Section 1, Origin and History
The Masonic Holy Land League was formed in 1867, by a combination of Master Masons in various parts of the Union and Canada, for the purpose of investigating the condition of Freemasonry in the land of its origin; inquiring into those forms of primitive Masonry that exist among the Bedouin Arabs; organizing Lodges and a Grand Lodge in Palestine; and erecting a worth y edifice for Masonic purposes in the city of Jerusalem. The amount of money contributed was rising ten thousand dollars; the number of donors exceeded three thousand.
Under such auspices, Robert Morris, LL.D., of LaGrange, Kentucky, to whom the inception of the undertaking is due, set out from New York, February 2, 1868. He was everywhere received with the honors appropriate to his age, talents, learning and Masonic experience; and his labors were facilitated by the Craft whom he met in Europe, Asia and Africa. Und er protection of the MASONIC FLAG, he had ample security. The results of his researches are published in the volume, "Freemasonry in Holy Land," issued in 1872, by the MASONIC HOLY LAND LEAGUE, and in other volumes and very many articles in newspapers and magazines.
Dr. Morris opened a Lodge of Masons in Jerusalem in 1868, which, in 1873, was fully chartered and set to work; and he is yet giving his best energies to accomplish all parts of the original plan.
From Oriental Masons, Dr. Morris gathered many curious and useful facts, not heretofore incorporated into American systems of Masonry. Among these are signs, words and ceremonies believed to be coeval with the origin of Freemasonry, and such as shed real light upon the work and aims of the Order, as every brother will testify who has received them. To give them consistency, and make them more forcibly to impress the mind and memory of the recipient, Dr. Morris, with suitable assistance, has woven them into the system entitled, THE ORIENTAL ORDER OF THE PALM AND SHELL, to which the present publication is the guide.
Section 2, Grouping
As this volume is intended equally to interest non-members, instruct PILGRIM KNIGHTS, and serve the acting chief as a guide to the esoteric work of instruction, the arrangement into Parts and Sections conforms with the latter aim. The portions to be delivered verbatim by the Chief are set in larger type.
The candidates being gathered in a proper place for the business in hand, and the Rings, Rolls and Shells duly distributed among them, the door is closed and guarded, and the Chief proceeds as follows:
If there are any persons present who have not given in their names to become PILGRIM KNIGHTS, they will please do so at once, or retire, so that we may proceed with our solemn rite of INDUCTION without interruption.
The room being cleared, the candidates take their seats at the western extremity of the apartment, while the Chief stands before them in the east.
HONORED AND RESPECTED BRETHREN: I promise you now one hour of beautiful and instructive Masonry. But let us go through it decently and in order. Dignity and solemnity are the jewels of Pilgrim Knighthood. Let us have perfect silence and attention, as becomes men of good standing and moral culture. I am about to call the roll, and arrange you into groups of five. As your names are called, please come forward promptly, so as to economize the time, and take the places assigned you.
The roll is now called, and the groupings made, commencing at the east end of the apartment. Pilgrim Knights previously inducted act as assistants in this ceremony, and in subsequent ceremonies, to economize the time. In making a Group, No. 1 stands in the center, No. 2 on his right, No. 3 on his left, No. 4 on the extreme right, and No. 5 on the extreme left. When the Groupings are completed, the Chief takes his station in the west, and the altar, with its sacred furniture, is placed before him. From this moment, every word that comes from the Chief should fall with dignity and in the tone of command.
The Number Five
As the number five plays so conspicuous a part in all our drama, facts concerning it are in place here. This number was mystical among the Pythagorians because compounded of two and three, and so symbolizing the mixed conditions of order and disorder, joy and sorrow, life and death: It is also the symbol of marriage, and appears as such on the iron ring of a Pilgrim Knight. Among the Hebrews it was a sacred number. In Oriental history the five lesser planets and the five elements are sacred. In the lodge of Fellow Crafts it suggests the number necessary to form a lodge of that degree, also the Orders in Architecture and the Human Senses. The "five points of fellowship" lie at the heart of the Master's Degree. The chief doctrines of Freemasonry are five in number, viz: Piety, Morality, Science, Charity and Self-discipline. In the order of Pilgrim Knights it will be seen that the number five frequently appears. Dr. Morris has paraphrased this thought in the following lines:
This Lodge of Five from Tyre came,
Their leader one of matchless fame;
All through the toiling seasons seven
Their time upon this work was given.
This Lodge of Five from Joppa's shore
To Sion's hill have journeyed o'er;
The quarry's inmost crypt have traced,
Whence many a stone the wall has graced.
This Lodge of Five have reared the shaft
That on the eastward hails the Craft;
And well they know each mystic line
That sanctifies the great DESIGN
This Lodge of Five with faith obey
The holy Law and holy Day;
They humbly bow whene'er they see
The emblem of the DEITY.
This Lodge of Five, for honest toil,
Good wages have, corn, wine, and oil;
And, should a brother be in want,
They ne'er forget the covenant.
This Lodge of Five have nearly done
The glorious work so long begun;
They, homeward bound, right soon will see
Their MASTER in eternity!
The Groupings being all completed, the Chief proceeds with his orders:
HONORED AND RESPECTED BRETHREN: The room we now occupy represents the southeast corner of Mount Moriah on the outside. We stand at the base of that stupendous wall which King Solomon built as the foundation of his Temple, and upon which it is desirable that some day a temple should be erected for the purposes of Freemasonry. The wall behind us is 150 feet in height, and is built of rock, massive and grand as the very principles of our Order. Every block has the mark of King Hiram upon it, and suggests the sublime record of three thousand years.
Southeast Corner
This is one of the indispensable points of pilgrimage of every Pilgrim Knight visiting Holy Land. The following cut conveys a clear idea of it. It is the conventional point at which every Pilgrim Knight is inducted. The wall rises there from the rubbish (débris) at its base full seventy feet high, and quite as much is concealed below. It has a talus, batter or in ward inclination of about three feet in seventy. Looking up at the enormous ashlars whose giant dimensions seem to mock the puny powers of modern science, we may feel like repeating the words of the disciples to Jesus: Vides quates lapides, "Seest thou these stones?"
(Mark 13: 1.)
And this too is supposed to be the hour of Low XII. The stars of Heaven, those bright and mysterious influences that glimmer in the splendor of the South, and speak to us of Him who kindled their luster as they spoke to our three Grand Masters when they stood here in the distant past, are known under the name of ….
King Solomon began his immortal work with solemn prayer to Him who is the source of light and the giver of all good. Enclasp your hands behind your necks, and look upward toward the center of God's power while I invoke, in Oriental form and language, the favor of God, supremely good and great.
The prayer introduced here is in Arabic and as repeated by the Chief, is accompanied by the proper signs of covenanting. The following is the original form of the prayer:
In reply to the query often propounded, "What is the best Masonic book extant?" we answer, The Holy Scriptures. "What is the second best?" Josephus. Every lodge might have a copy of the latter book on the Master's pedestal, to match their copy of the former on the altar; and if every brother bad one at home the fraternity would be the wiser for it.
In our lectures much is said of the vast Platform erected to enclose the hill of Moriah, and used as an underpinning or foundation of the Temple. Of this foundation Josephus says (Antiquities viii, 2): "Solomon enjoined his builders to cut out large stones for the foundations of the Temple, and that they should fit them and unite them together in the mountain, and so bring them to the city."
The reader will observe that the historian here confirms our tradition that the stones were hewed, squared and numbered in the quarry where they were raised. This quarry, as explored, is about a quarter of a mile north of Mount Moriah, on a higher level.
"Now the king," says our historian, "laid the foundations of the Temple very deep in the ground, and the materials were strong stones and such as would resist the force of time. These were to unite themselves with the earth and become a basis and a sure foundation for that superstructure which was to be erected over it.
They were to be so strong in order to sustain with ease those vast superstructures. and precious stones whose own weight was to be not less than the weight of those other high and heavy buildings which the king designed to be very ornamental and magnificent."
As to the foundation wall of the second and third temples, we find nothing particular in Josephus, and it is plain that the strength of Hiram's wall was so great that no weakness or decay bad been found in it.
But in building the seaport at Cæsarea (Wars I, 21) we see how the workmen of Herod strove to make a sure foundation. "When he bad measured out as large a space as we have mentioned, he let down stones into water 120 feet deep. These stones were for the most part fifty feet long, nine deep, ten broad, and some still longer."
"The beauty and ornament of the works were such as though he bad not bad any difficulty in the operation."
In regard to the Temple itself, its costliness and splendor, much information is given by Josephus. "The roof was of cedar." "The whole Temple shined and dazzled the eyes of such as entered by the splendor of the gold that was on every side of them." "The whole structure of the Temple was made with great skill, of polished stones, and those laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly, that there appeared to the spectators no sign of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if without any use of them, the entire materials had naturally joined themselves together, that the agreement of one part with another seemed rather to have been natural than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them." "Solomon made all these things for the honor of God with great variety and magnificence, sparing no cost, but using all possible liberality in adorning the Temple, and these things he dedicated to the treasures of God."
The pillar of cloud is thus described by Joseph us: "There came down a thick cloud, and stood there and spread itself, after a gentle manner into the temple. It was such a cloud as was diffused and temperate, not such a rough one as we see full of rain in the winter. That cloud so darkened the place that one priest could not discern another. It afforded to the minds of all a visible image and glorious appearance of God's having descended into this Temple, and of bis having gladly pitched his tabernacle therein."
The pillar of fire is thus described: "Solomon brought sacrifices to the altar. And when he bad filled it with unblemished victims he most evidently discovered that God had, with pleasure, accepted of all that bad been sacrificed to Him. For there came a fire running out of the air which rushed with violence up the altar in the sight of all, and caught hold of and consumed the sacrifices."
The description of marble used by Solomon for the Temple is not particularized by Josephus. He only says (of the Temple), "They erected its entire body quite up to the roof with white stone," by which is understood Parian marble. In describing the palaces of Solomon, he says, "He wainscoted the walls with other stones that were sawed and were of great value, such as are dug out of the earth for the ornaments of temples and to make fine prospects in royal palaces, and which make the mines wherever they are dug famous." But the most famous mines (quarries) of the period were those of Paros, and the great quantity of this marble found about Jerusalem in a fragmentary condition suggests its original import for the use of Salomon.
Josephus (Antiquitities, Book XV) gives many details concerning both the first and second Temple. The people were afraid that Herod, if he removed the temple of Zerubbabel, then much dilapidated, might not be able to erect another, as he promised. But he "got ready a thousand wagons," and taught the art of stone cutting and working in timber to the priests. He pulled away the underpinning which rested on the great platform, and built the Temple of stones "white and strong." This was Parian marble, for no other rock, "white and strong," was accessible to Herod. The great wall, erected by King Salomon, is described as "the most prodigious work that was ever beard of by man." The original hill, a rocky ascent that declined by degrees toward the east part of the city, was encompassed with a wall, and "this was of excellent workmanship upward and round the top of it. The wall below, beginning at the bottom, was encompassed by a deep valley. At the south side he laid rocks together and bound them one to another with lead, and inclined the inner parts till it proceeded to a great height and till both the largeness of the square edifice and its altitude were immense. The vastness of the stones in front were plainly visible on the outside, yet so that the inward parts were fastened together with iron and preserved the joints immovable for all future times."
"When this foundation was done in this manner, and joined together as part of the hill itself to the very top of it, he wrought it all into one outward surface and filled up the wall or places which were about the wall, and made it a level on the upper external surface and a smooth level, also. " This Temple of Herod's was built in a year and six months, and it is of Herod's Temple that Josephus says: "It is also reported that during the time that the Temple was building, it did not rain in the daytime, but that the showers fell in the nights, so that the work was not hindered. And this our fathers have not delivered to us, nor is it incredible if any have regard to the manifestation of God."
Unclasp your hands, my brethren, and ….
Part II. Covenanting
Section 1, Secresy
The First ….
Our plighted vows rest upon SECRESY as their foundation-stone. That mirror of ancient faith and integrity, Hiram, the Widow's Son,-that soul of truth and candor of whose noble end we may say, as Cassius said of the death of Cæsar,-
"How many ages hence
Shall this his lofty scene be acted o'er
ln states un born and accents yet unknown!"
That grand exemplar of Masonic fidelity rested bis reputation upon his ability to keep a secret. His Grand Master and ours had taught him its importance in these maxims:
Discover not a secret to another.
If thou hast opened thy mouth against thy friend, fear not, for there may be a reconciliation; except for upbraiding, or pride, or disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound; for these things every friend will depart.
Love thy friend, and be faithful unto him; but if thou betrayest his secrets, follow no more after him.
Signet of King Solomon.
In the Masonic Lexicon of Dr. Mackey we see that the pentalpha of Pythagoras is called the pentangle of Solomon, and is said to have constituted the Seal or Signet of our Ancient Grand Master, and to have been inscribed on the foundation-stone of Masonry. This, he adds, is a geometrical figure representing an endless triangle with five points, and it agrees with all Oriental practice and tradition. Over the west (Joppa) gate of Jerusalem is a drawing of this sort. Another stands out in bold relief upon the ruins of the synagogue at Capernaum. To such a device Tennyson refers when he describes his heroine,-
"Sketching with slender pointed foot
Some figure like a wizard's pentagon
On garden gravel."
