bel, of the accusers and enemies of
Jacques de Molay and the other Knights who had been executed,
having removed the object of their vengeance. Still they continued
to decorate their lodges with tokens commemorative of the death of
the Grand Master, to impose on all new members the obligation of
avenging it, which they signified by striking with an unsheathed
dagger at unseen beings, his supposed murderers, although all their
efforts were now directed to the restoration of the honor of their
association. This allegory is well-known to the Knights of Kadosh. A
century had scarcely elapsed when this idea also was abandoned,
the founders and their disciples having passed away. Their
successors saw only allegories in the symbols of the Order, and the
extensive use of words and texts from the Bible was then
introduced. Of their work but little is positively known until the reign
of Charles I. of England, when their mysterious initiations began to
attract attention.

The enemies of Cromwell and of the Republic, having in view the

reëstablishment of the monarchy, created the degree of Grand
Master to prepare the minds of the Masons for that event. King
William III. was initiated. Masonry, says Preston, was very much
neglected as early as the reign of James II., and even after this
period it made but slow progress until 1714, when King George I.
ascended the throne.

Three years later, in February, 1717, the first Grand Lodge was
established in London. A committee from the four lodges then
existing in that city met at the tavern of the "Apple Tree" and
nominated Anthony Sayer, who was elected Grand Master on the
24th of the following June, day of St. John the Baptist, that for this
reason was selected as patron of the Order.

This origin of the craft is credited by many of the best authorities on

the subject. They found their opinion on the fact that many of the
ceremonies practiced by the Architects are still observed among the
Masons; and that the Grand Lodge preserved, with the spirit of the
ancient brotherhood, its fundamental laws. There are others,
however, who likewise claim to be well informed, that pretend it did
not originate in any order of chivalry, but in the building fraternities
of the Middle Ages.

Be the origin what it may, the fact is that after the establishment of
the Grand Lodge at "Apple Tree Tavern," Masonry spread over
Europe at a rapid rate, notwithstanding the bitter opposition of the
Church of Rome that fulminated against it its most terrible
anathemas as early as 1738 at the instigation of the Inquisition.
Pope Clement XII., on the 28th of April of that year, caused a
prohibitory bull to be issued against Free Masonry, entitled In
Eminenti, in which he excommunicated all Masons; and the Cardinal
Vicar of Rome, by edict in the name of the High Priest of the God of
Peace and Mercy, decreed the penalty of death against them in
1739; and on May 18, 1751, Pope Benoit XIV. renewed the bull of
Clement XII. by another beginning with these words: Providas
Romanorum Pontificum.

The Order was introduced in France in 1725, and on the 14th of

September, 1732, all Masonic Associations were prohibited by a
decree of the Chamber of Police of the Chatelet of Paris.

In 1727, Lord Coleraine founded a lodge in Gibraltar, and in the

succeeding year in Madrid, the capital of Spain, the strong-hold of
the Inquisition.
But in 1740, in consequence of the bull of Clement XII., King Philip
V., of Spain, promulgated an ordinance against the Masons in his
kingdom, many of whom were arrested and sent to the galleys. The
Inquisitors took advantage of the opportunity to persecute the
members of a lodge they discovered in Madrid. They caused them to
be loaded with chains, to be obliged to row in the galleys without
other retribution than scanty rations of victuals of the poorest
quality, but an abundant supply of bastinade. Fernando VI. renewed
the ordinance on July 2, 1751, making Masonry high treason.

The brotherhood made its appearance in Ireland in 1730. It is not

positively known if it existed in the country before that time.

In 1732 it crossed the Atlantic and was imported in America. In that

year a lodge was held in "Tun tavern" in Philadelphia, the B⸫ having
previously met in Boston, which may be regarded as the birthplace
of American Free Masonry. Henry Price was the first provincial Grand
Master appointed by the Grand Lodge of England on April 30th,
1733.

The same year witnessed its establishment in various cities of Italy.