Section 2. Charity
The second ….
In Oriental countries Freemasonry is strictly beneficial and practical. Charity, Relief, Almsgiving, Support under misfortunes, Sympathy in distress, are the key-notes to all utterances from the Masonic throne there.
The inculcation of cardinal virtues, great moral principles, and the elements of universal religion, that make up so much of Masonic teachings in the west, is greatly subordinated in the east to the one prime duty of Benevolence; and there is no passage in the Freemasons' Text Book that strikes the Oriental Brother so forcibly as the following:
"To relieve the distressed is a duty incumbent on all men, but particularly on Masons, who are linked together by an indissoluble chain of sincere affection. To soothe the unhappy; to sympathize with their miseries, and to restore peace to their troubled minds, is the great aim we have in view. On this basis we form our friendships and establish our connections."
It is common in the lodges of Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt to reserve any moneys in the treasurer's hands, save a sum sufficient for current expenditures; all the rest is consecrated to the maintenance of the Masonic poor.
And there is a close analogy to this in every part of the Holy Writings opened on Masonic altars.
In the Book of Proverbs, for instance, our Ancient Grand Master, drawing his inspiration from above, hath summed up the chief duties of human life in expressions like these:
"A man that bath friends must show himself friendly, and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother."
"He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord."
St. James describes celestial wisdom as being "full of mercy and good fruits," and contemptuously shows the fallacy of the claim of "faith without works."
Jesus enforced the duty of Benevolence in a thousand forms, and in language of unparalleled expressiveness. Love, Lend, Give, are the climax to one of his most searching discourses, and it is easy to see how readily his Oriental hearers would follow him in that tremendous description of the Last Day, wherein the SON OF MAN comes to judgment. When coming to His glory and sitting upon the throne of His glory, He shall separate all nations between His right and left hands according to the simple test of BENEVOLENCE; saying to those who had not fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, extended hospitality to the stranger, clothed the naked, visited the sick and the prisoner,-" Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
Corn, Wine, Oil
The great cornerstone of Mount Moriah was traditionally consecrated with corn, wine and oil. These are the characteristic products of Palestine. The corn (wheat) was produced from the rich tract near Jacob's Well; the wine from the unexcelled vineyards of Bethlehem; the oil (olive) from the rich orchards around Ramleh.
The well-known lines of Dr. Morris are appropriately introduced here:
They come from many a pleasant home-
do the ancient work they come,
With cheerful hearts and light;
They leave the world without, apace,
And gathering here in secret place,
They spend the social night;
They earn the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
Upon the sacred altar lies,
Ah, many a precious sacrifice
Made by these working men!
The passions curbed, the lusts restrained,
And hands with human gore unstained,
And hearts from envy clean;
They earn the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
They do the deeds their Master did;
The naked clothe, the hungry feed-
They warm the shivering poor;
They wipe from fevered eyes the tear;
A brother's joys and griefs they share,
As One had done before;
They earn the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
Show them how Masons Masons know,
The land of strangers journeying through,
Show them how Masons love;
And let admiring spirits see
How reaches Mason 's charity
From earth to heaven above;
Give them the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
Then will each Brother's tongue declare
How bounteous his wages are,
And peace will reign within;
Your walls with skillful hands will grow,
And coming generations know
Your Temple is divine;
Then give the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
Yes, pay these men their just desert!
Let none dissatisfied depart,
But give them full reward:
Give Light, that longing eyes may see;
Give Truth, that doth from error free;
Give them to know the Lord!
Give them the meed of honest toil,
Wages of Corn, and Wine, and Oil.
The great Reformer, Mohammed, who was versed in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, filled his KORAN with exhortations to Benevolence; and he promised without reserve that ALLAH, in the Day of Judgment, should dispense bounties to man in the precise degree that man should aid his suffering fellow. And this is no trifling evidence among much that has accumulated on this subject that Freemasonry is of Oriental origin, because it is based upon that most marked peculiarity of Oriental benevolence.
Hospitality of the Orientals
The home of a Pilgrim Knight should be, within his means, the mansion of hospitality. His welcome is modeled upon that of the best class of the Bedouins uncorrupted by modern civilization.
"Whoever presents himself at their tents," says a traveler, "in the capacity of a guest is certain of food and lodging tendered in the most generous, unaffected manner. The lowest will give their last loaf to the hungry. They have no taverns. When they once contract the sacred engagement of bread and salt, it is never violated."
Their theory of hospitality is embodied in the old hymn-
" Remember each his sentence waits,
And he who would rebut
Sweet mercy's plea, to him the gates
Of mercy shall be shut."
To cherish, relieve, assist and protect are based upon the most generous impulses. The toast offered by Queen Dido, at the feast which Virgil so elegantly describes, bears upon the same thought: "O Jupiter, King of Gods, who givest laws to the hospitable, grant to make this banquet a happy one, both to giver and receiver, so that the memory of it may come to all who follow after us. And thou, Bacchus, source of festivity, spirit of wine, and thou Queen Juno, who bestowest all our bounties, attend upon this bountifully this hour. And yon, O ye guests, celebrate this meeting."
An old writer expatiates under this head:
"Heaven does with us as we with candies do,
Not light them for themselves; for if our virtues
Did not go forth of us 'twere all alike
As if we had them not.''
There is nothing that interests the Freemason's mind like charity. Questions of law, changes in ritual, points of history, philosophy, etc., have their attractions to some, but all are concerned
in the matter of charity. As Pope sings-
"In faith and hope the world will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is CHARITY."
This subject may be fitly wound up with some pearls from the sea of Holy Writ:
He that despiseth his neighbor sinneth: but he that hath mercy on the poor, happy is he.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be beard.
He that giveth unto the poor shall not Jack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal, it shall be measured to yon again.
Sell that ye have, and give alms, provide yourself bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.
I have showed yon all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus how he said, it is more blessed to give than to receive.
That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body, what doth it profit.
But whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Blessed is he that considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble; the Lord will preserve him and keep him alive; and he shall be blessed upon the earth; and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.
He hath dispersed; he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honor.
He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord; and that which he hath given will He pay him again.
Section 3. Fidelity
The third ….
Righteous Knights
The title of a member of this Order, "The Righteous Knight," is not used in the sense of "holy," but "upright," in allusion to the uprightness of the palm tree. The line of Horace is in point as describing such a man (III, 3):
"Justum et tenacem propositi vivum."
A Masonic poet gives the same thought thus:
"We must work in FIDELITY; no mystic thing reposed,
Under the sacred seal of FAITH, should ever be disclosed;
This, this is the foundation-stone King Salomon did lay,
And curses on the traitor's heart that would the trust betray."
A Masonic engagement is irrevocable. The shoe is cast off! The power of divorce is in the hands of God alone, and woe to him who assumes the prerogatives of the Almighty! Nothing but absolute inability, measured by his prior duties to God, his country, or his family, can excuse a Brother Masan from its performance.
In the dedication prayer of our Grand Master, King Salomon, when he stood upon the brazen scaffold, in the presence of congregated millions, and petitioned the Supreme Architect for a blessing upon the work, his first request was to the effect that the Temple, which was built as a throne of grace, might be a throne of judgment, "that if any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before the altar in the Temple, then hear thou in heaven, and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness."
Every legally constituted lodge is a representative of that Temple. Every Brother binding himself in the solemn engagements of the Masonic Altar is, in effect, calling down condemnation or justification from heaven, according as he may perform or neglect those engagements. How, then, can human laws, shortsighted, fluctuating and temporary as they are, affect the sanctity of such pledges?
In the first issue of the present work, published in 1873, under the name of "Tamar, a Guide Book to the Masonic Order of the Knights of the Palm Tree," the following colloquy expresses this third point of covenanting with much force:
Chief Suleyman: Sir Knight Ibraheem, there are four great aims had in view in all the operations of this Masonic Order; will you rehearse the first?
Sheikh Ibraheem: Honored Chief, the first is to enlarge our respect for the Holy Scriptures, by enlarging our respect for the country in which they were written.
Chief Suleyman: Truly, Sir Knights, that is a rational aim. For the Book, and the Land of the Book, are mutually explanatory-the Bible guiding us through the Holy Land, and the Holy Land guiding us through the Bible. We read the same, creating and inspiring power in both. Sir Knight Ali, will you rehearse the second?
Sheikh Ali: Honored Chief, the second is to afford a means of recognition among all those Masons, of every people, kindred and tongue, who are engaged together in exploring Bible Lands, and bringing light and truth from the ruins of the past.
Chief Suleyman: Truly, Sir Knights, that is a worthy aim, for our labors are in a desert place. The earth is barren and desolate. The overhanging sky is sultry and cheerless. Only in the bonds of congenial friendship can the desert way be made safe and pleasant.
Sir Knight Hassan, will you rehearse the third?
Sheikh Hassan: Honored Chief, the third is to draw more closely the bonds of unity among the Masonic brotherhood at large, and to urge upon them more forcibly the Divine duty of Benevolence in hours of adversity and misfortune.
Chief Suleyman: Truly, Sir Knights, that is a God-like aim. For in this life we are so harassed by enemies, and by those temptations that are our greatest enemies, and by calamities which no man can foresee or overcome, that only under the prop of fraternal assistance can we expect to stand. Our Grand Master, Salomon, left it upon record that, "as iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." It was his saying, likewise, that "two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor; for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up."
And there is yet a fourth aim before us, which is Divine. It is to exhort each other to honor God and the Masonic Brotherhood by a virtuous and fruitful life. As a type of this, let us consider the palm tree-fragrant, aspiring, a shade in a weary land-a tree that abounds in fruit-bearing, even to the extreme age of seventy years. We will consider this lesson, which the God of nature and revelation has given us through the inanimate tree.
Truly without the cement of fidelity all men might sing with dolefelness:
Lord, what a wretched land is this
That yields us no supply!
No cheering fruits, no wholesome trees,
No streams of living joy!
A character for trustiness and integrity unites that of the secret keeper with the faithful doer. "A man of incomparable integrity" is inscribed upon the tomb of an English Mason, and no better epitaph could be written. Secrets deeper and deeper come to us as we approach the end of life and the passage of death's billow is the entrance upon the greater mysteries of eternity.
Salt
The oriental emblem of Fidelity is salt (in Hebrew melach). Its Scripture significations are of the noblest. It implies that incorruption of mind and sincerity of grace which are necessary in all them that would offer an acceptable offering unto God. As the symbol of wisdom the apostle uses it in the passage "let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt." A covenant which was intended to endure was styled "a covenant of salt for ever," and so the Gael of Israel gave the kingdom to David and his posterity "by a covenant of salt." As a symbol of fidelity and hospitality it appears in numerous places. Among the orientals the
eating of salt with a person binds the two in an indissoluble chain of friendship, and it is often noticed that the natives refuse to eat salt with a stranger.
The imprecations pronounced in the ancient law against a breach of fidelity are numerous and fearful.
The first Lodge in Jerusalem, the Royal Salomon Lodge, the first ever established in "the city of the Great King," was conditionally formed in 1868, by Dr. Morris, in the calling together of Freemasons resident and visitors and explaining the importance to the universal brotherhood of such an organization there. The immediate aims proposed were to honor God and Freemasonry by aiding the poor, relieving the sick and burying the dead of the brotherhood. The approximative aims were thus stated:
1. To dig at all ancient foundations in the Orient to exhume Masonic truth, and to bring it from the East to the West.
2. To carry back to the Orient all solid improvements that have been made in the system of Masonry by Masons of the West since its establishment here.
3. To promote the largest hospitality through the Masonic world upon an Oriental basis.
4. To send annually from America exploring parties into Eastern lands, by which Freemasonry may vindicate its claims to antiquity and universality and unchangeability.
5. To build Lodges, a Grand Lodge, and a Masonic Temple in Jerusalem.
In 1873 a Warrant (or Charter) issued from the Grand Lodge of Canada as follows :
We, WILLIAM MERCER WILSON, Esq., etc. etc. etc., of Simcoe, in the Province of Ontario, Dominion of Canada, Grand Master of the Most Ancient and Honorable Fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons of Canada, send Greeting:
KNOW YE: That we, by the authority and under the sanction of the Grand Lodge of Canada, vested in us for that purpose, and at the humble petition of our Right Trusty and well beloved Brethren, Robert Morris, Jolin Sheville, Rolla Floyd, Richard Beardsley, Charles Netter, Peter Bergheim, Robert Macoy, James M. Howry, O. W. Nash, George D. Norris, A. T. Metcalf, Alex. A. Stevenson, Chauncey M. Hatch, Martin H. Rice, John W. Rison, A. J. Wheeler, John Scott, Albert G. Mackey, John H. Brown and De Witt O. Cregier, do hereby constitute the said Brethren into a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, under the title or denomination of The Royal Solomon Mother Lodge, No. 293; the said Lodge to meet at the city of Jerusalem, or adjacent places in Palestine, on the first Wednesday of every month: empowering them, in the said Lodge, when duly congregated, to make, pass, and raise Freemasons according to the ancient custom of the Craft in all ages and nations, throughout the known world. And further, at their said petition, and of the great trust and confidence reposed in every of the above-named Brethren, we do hereby appoint the said Robert Morris to be the first Worshipful Master, the said John Sheville to be the first Senior Warden, and the said Rolla Floyd to be the first Junior Warden, for opening and holding the said Lodge, and until such time as another Master shall be regularly elected and installed, strictly charging that every member who shall be elected to preside over the said Lodge, and who must previously have duly served as Warden in a warranted Lodge, shall be installed in ancient form and according to the laws of the Grand Lodge, that he may thereby be fully invested with the dignities and powers of his office. And we do require you, the said Hobert Morris, to take special care that all and every the said Brethren are or have been regularly made Masons, and that you and they, and all other members of the said Lodge, do observe, perform and keep the Laws, Rules and Orders contained in the Book of Constitutions, and all others which may from time to time be made by our Grand Lodge, or transmitted by us or our successors, Grand Masters, or by our Deputy Grand Master for the time being. And we do enjoin yon to make such By-Laws for the government of your Lodge as shall to the majority of the members appear proper and necessary, the same not being contrary to or inconsistent with the General Laws and Regulations of the Craft, a copy whereof yon are to transmit to us. And we do require you to cause all such By-Laws and Regulations, and also an account of the proceedings in your Lodge to be entered in a book to be kept for that purpose. And you are in nowise to omit to send to us, or our successors, Grand Masters; or to our Deputy Grand Master for the time being, in form and manner directed by the Book o[ Constitutions, at least once in every year, a list of the members of your Lodge, and the names and descriptions of all Masons initiated therein and Brethren who shall have joined the same, with the fees and moneys payable thereon. It being our will and intention that this our Warrant of Constitution shall continue in force so long only as yon shall conform to the Laws and Regulations of our Grand Lodge. And yon, the said Robert Morris, are further required, as soon as conveniently may be, to send us an account in writing of what shall be done by virtue of these presents.
Given under our Hands and Seal of the Grand Lodge at Hamilton, this 17th February, A.L. 5873, A.D. 1873.
By Command of the M. W. Grand Master,
THOMAS WHITE, JR., D.G.M.
THOMAS B. HARRIS, Grand Secretary.
Under this authority, a delegate went from the United States to Jerusalem and calling together a competent number of those named in the warrant and others, the Lodge was regularly and constitutionally organized and has bad six years' of prosperous existence up to the issuance of this volume (May, 1879):
The organizing meeting occurred May 7, 1873. The Lodge was opened in the Great Quarry underlying the city of Jerusalem, the same from which were extracted the massive blocks of which the wall of Mount Moriah was constructed. Many incidents of interest are connected with that meeting. An ordinance was passed, not to be rescinded during the lifetime of Dr. Morris, that "all Master Masons whose names should be indorsed for and forwarded by him should be enrolled as Honorary Life Members of the Lodge." Under this ordinance a large number, including many of the brightest lights in Masonry in various countries enjoy this high honor, and the number is rapidly increasing.
The first degree was conferred in a private chamber of the Mediterranean Hotel. Soon after the organization a Lodge-room was fitted up near the Joppa Gate which has served the purposes of the Lodge until something better can be accomplished. The Lodge has relieved the necessities of poor brethren, has looked after the sick and afflicted, and in one instance has buried the dead.
The organization of our Lodge in the Great Quarry under Jerusalem has given additional interest to that famous excavation henceforth sacred in Masonic memories. An engraving therefore is given which represents accurately the ground plan of the Quarry.
The entrance is under the city wall where the dotted line begins. The light spaces show where the rock has been removed for building purposes; the dark spaces show the rock in situ left to support the ponderous roof on which so much of the City of Jerusalem rests.
There are two other excavations in the same rocky range which so much resemble it that they are also given.
Section 4. Piety
The fourth ….
In the olden time every Knight was sworn to obey the commands of his sovereign. The Sovereign of Pilgrim Knights of the Palm and Shell is the Supreme God, represented in the Masonic Lodge under the symbol of the letter G.
"... that hieroglyphic bright,
Which none but Craftsmen ever saw."
In the Oriental Order, of which the present volume is the exponent, the symbol instituted for the letter G is the Hebrew letter Yod.
This in either form is deservedly regarded as the most sacred emblem of Masonry, and as such we wear it upon our ring. Used as the symbol of DEITY it is the Saxon representation of the Hebrew letter Yod, as well as the Greek Tau, the initial letters of Deity in those languages. It conveyed to the minds of our ancient brethren both the idea of God and that of Geometry. It bound earth to heaven, the divine to the human, the finite to the infinite.
The three great religions which affect the intelligence of the world at the present time are the Israelitish, the Christian, and the Mohammedan. The central idea of each is God. In the Jewish Scriptures He is thus expressed:
"The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty." Exodus xxxiv, 6, 7.
The original language in which the Divinity of God best appears is this:
In the christian word He is thus expressed:
"The blessed and only potentate, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting." 1 Timothy vi, 15, 16.
In the Mohammedan Koran He has divine honors in these forms:
"Praise be to God, the Lord of all creatures; most merciful, the King of the day of judgment. Thee do we worship, and of thee do we beg assistance. Direct us in the right way, in the way of those to whom thou hast been gracious; not of those against whom thou art incensed, nor of those who go astray.
"There are some who say, we believe in God, and the last day; but are not really believers. They seek to deceive God and those who do believe, but they deceive themselves only. God shall mock at them,- they shall wander in confusion. These are the men who have purchased error at the price of true direction; but their traffic hath not been gainful, neither have they been rightly directed.
God encompasseth the infidels; the lightning wanteth but little of taking away their sight, and if God so pleased he would certainly deprive them of their hearing and their sight, for God is Almighty.
O men of Mecca, serve your Lord who bath created you, and those who have been before you.
"Set not up, therefore, any equals unto God. Eat and drink of the bounty of God, and commit not evil on the earth.
"Ye shall not worship any other except God, and ye shall show kindness to your parents and kindred, and to orphans, and to the poor, and speak that which is good unto men, and be constant at prayer, and give alms.
"Dost thou not know that God is Almighty? Dost thou not know that unto God belongeth the kingdom of heaven and earth? neither have ye any protector or helper except God. Be constant in prayer, and give alms; and what good ye have sent before for your souls, ye shall find it with God; surely God seeth that which ye do.
"To God belongeth the east and the west; therefore whithersoever ye turn yourselves to pray, there is the face of God, for God is omnipresent and omniscient. O true believers, beg assistance with patience and prayer, for God is with the patient.
"There is no God but God, the living, the self-subsisting. Verily those who believe not the signs of God shall suffer a grievous punishment; for God is mighty- able to revenge. O Lord, cause not our hearts to swerve from truth, after thou hast directed us, and give us from thee mercy, for thou art he who giveth. O Lord, thou shalt surely gather mankind together, unto a day of resurrection; there is no doubt of it, for God will not be contrary to the promise."
The respect thrown around the Holy Scriptures by Freemasons is suggested in various passages. It is seen, primarily, in the esoteric explanation of the letter G already referred to; the fact that the holy writings are carried in every Masonic procession, whether to a corner-stone, capstone or grave, and the manner in which the Past Master is instructed, viz, "By a diligent observance of the Holy Scriptures which are given as a rule and guide to your faith, you will be enabled to acquit yourself with honor and reputation, and lay up a crown of rejoicing which shall continue when time shall be no more." "The bible is dedicated to the service of God because it is the inestimable gift of God to man." In 1804 the Grand Lodge
of Maryland decreed "that no lodge should initiate a candidate who does not profess his belief that the ten commandments delivered by God to Moses are the will of God revealed to man, and the rule of his conduct through life.
From 1812 to 1823, various Grand Lodges appropriated money to the work of translating the Holy Scriptures into foreign tongues, and distributing the same to the advocates of false religion in the east. Societies were formed among Masons to promote the same object. In 1822 one of this sort was established in Kentucky under the title of "The Palestine Masonic Missionary Society of Louisville," the object of which was "to assist in spreading the Holy
Scriptures, the great light of Masonry, in those countries from whence it was received, and particularly in the Holy City, Jerusalem, formerly so eminent as the seat of our ancient solemnities. The ignorance, superstition and darkness prevalent in that once favored land, seemed to open a wide field for the benevolent enterprise of the Sons of Light, and the moment was auspicious in which to prove the sincerity of the Masonic professions of good will to all mankind, by rendering back to Ancient Jerusalem some of the rights, lights, and benefits which have been so freely bestowed on us, and of which she has for ages been deprived. This society was formed on the recommendation of Clark Lodge, No. 51 (still extant), assembled in conjunction with most of the fraternity in Louisville, composing a very numerous assemblage for the purpose of considering the expediency of such a measure, and there was not a dissenting voice.
The Holy Bible, an emblem in Freemasonry
In all intelligent studies of Masonic Symbolisms, the Holy Bible must be taken as the central device, the Mother-figure, the Emblem of Emblems in the entire system. It is not only one of the three great lights of Masonry, but it is the Light of Lights, without which neither of the other five can illuminate the mind at all. It is fitly displayed in a Masonic lodge in the center, so situated that, sit where we will, we must needs face the Bible. In all processions it comes next preceding the Worshipful Master or Grand Master. At the grave it lies open in the west. At the corner-stone it takes a conspicuous place. In short, the ancient formulas give to the Holy Bible a situation corresponding with our theory of its value and importance.
A late writer has made a sketch of this subject so comprehensive and forcible as to be worthy adoption in the lodge. He says:
"The Bible sustains more dying hearts, leads more souls peaceably through time into death's kingdom, and girds more departing spirits to meet God and the invisible world, than all other writings from the days of Adam to the present hour. It has more noble songs than all other books of poetry; more reliable history than all other recorded annals; more safe example than all living men exhibit; more prophecy fulfilled than all the predictions of statesmen and philosophers; more perfect law than all the statutes of legislators; more sublime promise than all the proffered wealth and empires of time." This witness is true, and the paragraph is worthy of being painted in letters of gold upon the walls of every lodge.
The following is an attempt to express in verse the Masonic application of the Holy Bible to the several blue lodge degrees. Written to be accompanied by manual illustrations, it must be seen and heard to gather the author's full intentions.
Division I – Exordium
"The Landmarks of Freemasonry are graven on God 's Word;
It tells the Wisdom and the Strength and Beauty of the Lord;
These tapers three, in mystic form, reveal to willing eyes
The purest, grandest, freest light of ancient mysteries.
Oh wise and Good Grand Master,
Reveal this Law to us!
As lies the mighty Oak within the acorn's tiny shell,
So do the secrets of our Craft within this volume dwell;
The son of David guided here by the Omniscient Judge,
Drew forth each Ashlar from its place and built the Mason's lodge.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
Reveal this Law to us!
This golden Law unfolds itself, mysterious, by degrees:
As first is sunrise, then high twelve, then sunset gilds the trees,
So by three grades our Ladder up from earth to heaven goes,
And ever surer, stronger, holier, mounts until the close.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
Reveal this Law to us!
Division II – The Entered Apprentice
Behold how good and pleasant 'tis, thus speaks the glowing page,
For brethren in true harmony of labor to engage:
'Tis like the Dew of Hermon, it is like the Sacred Oil,
It sweetens all life 's bitterness, it lightens all its toil.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must work in Fidelity; no secret thing, reposed
Under the sacred seal of faith, can ever be disclosed;
This is the sure foundation-stone that Solomon did lay,
And cursed be the traitor's heart that would his trust betray. '
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must not take thy mystic name, the holy Name in vain:
God will not hold us guiltless if we dare that word profane:
But let our trust be ail in HIM, great fount of Mason's faith,
From our first entrance to the Lodge till we repose in death.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
Division III – The Fellow Craft
The MASTER stood upon the wall, a plumb line in his hand,
And spoke in solemn warning to the working, listening band:
By this unerring guide, he said, build up my Edifice,
For I will blast your labors as they deviate from this.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must preserve the Landmarks olden, that our fathers set;
Chosen of God, hoary with age, they are most precious yet,
Our brethren "Over the River" worked within their ample bound,
And for their six days' faithfulness a rich fruition found.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must relieve the destitute, disconsolate, and poor;
It is our MASTER sends them to our hospitable door;
And HE who giveth all things richly to his children's cry
Will mark well pleased our readiness His bounty to supply.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
Division IV – The Master Mason
Remember our Creator now, before the days shall come,
When all our senses, failing, point to Nature's final doom;
While love and strength and hope conspire, life 's pilgrimage to cheer,
We'll give our Master grateful praise whose goodness is so dear.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must in honor shield the pure, the chaste ones of the craft;
Ward off the shaft of calumny, the envenomed, poisoned shaft;
Abhor deceit and subterfuge, cling closely to a friend,
And for ourselves and others at the throne of mercy bend.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
We must inter in everlasting hope the faithful dead:
Above their precious forms the green and fragrant Cassia spread;
'Tis but a little while we sleep in Nature's kindly trust,
And then the Master's gavel will arouse us from the dust.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
We bless Thee for this light!
Division V – Peroration
And thus a boundless mine of truth this holy volume lies,
As open to the faithful heart as to the willing eyes.