In 1735, the Grand Duke Francis of Lorraine was initiated. He
protected the Masons, and the craft flourished in Italy until 1737,
when Juan Gaston of Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, issued a
decree of prohibition against it. Soon after his death, which occurred
the same year, the lodges which had been closed were reopened. It
was not long, however, before they were denounced to the Pope
Clement XII., who issued his bull of 28th of April 1738, and sent an
inquisitor to Florence who caused various members of the society to
be cast into dungeons. They were set at liberty as soon as Francis of
Lorraine became Grand Duke of Tuscany. He not only protected the
Masons, but founded lodges in Florence and other places in his
estates.
In 1735 a lodge was established in Lisbon the capital of Portugal. It
will be remembered that some of the Knight Templars, under the
title of "Knights of Christ," had kept alive the ancient order in that
country in defiance of the Pope's thunderbolts.

Among the Masons initiated in England were a great many Germans

as early as 1730. These seem to have met occasionally in traveling
in Germany, or to have corresponded with each other; but no lodge
is known to have existed previous to the year 1737, when one
without name was established in Hamburg, although Grand Master
Lord Strathmore had authorized in 1733, eleven gentlemen and
Brothers to open one.

In 1740, B. Puttman, of the Hamburg lodge, received a patent of

Provincial Grand Master from England, and the lodge assumed the
title of Absalom.

King Frederick II., denominated the Great, whilst still Crown Prince,
had been initiated; and from the time of his initiation took great
interest in the welfare of the brotherhood. Crowned King of Prussia,
he continued to give it his support, assuming the title of "Great
master universal, and Conservator of the most ancient and most
respectable association of ancient free masons or architects of
Scotland." Masonry enjoyed under his reign such consideration, that
many German princes, following his example, were initiated; and so
many of the nobility joined the society, that to belong to it came to
be regarded as a mark of nobility and high breeding.

Notwithstanding his multifarious State duties, and the many wars

that took place during his reign, which demanded his constant
attention, he found time to frame a constitution to cement together
again the Order, that at one time, owing to external persecutions on
the one hand, to internal dissensions, suscitated by the incorporation
to it of the Rosicrucians and still more that of the Illuminati on the
other, seemed on the eve of falling asunder. That constitution,
signed by him in his palace at Berlin, on the 1st of May, 1786, saved
Free Masonry from annihilation in Germany, for many regarding it
with suspicion, attacked and persecuted it: the Catholics because it
came from Protestant England; the Protestant clergy looked upon it
as hostile to Christianity, because of the teachings and symbols
altogether Catholic of the 18th degree, those of Rosa Cruz, whose
motto "we have the happiness of being in the pacific unity of the
sacred numbers," and "in the name of the holy and indivisible
Trinity," bespeaks its Jesuit origin. The people believed in the
accusation of witchcraft and sorcery, made against it by its enemies,
because of the vail of secrecy thrown over their meetings.

Authors have endeavored to show that modern free-masonry is not

derived from the mysteries of the ancients. J. G. Findel, an advocate
of this opinion, says: "Seeing that the ancient symbolical marks and
ceremonials in the lodges bear a very striking resemblance to those
of the mysteries of the ancients some have allowed themselves to be
deceived, and led others astray imagining they can trace back the
history of the craft into the cloudy mists of antiquity. Instead of
endeavoring to ascertain how and when these ceremonies were
introduced into our present system, they have taken it for granted
that they were derived from the religious mysteries of the ancients."

Now, if we merely consider the tokens of recognition, the pass words

and secret words, the decorations of the lodges, according to the
degrees into which modern Masonry is divided, tokens, words and
decorations nearly all taken from the Bible and symbolical of events,
real or imaginary, some of which are said to have taken place in
comparatively modern times, after the decline and final
discontinuance of the ancient mysteries in consequence of the
spread of Christianity; others having occurred in the early days of
the Christian era; others at the time of the building of Solomon's
Temple, all of which had certainly nothing to do with the religious
mysteries of Egypt, Chaldea, Greece, Etruria, etc., that were
instituted ages before the pretended occurrence of those events,
then we may positively affirm that it is not derived from these. But if,
on the other hand, we observe, and it is difficult to overlook it, that
these symbols are precisely the same that we find in the temples of
Egypt, Chaldea, India, and Central America, whatever may have
been the esoteric meaning given to them by the initiated of those
countries, we are bound to admit that a link exists between the
ancient mysteries and Free Masonry. It is for us to try to discover
when that link was riveted and by whom.