Here are no dark recesses hid, but Masons all may see
The Landmarks of the ancient Craft beneath the tapers three.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
This law shall be our guide!
In every place, at every hour, this constant friend we have,
In quarry and in forest, on the mountain-height and wave;
At labor and refreshment, in youth, manhood and old age,
Let's draw our inspiration from this bright and holy page.
Ob wise and good Grand Master,
We'll shape our lives by this!
Thus laboring all our six days' burdens cheerfully we'll bear,
In hope of wages, ample, golden, held in promise there;
Then resting with the faithful, wait the Master's gracious will,
To summon us to the Lodge above, that crowns the heavenly hill.
Oh wise and good Grand Master,
Forget us not in death."
Section 5. Sympathy
The fifth ….
In the affecting drama of the Shadowing Palm the idea of Masonic sympathy is exquisitely wrought out. This virtue (sympathy) is the tie which unites the Mohammedan Brotherhood of the Dervishes.
Brotherhood of the Dervishes
From a work entitled "The Dervishes; or, Oriental Spiritualism," written by John P. Brown, Secretary and Dragoman of the Legation of the United States of America, at Constantinople, we make some extracts which may be of interest to our readers. Bro. Brown was a distinguished Mason, formerly of Chillicothe, Ohio, and at the period of his death was Provincial Grand Master of the English Lodges of Turkey. He died suddenly of heart disease, April 28, 1872. His likeness is seen in "Freemasonry in Holy Land." As considerable Dervishism is wrought into the Order of "The Palm and Shell," the following will be acceptable to Pilgrim Knights. It is proper to add that Bro. Brown's is the only book devoted to the Dervishes exclusively.
It is the opinion of the Oriental scholar who wrote "The Dervishes," that the spiritual principles of the society existed in Arabia before Mohammed's advent, which occurred in the seventh century after Christ. The starting point of Mohammed's system, he thinks, was "the act of perfect submission of Abraham to the will of God, in offering up his son Isaac"; but Dervishism differs much from that, and had its origin in the religious conception of India and Greece. As to the Dervishes themselves, Brother Brown declares that he has found them "liberal and intelligent, sincere and most faithful friends."
The theory of Dervishism, according to Bro. Brown, is "the belief that the spirit of man is a dismal emanation and possessed of a divine faculty disconnected with his corporeal part." One of the branches of the Dervishes, called the Mevlevees, published a Text Book, or Monitor, called in the Arabic language Methnevee Shereef, whose author is Jelard ed Deen er Roomee. From this I extract two passages:
"Wherever we set our foot, it is on God's ground; in whatever corner we fortify ourselves, He is near us. Every pathway leads to God."
"Man's body is but the cage of the soul, for the soul was made before it."
The immediate origin of the Dervish orders has been carefully traced up. The name, indiscriminately written Dervish and Derwish, is Persian. It is composed of two syllables, Der, which answers to our word door, and vish, to beg, and signifies "to beg from door to door," "roving beggars." Originally there were twelve orders of Dervishes, viz: The Rufayee, the Sordee, the Suhraverdee, the Shibanee, the Mevlevee, the Kadiree, the Nakshibendee, the Vaisee, the Jelvettee, the Kaloattee, the Bedawee, and the Dussookee. The "howling Dervishes," of whom travelers have so much to say, belong to the Rufayees. The present number of orders is not less than one hundred, but it would not repay the reader to see the list. The branch which assimilates most nearly to Freemasonry is the Bektashees.
"The Bektashees, to which the present article will be mainly devoted, are descendants from Mohammed (Sayyids), through Aba Bekir, the first Caliph; they are all Dervishes (Aleeide), and I saw much of them while in Holy Land, Syria, Asia Minor, etc. The name (Bektashees) is derived from the founder of this branch, Bektash, a native of Bokhara, who lived in the fifteenth century. He established himself in Asia Minor, where his tomb is still shown, much revered by all his numerous followers scattered over the greater part of the Turkish Empire. The Monitor of the order is very instructive."
There are six Commandments (Ahtiam), Liberality, Knowledge, Truth, Holy Law, Submission and Contemplation.
There are six Columns (Erkian) Science, Meekness, Contentment, Thankfulness, Calling on God, Retirement.
There are six Constitutions (Vena), Repentance, Submission, Fidelity, Spiritual Increase, Contentment, Seclusion.
There are six Wisdoms (Hukorm), Knowledge, Liberality Approach to Divine Science, Fidelity, Reflection, Faith in God.
There are six Evidences of the Order (Espat), Benevolence, God's Praise, Abandonment of Sin, Abandonment of Passions, Fear of God, Cheerfulness of Spirit.
The mystical clothing of these brethren is the cap (taj), the cloak (khirta), and the girdle (taibend). These are termed "the three points" (or principles), and are said to have been first given to man by the angel Gabriel. On the girdle worn by Mohammed was written, "There is no God but God; Mohammed is his prophet and Alee is their friend." Much is said of the girdle of the Bektashees, and it answers to the white leather apron of Freemasonry. In it is worn a stone (pelenk) having seven points (terks), referring to all that is named in the symbolisms of the seven steps in the winding stairs of the Fellow Craft. It is termed the Stone of Contentment (kanaat tasha). The Master of the Bektashees, while giving instruction, puts on the girdle and removes it seven times, saying:
1. I tie up greediness; I untie generosity.
2. I tie up anger; I untie meekness.
3. I tie up stinginess; I un tie piety.
4. I tie up ignorance; I untie the fear of God.
5. I tie up passion; I untie the love of God.
6. I tie up hunger; I untie spiritual content.
7. I tie up Satanism; I untie Divineness.
When he first puts the girdle upon a candidate he says, "I bind thy body in the path of God. Oh, Holy Name, possessed of all knowledge, whoever comprehends it will arrive to eminence!" Some of his further instructions are couched in these forms: "The knowledge of the world is to know God's Holy Laws"; "Moses is the Word of God, Jesus is the Spirit of God, Noah is the Sword of God"; "There is but one light; the truth is the moon." The costume of the Bektashees is a vest without sleeves (haideree), and the cloak, cap and girdle already named. The vest must have twelve lines on it; the cloak the same streaks as the vest; the girdle
is made only of white woolen materials.
A cord, worn round the waist and called Kamberich, is an important appendage. It has three knots or buttons, named the hand-tie (el baghee), the tongue-tie (dil baghee), and the loin-tie (bel baghee), cautioning the wearer against theft, falsehood and fornication. Ear-rings (mengoosh) are used by many Bektashees, but these are optional with the candidate.
The cap is made of white felt, and in four parts, showing that the wearer has abandoned the world, the sensuous hopes of Paradise, hypocrisy, and all the pleasures of life. The four parts are named shereeat, tareekat, hakeehat and marifat. The secret word, or pass, of the Bektashees is called the interpreter (terjuman), and is sacred, as in Freemasonry, according to the occasion. The lodge-conductor is also called terjuman.
Method of Initiation
"A candidate (mureed) for initiation goes to the lodge (tekkieh) with a sheep. This is sacrificed in a peculiar manner. Its wool is woven into a durable girdle for his future wear, and a cable tow for bis neck; its flesh eaten at the initiatory feast which follows. The lodge-room (often a tent) is square. In the center is an altar (maidan tash), of twelve sides, upon which he sees a lighted candle. Opposite each side is a seat (postakees), consisting of white sheepskin. As he enters, this candle is removed, and one is placed in front of each seat. The twelve officers who occupy the seats are:
1. The Master, personifying Alee; 2. The Cook, personifying one of the Caliphs of the Order; 3. The Breadmaker·, personifying Baheem Sultan; 5. The Lodge Superintendent, personifying Saree Ismail; 6. The Lodge Steward, personifying Kolee Achik Hajiim Sultan; 7. The Coffee-maker, personifying Shazalee Sultan; 8. The Bag-bearer, personifying Karat Devlet Jan Baba; 9. The Sacrificer, representing the patriarch Abraham; 10. The Servitor, or Deacon; 11. The Groom; 12. The Attendant upon the Guests.
The number twelve is much used in Dervishism. There are twelve punishments allotted to the traitor; be swears by the twelve (nezr), pays money in twelves, etc. etc.
The candidate (mureed) must come well recommended to the Master (murshid) by two of the officers, who are called Guides (vehpers). The initiation is usually at night, though mine was in daylight. The candidate brings a live sheep and a sum of money proportioned to his means; the latter is divided among the twelve officers. As the meetings are secret, caution is exercised against cowans and eavesdroppers, there being two tylers outside the door and three inside.
The preparation is rigid. The candidate is stripped of his clothing, and the greatest care is taken that nothing metallic shall remain upon his person. This shows that on entering the Order he makes a voluntary relinquishment of the world and its wealth. If he proposes to take the Vow of Celibacy he is rendered nude, and if not, a portion of his clothing remains upon him; but his left breast is bared. The rope is placed round his neck, and two conductors (terjumans) lead him into the lodge.
He is now lifted upon the twelve-angled altar, and placed in such a position that his arms are crossed upon bis breast, the hands being supported by the shoulders. This is called boyun kesmek ("bending the neck in humble respect and perfect submission"). His right great toe is pressed over the corresponding toe of the left foot, his head inclining toward the right shoulder, his body leaning forward.
One of the Conductors introduces him to the Master as a slave (kool) whom he has brought, and inquires whether the Master will accept him, to which an affirmative reply is made.
Of course I could not divulge here the peculiar secrets which were intrusted to me at my initiation in 1868. What I have given thus far is mainly extracted, with slight variations, from Brown's book. The penalty threatened is extremely severe, and the Conductors have in their hands an instrument of punishment emblematical of the penalty, styled tebber, much in the shape of the letter K.
Among the secret signs to which Brown alludes are two which are couched under the words treban (far) and toolan (near). Collectively they are read "near in affection, far in self-conceit," which is a very pretty thought.
In this article I have given but a small idea of the complicated nature of the ritual of initiation. The Bektashees have no less than seventy-five prayers (tekbeers) and salutations suitable to every movement of officers, members and candidate. I give specimens. At the doorsill: "I place my head and heart on the sill of the door of repentance, and may my body be pure as gold." In giving the sign of salutation: "Peace to you, O followers of the true path, elders of the light of truth, disciples of true knowledge." On lighting the central candle: "Oh, God! we make this light, the pride of all Dervishes, for the love of God. May it burn and enlighten to the last of days." At entering the lodge to solicit hospitality: "God is our friend. Joy to the dwellers in this lodge. Love to the joyful." But I have not space for more.
The Bektashees blow a horn called buffer, in the shape of a wild goat's. With this they signalize the hour of refreshment, and the approach of danger. Another name of this horn is "the loving God" (Ya Vidood).
"In the name of God, the merciful and the clement, I pray the pardon of God. I have come to implore it. I approach you in search of the truth, and I ask it for God's sake! Truth is the proper path which leads to God, the All-true whom I know! What you call evil, I also call evil, and I will avoid taking what is another's. I repent of my sins, and I will not return to them!"
The answer made to this by the Master is: "Eat nothing wrong. Tell no lie. Make no quarrel. Be kind to your inferiors. Respect your superiors. Be good to your visitors. Do not criticise the faults of another, but if you see them, conceal them either with your hand, your tongue or your heart. The time will come when nothing will benefit you, neither wealth nor family, nothing except submission to God with a pure heart."
The candidate then kisses the hand of the Master, who addresses him thus: "If now you accept me as your father, I accept you as my son. Hereafter may the pledge of God be breathed into your right ear!"
The salutation given by Brown is this: The brother, advancing to the altar, inclines his head gently to the Master, and lays his right hand across his breast, near the neck. This implies perfect submission. At meeting in public one Dervish recognizes another by placing his right hand, as if unintentionally, on the chin. Another salutation on entering the Lodge is to place the right hand upon the heart, incline the head forward gently and say Ya hoo, Eventer ("Oh God, my noble brethren.") The response is Ah Vallah, Peevim ("Good, by God, my Brother!") The meeting night of the lodge is called Ain i Jem.
The historian, Aider, affirmed that the Knights Templar were members both of the Dervishes and Druses.
Visiting Brethren
One prime purpose in the organization of the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell is to encourage the visitations of Pilgrim Knights to each other. The courtesies and fraternal attentions due to visiting brethren afford us a never-failing theme. Visiting brothers are the links that unite the fifteen thousand lodges that now exist into one consistent, harmonious chain. "They are they who afford us the means of testing our own Masonic charity, our own Masonic knowledge, and the integrity of the Craft in other jurisdictions. They furnish us objects of distress, objects of hospitality, and objects of examination. The lodge that has the most visitors- other things being equal- is the brightest and most charitable; and so far are we from the opinion that a well-visited lodge gets wearied with giving, and over-cautious in examining distressed applicants, the reverse is nearer true- they that give the most are the most ready to give.
Our fathers of the olden time called this a part of their Ancient Charges:
"If you discover the strange brother to be true and genuine, you are to respect him accordingly; and if he is in want, you must relieve him if you can, or else direct him how he may be relieved. You must employ him some days, or else recommend him to be employed."
Nowhere is the visiting brother more welcome, nowhere is he better entertained, nowhere does he enjoy himself so well, nowhere does he return so readily, as to the lodge, the modus operandi of whose welcome should be made known for the better information of lodges that do not understand it so well.
The Holy Land Pilgrim
It is to strengthen our faith in the Holy Scriptures, and extend our personal acquaintance, that the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell encourages pilgrimages to the Holy Land. Everything of this sort belongs to our curriculum of Masonic instruction. The establishment at Jerusalem of a Lodge, a Grand Lodge, a Masonic Library and Hospital, and a Masonic Cemetery; the erection of a Grand Masonic Temple there, and other enterprises in the minds of zealous Masons, are so many allurements to this. The Pilgrim Knight who has made the tour of Palestine, is authorized to wear a mark of distinction above his fellows. * * *
The Holy Land Pilgrim is expected to make visitations to at least five places while in Palestine, viz:
1. The place of his own allotment.
2. The place of the Allotment of the Supreme Chief, (that of the present incumbent is No. 1).
3. The great rock (Es Sakhrah) on Mount Moriah, the locality of the Holy of Holies of the Temple.
4:. The southeast corner of Mount Moriah, on the outside marked with the emblem of the Square and Compass.
5. The Coleman Gallery.
Invitation
"Come, Brethren of the Mystic Tie, your hand,
Come, pilgrims, join me in the Holy land!
Climb nimbly now along the sacred bills;
Drink joyous now at cool refreshing bills;
Tread the same pathway in this latter age
That Masons trod in early pilgrimage.
All well-known things are there, from flowers that bloom
And trees that soar, clown to the empty tomb;
And all things speak in nature's chorus true,
Of Him who lived and toiled and died for you.
Come, and when Holier Land where He has gone
Breaks on your sight- when breaks the expected mom
O'er heavenly bills, and faith and hope shall die
The deepest secrets of the upper sky
Shall be revealed; the humblest emblem here
Shall have its ante type celestial there;
And earth, with all its imagery, be given
A school, to fit us for the perfect Heaven."
Pilgrim Knights journeying through Holy Land will bear in mind that in 1 Chronicles 9-24, the four points of the compass are named under allegories familiar to a Freemason: the east is termed mizrah, or "the rising''; the south is negbah; the west, yammah; the north, tzaphanah, or "obscurity."
Coleman Gallery
This grand and elegant crypt or "secret vault" is one of the indispensable points of pilgrimage to Pilgrim Knights visiting the Holy Land. It is found at the south end of Mount Moriah, and is described by various travelers with more or less minuteness and accuracy.
Rev. Brother J. P. Newman, D.D., in his work, "From Dan to Beersheba," 1864, speaks eloquently of this famous Gallery:
"Thirty feet to the east of the center of the Mosk of El Aksa is the entrance. A flight of stone steps leads down to a broad and well made avenue 259 feet long, forty-two wide and thirty high. It has a gentle descent of two hundred feet. Extending through the center are two rows of monolithal columns, connected by arches supporting the ceiling, which is composed of flattened domes. These domes are formed of large stones, and each has a circular keystone six feet in diameter. Guided by candies we advanced southward a distance of 259 feet and came to a flight of nine steps descending to an entrance hall fifty feet long and forty wide. In the exact center of this hall is a stone column twenty-one feet high and six in diameter, consisting of a single block, including a foliated capital ornamented with a palm branch. Arches spring from this central pillar to pilasters on the sides of the hall, and they uphold a ceiling of extraordinary workmanship. Near this Gallery the Jews believe the treasures of the Temple are concealed."
Rev. and Right Worshipful Brother H. B. Tristam, M.A., F.L.S. in his " Land of Israel," 1865, refers to our Gallery thus:
"There are no evidences that this Gallery has ever been put to uses of any sort, and no traces are seen of attempts to form chambers or excavate the floor to an even surface. The Gallery is irregular in form, with massive circular pillars and elaborately carved capitals, supporting narrow semicircular arches. The place is imperfectly lighted by apertures set high up in the southern wall. These were made probably by time, not by the builders. These apertures are easily seen from the outside of the stones in this wall, one is eighteen feet in length by eight feet high, and others as much as thirty feet long and large in proportion. De Saulcy imagines that he found Jachin and Boaz in two of the principal pillars, but this is absurd; such a Gallery cannot be conceived to represent the Porch of the Temple. The mouldings at the top of the pillars and along the arches present palm leaves, and have an Egyptian look."
Rev. Dr. J. T. Barclay, M.D., for many years missionary at Jerusalem, thus describes the Coleman Gallery in his "City of the Great King":
"Immediately within the double gateway, called Huldah's Gate, is a vestibule fifty feet long and forty-two wide, which is the width of the Gallery throughout. In the center of this hall is a monolithic column of the Jerusalem limestone, six feet three inches in diameter by twenty-one feet high, having a tasteful foliated capital. From the top of this monolith spring arches supporting the four domes that compose the ceiling. In the center of the northern extremity of this hall is an oval pillar in the midst of a flight of nine steps which rise eight feet nine inches in all. The dimensions of this last named monolith are six feet eight inches high by four feet six inches thick. Ascending the nine steps we enter a long passage horizontal for 124 feet, then gently ascending twenty-five feet six inches, then level again thirty-eight feet, making 187 feet six inches in all. Here we find a flight of steps ascending to the Mosk El Aksa. The entire workmanship of the vaulted passages is characteristically Jewish. The idea is entertained by some that much of the furniture and treasures of the Temple lie concealed near this Gallery."
In "Murray's Hand-Book," a work of erudition and greatly prized by English travelers, there is a description of the Coleman Gallery:
"It is a long subterranean avenue leading up an inclined plane and flight of steps to the surface of Mount Moriah. This is one of the most remarkable pieces of antiquity in the whole of this noble structure. The entrance-hall (on the south side) is sixty-three feet long by forty-two wide, in the center of which is a dwarf column twenty-one feet high and six feet six inches wide, a single stone including the capital. The capital is peculiar, bearing traces of a perpendicular palm-leaf ornament. The roof is vaulted and of fine workmanship; the flattish arches springing front the central monolith and piers and from pilasters at the sides. The broad division between the arches consists of beveled stones of Cyclopean dimensions. At the northern end of the entrance-hall there is a pier having a semi-column on each end, and next to it north ward, instead of a pier there is a monolith. A rise of several feet occurs in the floor. From the top of a flight of nine steps the vaulted passage continues with a slight ascent two hundred feet, a range of square ancient piers supporting the roof, and from this a broad staircase leads to the surface."
Section 6. General Instructions
Now you shall have a short Lecture upon the portions of Induction through which we have passed, and then we will proceed to other ceremonies. You will please be seated. ….
The prayer which I delivered in the Arabic language is what we term in this country "The Lord's prayer," commencing in English, "Our Father, which art in Heaven." This is an invocation which every Oriental, yes,- and every Mason in the world,- is willing to offer. It shocks no man's prejudices, it expresses all men's needs.
I will repeat it again, … that you may the better comprehend it. ….
The Covenant of the Signet, ….
The Covenant of Bread, ….
'rhe Covenant of Salt, ….
The Covenant of the Sacred Roll, ….
The Covenant of the Palm Tree, ….
These, honored and respected Brethren, are the five important lessons never to be forgotten, never to be slighted, which are expressed by our Covenants. I am glad to see that you have given them such attention. There is nothing more beautiful in the entire range of Freemasonry. You will now please to rise and resume your places in the groupings exactly as before.
Part III. The Drama
Section 1. The Shadowing Palm
There are four Oriental ceremonies, solemn and impressive, which I am about to teach you-the Shadowing Palm, the Immovable Prop, the Knightly Consecration, and the Indissoluble Chain. ….
The Palm Tree
This best Oriental emblem of all that is most desiderated in Holy Land,-shade, fruit, water, refreshment, gracefulness,- gives its name both to our society and our members. The terms, "Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell," and "Righteous Knights," are derived from this valuable tree. Our space fails us to speak the full merits of this tall, shady, fruit-bearing production of nature. The poet sings of the palm tree:
"Thou sealest up the sum of nature 's gifts,
Oh, graceful shaft, that send'st thy shade afar!
The Royal Sage adorned his olive-gates
With thy fair image; for it told of food
Delicious to the taste; and grateful shade
Made by thy thickened foliage; while the sound
(No music in those eastern lands more sweet)
Of trickling waters echoed at thy roots.
Perfect in beauty, and with bounty full,
Thou art the chief of Mason-imagery."
In Handel's beautiful oratorio of "Solomon" the author puts into the mouth of Zadock, the priest, a song, as follows:
See the Tall Palm
"See the tall palm that lifts its head
On Jordan's sedgy side!
Its towering branches curling, spread,
And bloom in graceful pride.
"Each mean er tree regardless springs,
Nor claims our scornful eyes-
Thus, thou art first of mortal kings,
And wisest of the wise.
Gibbon says "the diligent natives of the East celebrate, both in prose and verse, three hundred and sixty uses to which they put the trunk, the branches, the leaves, the fruit and the juice of the palm tree." It is one of their superstitions that the celebrated rock Es Sakhrah stands on the top of a palm tree, from the roots of which spring all the waters of the earth!
The prophet Daniel (10: 14) describes the destruction of a palm tree in these striking words: "Hew down the tree, and cut off his branches; shake off his leaves, and scatter his fruit; let the beasts get away from under it, and the fowls from his branches."
A botanist describes the palm as a tall, fruit-bearing, shadowy tree, which arrives at perfection at thirty, and lives up to seventy. It bears, when in vigor, fifteen to twenty bunches of dates, averaging twenty-five pounds each. The poet sings of the land where "feathery palm trees wave."
The propriety of representing this Oriental theory of Freemasonry by the emblem of the palm tree is too obvious for argument; for the palm tree holds up its head among eastern trees, like Saul among his fellows, "higher than any of his people, from his shoulders and upward"; and it is of incalculable value to the people who live under its shadow. It has yielded its leaves for military and religions triumphs, from the earliest period and to the most diverse peoples. In the very origin of the Olympian Games the noblest trophy presented by the judges was the branch of palm, which fortunate contestants were allowed to carry in their hands. The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, A.D. 33, was marked by his exultant worshipers spreading palm-branches in his path. In the ecstatic vision of St. John upon Patmos, sixty years later, the angels round the throne of God were seen "bearing palms in their hands, clothed with white robes, and praising and worshiping God."
And not unworthily was the palm tree thus glorified; for it is alike the most remarkable, the most beautiful, the most benevolent tree in the Orient. In every sense it is the characteristic tree of the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, and every reminiscence that eastern travelers have of Joppa, Jenin, Tiberias and other Syrian cities, is punctuated by the weird shaft that lifts its head into ether, crowned by a graceful cap of leaves, and bearing up a heavy mass of fruit, grateful to man. The land of Hiram was denominated Phoenecia, from the old word Phoenix, signifying a palm tree; so that the traditional Senior Warden was literally
"king of the Palm Land," "Lord of the Palm Country." Tadmor, (otherwise called Palmyra,) built by Solomon in the desert, B.C. 1000, bears yet, in its ruins, the distinctive title of Tadmoor, the palm tree, which name, in its modern form of Tadmor, also, was first adopted
for this book.
Cruden, author of the Scriptural Concordance, gives the following synopsis of the palm tree: "It grows by the sweet springs of waters, and continues long. It will not be pressed or bound downward, or grow crooked, though heavy weights be laid on it. It is one of the most famous of all trees, and is the usual emblem of constancy, fruitfulness, patience and victory; which the more it is oppressed the more it flourisheth; the higher it grows, the stronger and broader it is in the top. It is the same with the date tree, which is not only of a beautiful aspect, but of a delightful, and is fit both for food and drink; and this was perhaps the reason why the children of Israel pitched their camp at Elim (Num. 33: 9.) Because there were not only twelve fountains of water there, but also three-score and ten palm trees. The Hebrews called the tree Thamar, and the Greeks, Phoenix. It is made an emblem of a just man's person and condition, because it is constantly green, flourishing and fruitful. The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree (Ps. 92: 12)."
Tamar, the first Guide to this Order, contained the following instructions to the candidate at the close of his induction.
Sir Knights, let us now reward the obedience and confidence of our newly admitted friend by exhibiting to him the forcible manner in which Pilgrim Knights come up to the aid of a distressed brother in his time of tribulation.
My Brother, when misfortunes assail you and the heavy burdens of life press you down, I will come up to you from the South, and will place myself beside you thus, and will hold you strongly up in the name of God.
My Brother, when misfortunes assail you, and the heavy burdens of life press you down, I will come up to you from the North and will place myself beside you thus, and will hold you strongly up in the name of God.
My Brother, when misfortunes assail yon, and the heavy burdens of life press yon clown, I will come up to yon from the West and will place myself beside yon thus, and will hold you strongly up in the name of God.
My Brother, when misfortunes assail yon, and the heavy burdens of life press you clown, I will come up to yon from the East and will place myself beside yon thus, and will hold yon strongly up in the name of God.
Th us sustained, how can a Freemason fall? Thus encouraged, how can a Freemason despair?
Section 2. The Immovable Prop
Prepare for the next ceremony, which is that of the Immovable Prop. ….