If the theory of Chevalier Ramsay be true, that is, if modern Masonry

had its beginning in the Society of Architects founded in Scotland
under the protection of King Robert Bruce, and the title of "Ancient
and Accepted Masons of the Scottish rite," seems to favor that
opinion, then we may trace its origin to the order of Knight
Templars; and through them to the ancient mysteries practiced in
the East from times immemorial. It is well known that one of the
charges made against Jacques de Molay and his associates by their
accusers was that they used secret rites in their initiations. Their
four oaths were well known; but not their rites of initiation. What
were they?

We are told that the aim of the Society of Architects was to

perpetuate the ancient Order of the Temple. It is therefore to be
presumed that they continued to observe the rites and ceremonies
practiced in the chapters of the Templars, to use them at the
initiations of members into the new Society, to whom they
communicated the intimate meaning of their symbols. Were these
rites analogous to those observed in the initiations to the symbolical
degrees? These degrees were, it must be remembered, the only
ones originally recognized by the brotherhood; as there are but
three in the Society of Jesus; the Neophites—the Coadjutors—and
the Profess; as there were anciently among the priests of the
temples of Egypt, who indeed considered it a great honor to be
judged worthy of admission to the third degree; that is, to
participation in the greater mysteries. Was their explanation of the
symbols similar to that taught in M⸫ lodges? The Templars were
accused, as Masons are to day, by the Romish Church, since it has
lost its hold and influence on the association, of the crime of heresy,
and many Masons have suffered death by being burnt alive as
heretics.

From whom did the Templars receive those symbols, and their
esoteric meaning, in which we plainly trace the doctrine of
Pythagoras? No doubt from the Christians who, like the Emperor
Julian, the Bishop Synnesius, Clement of Alexandria and many other
pagan philosophers, who had been initiated to the mysteries by the
priests of Egypt, before being converted to Christianity. In that case
the connection of modern Masonry with the ancient religious
mysteries of Egypt, consequently with those of Greece and
Samothracia is easily traced; and the resemblance of the symbolical
marks and ceremonials of M⸫ lodges with those of the mysteries
naturally accounted for. Thus it is that many masonic authors may
have been led to trace the origin of the craft to followers of
Pythagoras; and others to the Essenes and first Christians.

Krause, in his work, has endeavored to prove that Masonry

originated in the associations of operative masons that in the Middle
Ages travelled through Europe, and by whom the cathedrals,
monasteries, and castles were built; whose fundamental laws,
traditions, customs and tools are now used in the lodges in a
figurative sense.

These associations may have sprung from the building corporations

of the Romans: if so, we have a connecting link between the lodges
of the Middle Ages and the mysteries of the ancients. The initiates of
the architectural collegia of the Romans did not call themselves
Brothers; this is a title that came into use only when the Christian
Masonic fraternities adopted it. They styled themselves Collega or
Incorporatus.

They worked in buildings apart or in secluded rooms; and the

constitution of M⸫ lodges, so far as the officers, their titles and
duties, and the symbols are concerned, is so similar to theirs that
one might be inclined to believe that the early Masons imitated the
Roman collegia.

This theory is not without semblance of plausibility. Rome, during

several centuries, held sway over Gaul and Britain. Roman colonists
settled in various parts of those countries. With their language and
customs they imported many of their institutions and associations.
That of the builders or collegia, as is manifest from the remains still
existing of the magnificent roads and edifices of various kinds
constructed by them. The Collegæ held their lodges wherever they
established themselves; no doubt initiated new members. In the
course of time, when those countries freed themselves from the
yoke of Rome, these societies of builders became the associations of
the itinerant operative masons which inherited the symbols, tokens
and pass words of the Collegæ. These, in all probability, had
received them, either from the Chaldean magicians, who flocked to
Rome at the beginning of the Christian era, when the progress of
philosophical incredulity had shaken the confidence in legal
divination; or from some of the priests of inferior order, all initiated
to part of the lesser mysteries, that, when the sacerdotal class
having lost in majesty, power and wealth, in order to preserve whole
its numerous hierarchy, repaired to the Capital of the world to
escape misery by levying contributions on the credulity and
superstition of the people.