An American poet has expressed the sentiment of this beautiful ceremony in the following serio-comic lines:
Leaning toward each other
"The jolts of life are many,
As we dash along the track;
The ways are rough and rugged,
And our bones they sorely rack;
We're tossed about,
We're in and out,
We make a mighty pother;
Far less would be
Our pains, if we
Would lean toward each other!
"Woe to the luckless pilgrim,
Who journeys all alone!
W ell said the wise King Solomon,
'Two better is than one!'
For when the ground's
Most rugged found,
And great's the pain and pother,
He cannot break
The sorest shake
By leaning toward another!
"There's not one in ten thousand,
Of all the cares we mourn,
But what if t'was divided,
Might easily be borne!
If we 'd but learn,
When fortunes turn,
To share them with a Brother,
We'd prove how good's
Our Brotherhood,
By leaning toward each other!
"Then, Masons, take my counsel,
The Landmarks teach you so-
Share all the joltings fairly
As down the track you go!
Yes, give and take
Of every shake,
With all the pain and pother,
And thus you'll prove
Your Mason 's love
By leaning toward each other!"
In the first form of Inducting Pilgrim Knights this beautiful address was used:
Whenever I discover you to be in heavy distress and affliction, I promise you that my Heart shall be moved to share in your sorrows.
But I will do more than that. Whenever I discover you to be in heavy distress and affliction, I promise you not only that my Heart shall move for you, but my Foot shall be prompt to bring me to your relief.
But I will do more than that. Whenever I discover you to be in heavy distress and affliction, I promise you not only that Heart shall move for you, and my Foot bring me to you, but my Head shall be exercised to discover means for your relief.
But I will do more than that. Whenever I discover you to be in heavy distress and affliction, I promise you not only that my Heart shall move for you, and my Foot bring me to you, and my
Head discover means for your relief, but my Hand shall be open and full and emptied into yours, as far as it may be with due regard to myself and family. Thus with all the organs God hath bestowed upon us for each other's benefit, we strive to comfort, sustain and relieve those whom He hath chastened.
Section 3. The Knightly Consecration
Prepare for the next ceremony, which is that of the Knightly Consecration at the point of the Sword. ….
Mark well, Sir Knights, the force and bearing of your solemn consecration. ….
In Spenser's Faerie Queene the following verses show with unparalleled beauty, the affection which existed among Sir Knights in the best days of chivalry:
"Then those two knights, fast friendship for to bynd,
And love establish each to other trew,
Gave goodly gifts, the signes of gratefull mynd,
And eke, as pledges firme, right hands together ioynd.
"Prince Arthur gave a boxe of diamond sure,
Embowd wi.th gold and gorgeous ornament,
Wherein were closd few drops of liquor pure,
Of wondrous worth, and vertue excellent,
That any wownd could heale incontinent.
Which to requite, the Redcrosse knight him gave
A hooke, wherein his Saveours Testament
Was writt with golden letters rich and brave;
A worke of wondrous grace, and hable soules to save."
Section 4. The Indissoluble Chain
Prepare now, Sir Knights, for the closing ceremony, which is that of the Indissoluble Chain. ….
The Scripture allusions to chains are numerous. In making the Brazen Pillars of the Temple, Hiram, the widow's son, was directed to make "wreaths of chain-work for the chapiters which were upon the tops of the pillars; seven for one chapiter and seven for the other chapiter" (1 Kings 7: 17). In reference to the breastplate of the High Priest, it is written, "they made upon the breastplate chains at the ends of wreathen-work of pure gold. And they put the two wreathen chains of gold in the two rings on the ends of the breastplate" (Ex. 29 : 15-17). God said to Jerusalem, "I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets upon thy hands and a chain on thy neck" (Eze. 16: 11). "We therefore have brought an oblation for the Lord, what every man bath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains and bracelets, rings, ear-rings and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the Lord" (Num. 31: 50). "Make a chain, for the land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence" (Eze. 7 : 23).
The Masonic poet sings:
"Ye faithful, weave the chain!
Join hand-in-hand again!
The world is filled with violence and blood;
Hark to the battle-cry!
List to the answering sigh!
Oh, weave the chain, then, blest of man and God!"
Section 5. General Instructions
This, Sir Knight, completes the ceremony of Induction. Each of you is now recognized as a Pilgrim Knight of the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell. Your title will be Righteous Knights that is, straight, tall, upright, like the Palm tree-which is the best emblem of a just and upright Mason. Your names will be found published in our Proceedings, enrolled in the Golden Book, cherished among the records of our Lodge in Jerusalem. You shall have an allotment of Sacred Soil. Wherever you may journey around the globe, you will find Righteous Knights of this Order eager to extend to you that hospitality and courtesy which are the characteristics of Pilgrim Knighthood.
Part VI. The Means of Recognition
Section 1. The Diploma
And now, Sir Knights, I will teach you the various methods by which you may prove yourselves to be members of this Order.
They are divided into ….
The following is the text of our Diploma:
Diploma of the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell
S.A.N.D.S.
This certifies, that according to the forms of Covenant appropriate to the Oriental Order, and under the four Consecrations of Charity, Hospitality, Benevolence, and Brotherly Love, accepted by Pilgrim Knights, the bearer of this Diploma, ... was inducted into the mysteries of Mount Moriah, at the date and under the Constellation indicated in the Tablet.
In admitting this zealous Freemason to the honors of a Righteous Knight, ample caution has been exercised. The highest grade of avouchal has been had. The communications of the Southeast Corner have been given him as of right.
An appropriate allotment of Sacred Soil has been assigned him as one who has the fortitude to maintain and the spirit to justify the possession. The Brotherhood of the Palm and Shell are assured that in his induction our Fraternal Chain is equally lengthened and strengthened. Hospitality is promoted, the Divine Law gains a chivalrous defender, and the Royal Solomon Lodge at Jerusalem a prop.
In full confidence of the truth of these declarations, This Diploma is indorsed by the signatories representing the Cosmopolitan Board of Chiefs and the Supreme Chancellor, and the Great Seal of the Order is attached; and as a link in the Sacred Chain encompassing the globe, we commend the bearer hereof to the hospitalities of all Pilgrim Knights, under recognition of the Token, wherever by land or sea he may travel or sojourn.
In the upper left hand corner of this beautiful Diploma (printed in colors and in size 19 x 24 inches), is a drawing of the far-famed Palm Tree that stands in the middle of the city of Joppa. In the upper right hand corner is the shell described on a subsequent page, under which is the scimiter referring to the Knightly consecration, and again, under that, an engraving of the southeast corner of Mount Moriah, the locus or place where all inductions are supposed to be conventionally performed.
The plate in which the name of the owner is written is flanked on the right by an abounding head of wheat, an emblem of the fertility of Palestine, and one of the symbols of the second covenant of the Pilgrim Knight, and on the left a cut of a ring having upon it the signet of King Solomon and the word Fidelity.
In the central margins, right and left, are inscriptions in four languages, as follows:
Testimonium
Quicunque hanc Latine editionem leget, certe sciat, singulas professiones in testimonio Anglice scripto supposito et officiali signo chirographiaque confirmatas esse veras, et fidem adjungendam esse ab omnibus qui veritatem diligunt.
The rendering of these four in English is uniform, viz:
A Certificate
Let him who reads this declaration in the (ARABIC) language assuredly know that the statements particularly made in the English certificate that accompanies this, and confirmed by the official signet and signatures, are true and to be admitted by all who love the truth.
In the center, at bottom, is the seal of the Order inscribed "Great Seal of the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell." Within it appear the signet of King Solomon and six Hebrew yods. On the right of the seal are the signatures of the Supreme Chief and Supreme Chancellor; on the left those of the five Associate Supreme Chiefs for England, Scotland, Syria, Egypt and Asia Minor. Immediately above the seal is the comprehensive Triform. In the tablet on the left appears the blank for the owner's autograph, with the words Ne Varietur. In the tablet on the right are blanks for the number of Allotment, the number of Constellation, and the date of Induction.
The Diploma should always be carried with yon when you visit foreign lands. Without the Diploma ("Certificate") foreign Masons do not recognize a visiting brother in any Order of Masonry.
….
Section 2.
….
Section 3.
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Section 4.
The Shell
….
The freedom of the Order of Freemasonry dissolves, by mystic spells, all thralldom to sect and party, and teaches man to recognize a brother in his fellow-man, whatever be the creed by which he worships the name by which he is called, or the country from which he comes, or into which, in the spirit of pilgrimage, he may bear his shell.
"There is a secret in the ways of God
With His own children, which none others know,
That sweetens all He does; and if such peace,
While under His afflicting hand we find,
What will it be to see Him as He is,
And pass the reach of all that now disturbs
The tranquil soul's repose! to contemplate
In retrospect unclouded, all the means
By which His wisdom has prepared His saints
For the vast weight of glory which remains!"
The early pilgrim to Holy Land cut a palm branch from Mount Olivet, and picked up a shell from the sea-beach at Joppa. These he took both back to Europe, hanging up the former in the church at home and preserving the latter as an emblem of pilgrimage. In time these became heir-looms, were treasured in the muniment-chambers of titled families, and incorporated in their coats-of-arms.
The Baron Petre, an English nobleman, displays arms gules, a bend or between two escalop-shells. Baron Clarke Jerooise has three escalops in pale; William Hyde Pullen, long of Isle of Wight, England, and now Associate Supreme Chief of the Oriental Order at London, has eleven pilgrim shells in his ancient family shield, and the fine old Masonic tradition, "TENAX ET FIDÉLIS."
A popular writer, describing the coast of Joppa with reference to this subject, says: "It is the best place in the world for shells; there is a million wagon-loads of them here." I wrote a story of the shell upon the first one that I picked up as my foot struck the shore, and here is the product of my imagination:
I was washed up from the bottom of yonder blue sea in the days when Adam was young. I lay here unnoticed when the warriors of Dan took Joppa at the edge of the sword. I was here four hundred and fifty years afterward, when the temple-builders came from Tyre with cedars and firs and a freightage of marble and precious metals on the way to Jerusalem. I was here two hundred years after that, when disobedient Jonah came to Joppa seeking to escape from the all-seeing eye of God. I was here three hundred years after that, when the builders of the second temple brought materials from Mt. Lebanon. I was here five hundred years after that, when the apostle Peter had his vision on the house-top at Joppa. I was here one thousand years after that, when the Crusaders came down the coast and took possession of the country in the name of Jesus. And I am here now, nine hundred years after that, when a Pilgrim Knight picks me up and causes me to rehearse this Story of the Shell.
"In places the beach is almost a solid layer of white, brown, purple and red shells; in other places, piled two or three feet deep, they lie in long windrows, as wave and wind had heaped them. We took our choice freely and soon got ten species, but no doubt thirty species are there." The most common shell is the famous Pilgrim shell with its five spines, denoting the birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. Another shell, quite plenty, is the Cyprœa, which the Arabs fasten to the bridles of their horses and camels, and even wear around their own necks. A species of Conus is also common; also more or less of the beautiful purple Muvex, an elegant violet-tinted Donax, and a lovely purple Haliotis.
The Tomb of King Hiram
The mausoleum of this great monarch is of interest to Pilgrim Knights in connection with their application of the Pilgrim shell. The following vivid description is condensed from Dr. Morris' "Freemasonry in the Holy Land."
The tomb of King Hiram is worth coming all the way from America to see. There is no mistaking it. Nowhere in all the world have my eyes seen anything like it. A little to the right of the hill I have been ascending, and a little beyond its apex, the regal fowls looking down upon it so knowingly, it stands out clear and sharp against the mountains beyond; its grand sepulchral stone crowning the structure with a massiveness proportioned to the whole.
At last I see the burial-place of the great Huram, who was ever a lover of David (1 Kings 5: 1), and who rejoiced greatly when he heard the words of Salomon, and who wrote generously in acknowledgment of the royal missive announcing Solomon's intention to build an house unto the name of the Lord his God. "Because the Lord hath loved his people, he hath made thee king over them. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel that made the heaven and the earth, who hath given to David the King a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that be might build an house for the Lord, and an house for his kingdom (2 Chronicles 2: 11, 12). Here lies the master of the widow's son, whose tragic ending seasons the highest inculcations of the Freemason's Lodge. Riding more slowly toward the resting place of this "friend of Salomon," my legionary birds drawing still nearer, I love to think that the Phoenician monarch selected his burial-spot in his own lifetime, in accordance with the customs of his country; that the plan of the structure itself was drawn by the pencil of Hiram, the widow's son, and that the munificence of King Salomon bore the expense of its erection. Thus our first three Grand Masters were united in this as in other matters interesting to Masons.
Kabr Hairan bears about it unmistakable marks of extreme antiquity! So says Dr. Thomson, and so say I. It is impossible to disprove the local tradition which assigns this tomb to the great Tyrian king. So says our brother Prof. H B. Tristam, and so say I. Much more will be felt than uttered by a Masonic visitor. Standing upon the farthest point eastward, from which a clear view of the sea coast is obtained, and at a spot where the brightest Oriental rays come down from the Lebanon ranges, it is the place of all others for the tomb of Hiram. The genius loci, the spirit of the locality, is worth a hundred cold arguments based upon tape lines and parchment records.
This is the monument of Hiram; yonder eagles know it, and I know it. This remarkable structure consists of fifteen stones arranged in five layers of the ordinary hard cretaceous limestone, solid, firm and durable, without any marked lines of stratification, and inclining to a crystalline structure. There is a layer of stones, about fifteen feet by ten, resting upon a bed of grout, (that is, small pebbles intermixed with mortar,) six or eight inches deep. Near the north west corner there is one stone belonging to this foundation exposed. This one stone is thirty-four inches in height, and four feet long. Not finding any accurate measurements of Hiram's tomb in the books, I took them myself, and verified them on my second visit here.
The first layer of the monument above ground consists of four stones. This tier is four feet high.
The second tier consists of five stones. These exactly cover the lower tier, breaking the joints, in an artistic manner. This tier is two feet ten inches high.
The third tier consists of four stones. These extend in every direction, twelve inches outside the tier below, forming a pleasing sort of ledge or cornice. This tier is two feet eleven inches high.
The fourth tier is monolithal. It consists of one great black of stone. Out of the center of this, in the top, was hewn a huge cavity for the reception of the corpse. Elevated as this sarcophagus is-more than ten feet from the ground-it presents a majestic appearance. I climbed up to it by the help of an Arab, who mounted before me, gave me his hand, and, by nature's own grip, assisted me to rise. Walking round to the eastern end of it, upon the cornice already described, I found that the burial-place had been burst open and was empty.
The fifth tier above ground is also monolithal, and forms the lid of the sarcophagus. This lid was made with a tenon on the under side, which fitted into the cavity or coffin of the sarcophagus.
The dead body was reached by those who rifled it by going to the top of this lid, bursting down a large piece at the northeast corner, then breaking out the end of the sarcophagus immediately below it, so an entrance was effected. By this hole I looked immediately into the place where once lay the body of King Hiram, empty, no doubt, more than two thousand years. Afterward I crept into the coffin itself, and measured it.
The coffin or cavity in the great sepulchral stone is in length six feet three inches; width, one foot ten inches; depth, two feet two inches.
We close the description of Hiram's tomb in the further words of our Honored Chief (written on the spot): "Here, I think, was laid the body of our Grand Master, Hiram, King of Tyre. The resting-place of the Widow's Son (like that of Moses) 'no man knoweth,' but here, in these fifteen huge stones, we have the burial place of the Pillar of Strength.''
The juxtaposition of the palm tree and the marine shells at Joppa justifies another reference to that queen of fruit and shade, the Palm. In the volume entitled "Tamar,'' already referred to, the following conversation occurs among the characters represented:
Chief Suleyman: Sir Knight Tamar! The palm tree, that noble and graceful object, is the pride of the Holy Land, as it was once its national emblem. When Titus destroyed Jerusalem, and quenched the life of the Jewish nation, he struck coins and medals in honor of his victory, upon which he impressed this emblem of beauty and fruitfulness, the palm tree, the tall, shadowy, fruit-bearing, enduring tree, equally a delight to the eye and a joy to the sense.
The palm tree arrives at perfection at about the age of thirty years, but continues strong and productive until seventy-thus closely assimilating itself to the life of a temperate and godly man. For what says the Psalmist: "He that will love life, let him eschew evil and do good," let him seek peace and ensue it, and, the Royal Philosopher adds, "The wicked shall not live out half his days."
The palm tree yields, year by year, from two to four hundred pounds of fruit, the most nutritious and wholesome of all that eastern lands produce. It is therefore in every respect the choicest emblem that Holy Land produces for a Knightly Brotherhood of Freemasons, chosen out of the mass of humanity for their mental, moral and physical character.
The palm tree is also the badge of our society, and worn by no other; therefore, the display of the palm tree upon the person is prima facie evidence, to be followed up, of course, by a fuller exhibition of credentials that the wearer is a Knight of the Palm Tree; and most of all, bear in mind, dear Brother, that the palm tree is an emblem of fruitfulness in good works. The Orientals celebrate no less than three hundred and sixty uses for the palm tree- one for every day in the year. Make this thought practical in your own life; and as in our improved chronology we have added five days to the year, so under the light of religion and Freemasonry add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; and so, step by step, ascend the mystical ladder marked out for us in yonder Holy Book.
The four grand objects wrought out in these impressive ceremonies were fully rehearsed in your hearing, and you expressed your assent to them. The summing up of the whole is to inculcate mutual aid more strongly among Masons.
We look upon human life as a desert journey, and every man as a pilgrim, wandering over an unknown, inhospitable way, liable at any moment to stand in need of relief. This is the expression of all Oriental systems of Freemasonry, and we but imitate them in making to yon now our solemn declarations.
Usefulness
The great aim of the Oriental Order is practical usefulness. Many of the degrees and orders of Freemasonry are philosophical, many are instructive in history and legend, all are interesting; but the work of a Pilgrim Knight is to make himself more useful. The definition and synonymes of the American lexicographer fore-shadow the theory of the Oriental Order: as thus, Usefulness, the state or quality of being useful; conduciveness to some end, properly to some valuable end; as the usefulness of canal navigation; the usefulness of machinery in manufactures. Synonymes: Utility; serviceablenes; value; advantage; profit.
The Latin origin is in the adjective Utilis, comparative, Utilior, superlative, Utilissimus (that is, "useful," "more useful," "most useful,") as Cæsar wrote, vita. utilior quam animi talis affectio.
Section 5. The Ring
The Ring of the Pilgrim Knight is made of soft (malleable) iron, for reasons that are duly explained in the ceremonies, and it is properly worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. According to the Oriental theory, angels and demons gave King Salomon the aid needed for his work. In the story of "Aladdin; or, The Wonderful Lamp," we read how "the slave of the ring was summoned by rubbing that object in a peculiar manner."
Biblical expressions concerning iron are too numerous for quotation: "Forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things " (Daniel 2: 2) ; "As iron sharpeneth iron," etc.
The betrothal ring of the ancient Romans was composed of iron. Placed upon the fourth finger of the left hand it suggested the artery that extends thence directly to the heart, as the medium of spiritual communication between the espoused.
The iron ring of the Pilgrim Knight recalls the memory of the meteor which fell at Jerusalem, and was composed of soft iron. It is well known that such is the composition of numerous meteors. In the famous collection of Prof. Charles U. Sheppard, at Amherst, Mass., 148 are described as litholites (composed of stone), 93 as siderites (composed of iron) and 7 as lithosiderites (iron combined with stone). The heaviest iron meteor in his collection weighs 438 pounds, and was found in Colorado. Concerning the origin of these celestial visitors, the learned Prof. Sheppard, who has given extraordinary attention to this branch of mineralogy, considers that fragments of a disrupted asteroid would in general continue to pursue the track of the original body. In process of time, however, from the disturbing attraction of the sun, and from the retardation of resisting media, they would become distributed into groups according to the density of the fragments; and whenever the earth, by its proximity to the meteoric tract, should draw to its surface portions of the revolving stream, we should expect such portions to possess for each particular fall a uniform specific gravity, and, growing out of this, a close resemblance, also, in general properties. Such has ever been a fact, and one for which no reason has hitherto been assigned. For a knowledge of the constitution of remote worlds, no less than for that of the core of our own globe, we do well to study in the most careful manner these chance specimens occasionally projected out of space upon the earth's surface.
The writer in Chambers' Encyclopædia (v. Aerolites) says that there are numerous records and stories in all ages and countries of the fall of stones from the sky; but until recent times they were treated by philosophers as instances of popular credulity and superstition. Pliny describes one that fell A.D. 79, the size of a wagon. As was natural with objects of such mysterious origin, they have always been regarded with religions veneration. At Emesa, in Syria, a black stone, said to have fallen from heaven, was worshiped. The holy Kabaa, at Mecca, and the Mexican stone at Cholula, have the same history. The largest aerolite known is in Brazil, and weighs seven tons. As to their chemical composition, the predominating element is iron, combined with nickel. Humboldt describes some meteorites as having 96 percent of iron.
Engravings of ancient iron rings are found on pp. 165 and 166 of Thesaurus Electoralis Brandenburgius Selectus, in Dr. Morris' numismatic library. One contains the head of Socrates finely engraved in sardius, the other a group, viz, a goat-herd observing his goat, which is cropping a single branch of a terebinth.
The three Trying Squares used to test and justify the works in and beneath the Temple were made of soft or malleable iron, and the story of their origin has been well preserved in Oriental traditions.
Upon the inner surface of the ring worn by Pilgrim Knights are the letters S. A. N. D. S. On the outside are the two most sacred emblems, the signet of King Solomon (or "pentagon of Pythagoras") and the Hebrew letter Yod. The edge of the ring is square.
Iron is by far the most important of all metals. It came into use long after copper was well known. It was regarded by the ancients as the symbol of war, and received the name of Mars, the deity of battles and bloodshed. Homer mentions a mass of iron as one of the prizes at the funeral games given by Achilles in honor of his friend Patroclus.
"Then hurled the hero thundering to the -ground
A mass of iron, one enormous round,
Whose weight and size the circling Greeks admire:
Rude from the furnace and but shaped by lire."
Iron bands were employed by the Babylonians to hold together the huge stones of their bridges, and the walls of Piræus were fastened in the same way. Herodotus affirms that iron was used to prepare the stones for the pyramids. The Ninevites made tools of iron, the ancient Britons employed it in their spears and lances, and the Romans, during their occupation of Britain, smelted iron. From the time of Alexander the Great (B.C. 330) the iron mines of Elba have been worked; those of Spain successively by the Tyrians, Carthagenians and Romans.
Through all nations of high antiquity iron is named as a partially common but always highly esteemed metal. Its price was great, owing to the difficulty of working it with the primitive means of people just emerging from barbarism. In the oldest ages, as at the present time, those best skilled in the production and manipulation of iron held a certain preëminence, and in some instances almost the only claim some of the smaller nations bad to mention in the pages of history was their ability to wrest iron from the tenacious grasp of combined impurities and make it useful to themselves and their neighbors.
Iron is more widely diffused over the earth than any other metal. It accommodates itself to most of our wants. No other metal has such various and extensive uses. It provides the seamstress with her needle and sewing machine; it sets the finest watch in motion, and guides the sailor over the sea. It furnishes the farmer with his plowshare, concentrates in the steam-engine the sinews of a thousand horses, and mocks on the railroad the fleetness of the swiftest horse. It carries messages alike through the realms of the air and the depths of the ocean. Man says to the lightning, "Fix thyself on the point of iron that I indicate; follow that rod and bury far beneath the earth thy powerless rage," and the lightning obeys. In one sense, then, iron is the embodiment of power, the chief agent of all social progress.
The earliest representation of the gods by the Greeks consisted of mere masses of stone, the descent of aerolites having given rise to the idea that stones falling from the upper region were especial manifestations of the presence of a deity, which gave rise to the personification of Duty under the form of a stone. We see this in the stone Elgabal, worshiped in Syria, the principal seat of the worship of aerolitic stones. Elgabal is described as a dark-colored stone. It was carried to Rome in triumphant procession by the emperor Elagabalus. Venus was worshiped at Paphos, in Cyprus, under the form of a meteoric stone; so was Juno by the Thespians and so was Diana at Icaria. In Lacedæmonia the two sons of Jupiter, Castor and Pollux, were represented by two parallel pieces of stone united by two transverse beams.
The ring of triumph was made of iron. The plebeians, under the early Roman regimen, wore iron rings. So with the Lacedæmonians. The most ancient Roman rings were of iron, and were used as signet rings. Every free Roman bad a right to wear one, and down to the close of the republic (B.C. 44) the iron ring was worn by those who affected the simplicity of old times. In Egypt iron rings were not used until the Roman rule.
The Practical Use of the Ring
Biblical writers describe a seal as an instrument, wherewith letters and other writings are sealed and ratified. The ancient Hebrews wore their seals or signets in rings on their fingers, or in bracelets on their arms. Jezebel wrote letters to the elders of Israel to condemn Naboth and sealed them with King Ahab's seal (1 Kings 21: 8). Haman, the Agagite, sealed the decree of King Ahasuerus against the Jews with the King's seal (Est. 3: 12). In civil contracts they generally made two originals: one continued open, and was kept by him for whose interest the contract was made; the other was sealed np and deposited in some public office. It was sealed up to prevent any fraud or falsification. Jeremiah bought a field in his native town of Anathoth, of one named Hananeel; he wrote the contract, called witnesses, and sealed it up; and then put it into the hands of his disciple Baruch, and said to him, "Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; and put them iu an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days" (Jer. 38: 10, 14).
Job says that God keeps the stars as under his seal, that He is governor and master of them and allows them to appear when He thinks proper.
Timothy says" The foundation of God standeth sure having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his." "Set me as a seal upon thine heart and a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong as death" (Cant. 8: 6).
He that bath received his testimony, hath set to his seal that God is true (John 3: 33).
"And because of all this we make a sure covenant, and write it, and our princes, levites and priests, seal unto it." (Neh. 9: 38).
When Daniel was put in the den of lions "a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the King sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel" (Dan. 6: 17).