The Christian Church, on the one hand, the Roman emperors on the
other, fearing the influence of those magicians and priests,
persecuted them even to death. These learned and wise men
formed secret societies to preserve and transmit their knowledge.
These societies lasted during the Middle Ages—the Rosicrucians, the
Theurgists, among them. Leibnitz, one of the greatest men of
science that ever lived, who died in Hanover, in 1716, at the age of
seventy years, became a member of one of these societies; and
there received an instruction he had vainly sought elsewhere.

Were their mysterious meetings remnants of the ancient learned

initiations? Everything tends to make us suspect it. The trials and
examinations to which those who applied for initiation were obliged
to submit; the nature of the secrets they possessed; the manner in
which they were preserved. In these again may be found an
explanation of why so many of the Pythagorean doctrines made their
way into Masonry.

Of the ceremonies performed at the initiation into the mysteries of

Egypt we know but little at present, for the initiated were very
careful to conceal these sacred rites. Herodotus tells that if any
person divulged any part of them, he was thought to have called
down Divine judgment upon his head, and it was accounted unsafe
to abide in the same house with him. He was even apprehended as
a public offender and put to death.

Still, on reading the visions in the book of Henoch, and comparing

them with what we know of the trials to which were subjected the
applicants for initiation into the greater mysteries of Eleusis and
Egypt, and those of Xibalba, one can scarcely refrain from believing
that, under the title of Visions, the author relates his experience at
the initiation, and what he learned in the mysteries before being
converted to Christianity. That book is believed to have been written
at the beginning of the Christian era, when, under the yoke of the
Roman emperors, the customs and religion of the Egyptians fell into
decadency; and the Christian bishops of Alexandria, such as George,
Theophilus, Cyril, the murderer of the beautiful, learned and noble
Hypathia, daughter of the mathematician Theon, persecuted the
worshipers of Isis and Osiris, and converted their temples into
Christian churches, after defacing and whitewashing the ancient
sculptures that covered their walls, on which they painted rough
images of saints. It may be that its author, although having
embraced Christianity, still retained in his heart of hearts a strong
love for the ancient institutions that were fast disappearing in the
midst of the political and religious dissensions that were raging at
the time. Fearing lest the learning of the priests of old and the
knowledge he had acquired by his initiation into the mysteries
should become lost, the dread of death being removed by the new
order of things, he put, for greater safety, in the mouth of Henoch,
as instructing his son, what he had seen and learned in the secrecy
of the temples.

Let us hope that further discoveries in the ruins of the temples, or in

the tombs, may put into our possession some papyrus whose
contents will throw light on the subject, and reveal these secrets.
The masonic objects found under the base of the obelisk, known as
Cleopatra's needle, now in Central Park, New York, show that many
of the symbols pertaining to the rites of modern Free Masonry, were
used in Egypt by building organizations and architects at least 1900
years ago. And although I do not agree with all the conclusions of
Dr. Fanton, notwithstanding they are approved by some of the high
masons at Cairo and Alexandria, I am ready to recognize many of
the emblems, and admit that they belonged to the mysteries, if their
meaning anciently was not quite the same as we give them to-day.

The reluctance of the Egyptians to admit strangers to the holy secret

of their mysteries was for a very long time insuperable. However,
they seem to have relaxed at rare intervals, in favor of personages
noted for their wisdom and knowledge. So they admitted the great
philosopher Thales, who went to Egypt to learn geometry and
astronomy, about 587 years before the Christian era. Eumolpus, king
of Eleusis, who, on returning to his country, instituted the mysteries
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