"And he said, Go thy way, Daniel; for the words are closed up and sealed till thy time of the end" (Dan. 12: 9).
Layard informs us that in the eastern country the seal is an object of such great importance that no document is regarded as authentic without the impression of the seal upon it. By reference to Smith's Dictionary of the Bible we find that seals used at a very early period were engraved stones pierced through their length and hung by a string or chain to the armor neck, or set in rings for the finger.
At the southwest angle of Mount Moriah, there was found, in 1867, at the depth of twenty-two feet, a seal bearing the inscription, in old Hebrew characters, Haggai the son of Shebaniah.
Signet rings were very common, especially among persons of rank (Kitto, vol. 3: 803).
"And grave upon it, like the engravings of a signet, Holiness to the Lord" (Ex. 28: 36).
"In that day, saith the Lord of Hosts, will I take thee, O Zerubbabel my servant, the son of Shealtiel, saith the Lord, and will make thee as a signet: for I have chosen thee, saith the Lord of Hosts" (Hag. 2: ~3).
The Hebrews regarded the Signet Ring as an indispensable article, and the number of rings worn by the Greeks, Egyptians and Romans was remarkable.
Section 6. The Sacred Scroll
This is the representative among Pilgrim Knights of the Holy Scriptures. It has upon one side the Ten Commandments in Hebrew; upon the other side the Lord's Prayer in Arabic. Copies of these have been given upon previous pages of this volume.
The reverence for Holy Scripture that is inculcated in Freemasonry is intensified in the Order of the Palm and Shell. Although all mankind neglect and oppose the Bible, the members of the Oriental Order will ever rally around it, and keep it from destruction. We fully indorse the devout asseverations of the old writers, when they affirm that God's word is a lamp to the feet and a guide to the path; that it contains excellent things in counsel and knowledge, and that it is given us by divine inspiration for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; it is perfect, it is tried, it is a buckler to them who accept it; it is the very word
of Truth.
Section 7. The Starry Host
….
Borrowed from an Oriental custom, the name of each Pilgrim Knight is associated with the name of that one of the twelve signs of the zodiac which was on the meridian at midnight, at Jerusalem, at the hour of his induction.
It is a favorite idea among the Orientals that every man has a star, or a constellation of stars, possessing mysterious power over his life. The dominant star is that which rose at the hour of one's birth, but the superstitions vary the thought indefinitely.
Dr. Morris found in his eastern travels that the same reverential respect for the stars prevails among the Arabs as in the days of Job and Abraham. They are essentially star-gazers. The bearings and distances, the comparative brightness and relative positions of the stars are familiar to them from youth. The light of the stars is as practical lo them as the light of the sun; and in their lonely desert-course they travel as unerringly by night, having the stars for their guide, as by day having terrestrial objects to direct them. Can it be doubted that the contemplation of these stupendous works of Gon, supremely good and great, enlarges and invigorates their powers of religions penetration? Is not this frequent "gazing up into heaven," and reading the splendid pages of that vast volume, calculated to increase devotion? The conclusion is inevitable that the study of the heavens brings the soul nearer to God.
Astronomy, says a lucid writer, is a science which has in all ages engaged the attention of the poet, the philosopher and the divine, and has been the subject of their study and admiration. Kings have descended from their thrones to render it homage, and humble shepherds, while watching their flocks by night, have beheld with rapture the blue vault of heaven, with its thousand shining orbs, moving in silent grandeur. There is no rational being, who lifts his eyes to the nocturnal sky and beholds the moon walking in brightness among the planetary orbs and the hosts of stars, but must be struck with awe and admiration at the splendid scene, compared with the splendor, the magnitude, the august motions, and the idea of infinity which the celestial vault presents, the most resplendent terrestrial scenes sink into inanity, and appear unworthy of being set in competition with the glories of the sky.
Very many of the names of the stars seen upon our modern atlases are derived from the Arabic langue, as Altair, Aldebarom, and in general all whose names commence with the syllable al, which is the Arabic particle the. Among Oriental royalties, Mamun, Caliph of Bagdad, A.D. 786-800, highly encouraged mathematics and astronomy. He founded observatories at Bagdad and Kasiun (near Damascus). He caused a degree of latitude to be measured and the obliquity of the ecliptic to be measured.
Among modern writers this Oriental reverence for the stars has been made the subject of much ridicule. A star-gazer is but another name for an idiot. One writer stigmatizing such a person, says:
"He plants his seed when the moon, not the soil, requires it; cuts his hair when the moon is in Leo (the lion), that it may have the set of a leonine mane; or of Aries (the ram), that it may curl like a ram's horn. He takes no medicine when the moon is in Taurus (the bull), lest that animal chewing the cud may make him throw it up again. Southey describes the old almanac figures in these humorous words: 'A Man stands naked upon two Fishes, having the Ram's feet upon his head. The Bull sits across his neck. The Twins ride astride a little below his right shoulder. The Lion occupies the thorax, the Crab the abdomen, Sagittarius is volant in the voice, Capricornus affects the knees, Aquarius the legs, Virgo the intestines, Libra the parts affected by schoolmasters in their auger, while Scorpio takes the wickedest aim of all.'"
The cerulean heavens, nowhere so deeply blue as in the land of Hiram, afford fitting color (blue) for the Masonic fraternity:
"The o'erarching sky around our busy sphere
Looks down alike on every race of men;
Where'er our feet may wander, there appears,
With morning blush and evening crimsoning,
The sober Blue prevailing over all.
So should a Mason's charity extend
To every needy soul, unchecked by clime,
By nation unrestricted, and by tongue;
For where the destitute, there, there is God,
Calling us thither with an open hand
To do His charity upon the poor."
In the Oriental Order of the Palm and Shell, the application of the twelve Signs of the Zodiac is made to the respective months of induction into the Order, and the names of distinguished leaders of Masonry, such as Dr. Oliver, Charles Scott, Salem Toun, Christopher Wren, Thomas Smith Webb, Hutchinson Hubbard and others, are set as jewels in the starry coronet of the night.
The division of the Signs of the Zodiac in the order of the months is thus made; in the Diploma this fact is marked in the tablet on the right-hand side:
January - The Scales, - Libra
February - The Scorpion, - Scorpio
March - The Archer, - Sagittarius
April - The Water-Bearer, - Aquarius
May - The Goat, - Capricornus
June - The Fishes, - Pisces
July - The Ram, - Aries
August - The Bull, - Taurus
September - The Twins, - Gemini
October - The Crab, - Cancer
November - The Lion, - Leo
December - The Virgin, - Virgo
Section 8. The Mystreries of Mount Moriah
There are five "Mysteries of Mount Moriah," technically so-called, viz:
1. The ancient manner of removing and raising to eminent heights the enormous ashlars that compose the wall.
2. The Mystery of Hiram's Bevel.
3. The contents of the symbolic Corner-stone.
4. The deposits in the great Crypt under the rock Es Sakhrah.
5. The reasons why the foundation-wall of Solomon's Temple was made so large and so strong.
These will be considered seriatim, but the full explanations are of course esoteric.
I. The Manner of Removing the Great Ashlars
It is the belief of the common people in the Orient that the immense blocks seen in the ruined edifices at Baalbec, Gebal, Jerusalem and elsewhere were taken from the quarry, shaped and set in place by the Invisible Ones summoned through the influence of King Solomon's Signet, the five-pointed star, from the heights and depths, and made thus to serve his irresistible will. To this legend the poet refers:
"And who are these, like shadows thin,
Heaving vast hammers without din;
Splitting in fragments huge, the ledge;
Noiseless, with crowbar and with wedge,
In silence plying chisel's edge!
"They bear the marks of steel and fire;
Upon each brow the impress dire
Of sin, and shame, and penalty,
As driven from the upper sky,
And doomed 'neath God 's rebuke to sigh.''
One of the largest of the hewn stones seen in the east is that which forms the subject of the following engraving.
Some writer has elegantly said that time carries his secrets away,
leaving his enigmas to perplex us. I have already remarked that popular tradition attributes these stupendous works, as indeed all other extraordinary things in the Orient, to King Salomon. They are themselves but a stupid race, though three hundred years ago travelers reported them as exhibiting a skull so large that a man could put his head in it. It surely was not of any member of the races now inhabiting this country. The story they tell of the Great Ashlar is, that the devils (jins, or evil spirits), being subjugated by King Solomon, were compelled by that remarkable executive to excavate these majestic stones from the quarry and lay them in order upon the platform at Baalbec; but just as the largest stone was about to be cracked from its native matrix, the death of the Great King was announced to them (B.C. 975), and they incontinently refused to work any longer. So far as I can ascertain, they have do ne nothing in the architectural way since! Of their flight the Arabic poet says, "They filled the air with the sound of their chains."
Of the foregoing cut our venerable Chief says: "It is seventy feet in length, fifteen feet high, and thirteen feet broad. It contains, therefore, more than thirteen thousand cubic feet of stone, and weighs about one thousand tons. To a student of the human intellect, it were worth a visit to Baalbec, to muse upon this ashlar! It would be an interesting study to compare it with a few of the great stones wrought in different parts of the world by ancient builders; at Sias, in Egypt, for instance, there is a chapel, cut from a single block, that is eighteen feet long thirteen broad, and seven high. It was brought from Elephantine. Two thousand men were employed for three years in carrying the mass down the Nile. It was finished about B.C. 569, under King Amadis, the man who was visited by Pythagoras, with letters of introduction from the governor of Samos, by means of which he was initiated into the mysteries of Egypt, and whatever was abstruse in their religion. A block of granite was quarried a few years since, at Monson, Mass., three hundred and fifty feet long, eleven wide, four thick, calculated to weigh about one thousand three hundred tons. To detach it from the matrix, eleven thousand and four holes were drilled in a line parallel with its front edge.
In the Emporium Romanum, within a few years, a block of syenite granite has been found that measures one hundred cubic metres (a metre is about three feet). Gibbon describes an obelisk of the same material, as being removed from Egypt to Rome, that is one hundred and twenty-five feet in length, and twelve feet in diameter at the base. The Luxor obelisk, now in Paris, which is seventy-two feet high, is estimated to weigh one hundred and twenty tons, and its mate just set in London is about the same. The column of Alexander at St. Petersburg, a granite Monolith, is eighty-four feet high, and fourteen in diameter, and estimated to weigh four hundred tons. The sarcophagus of King Hiram, elsewhere described, weighs about fifty tons. One of the ashlars in the ancient work at Stonehenge, England, weighs forty tons; another seventy.
If, as Mr. Buckle has calculated, it would take the muscular power of 20,000 men to move the largest ashlar referred to among the ruins of Baalbec, allowing one hundred and seventy-six pounds to each, and knowing the impossibility of so many men Coming near to it, at the same time, may we not pause a moment to consider, as in our haste we are passing by the traditions of our Oriental brethren, as to how those massive rocks in Mt. Moriah were moved?
….
II. The Mysteries of Hiram's Bevel
The explanation of this singular mark is strictly esoteric. It is a marginal draft, or square ribbon cut from the edge of the stone, clear around the face, from two to twelve inches deep and about as wide.
III. The Contents of the Corner-Stone
The thought embodied in the following lines is one of the most charming fancies of Masonic symbolism. For the use of the trowel is admittedly the best work of the best Masons, and the model Lodge. To disturb this harmony by substituting clamor, calumny and harsh judgment for the mild voices of peace, is what is implied in the following lines under the idea of robbing the corner-stone.
Here is a legend that our fathers told
When Mason-toils were done, and round the board
The Craftsman sat harmonious, in the glow
Of brotherly love. I heard it long ago
From lips now silent; and by this corner-stone,
I fain would tell it as 'twas told to me.
'Tis said that Salomon, in vast array
Of ninescore thousand workmen who came up
From Lebanon's foot, to build the Temple, found
Discord and strife, contentions harsh and sharp,
Even to murder; hands that wielded best
The peaceful Trowel, black with human gore;
Aprons, worn to protect them from the soil,
Bloody with horrid stain; and in their speech,
Instead of gentle memories of home,
And children's prattle, and sweet mother's love,
Dire curses, threats, the very speech of Hell,
Such base materials came up from Tyre.
King Soolomon humbly took the case to God,
And in deep visions of the night the Voice
Divine came to his sou! in sweet response.
From the great peace lodge, where the patriarchs sit,
Wisdom descended, and his soul was glad.
The wisest gave our wisest such a warmth
Of light celestial that the fire has burned,
Steady, undimmed, lo, these three thousand years!
'Twas this.-I was but young in Masonry
When first I heard it, and 'twas told to me
By one of fourscore, long since gone to Heaven:
And he did testify unto its truth;
And now, I add the experience of my life
To its strict verity, and it was this:-
The monarch bade prepare a cornerstone,
Vastly more large than this, than ten of this;
I saw it in my visit to the place-
A monstrous ashlar beveled on the edge,
Phoenician emblem, standing plumb and firm
Within the mountain, standing, as you say,
Respected sir, "trusty, deep-laid and true"!
And on the underside of this large stone,
King Solomon gave orders to scoop out
A cavity, as you have done with this;
And when, with mighty enginery the Block
Was raised, as yours, dear sir, just now was done,
He placed, with his own hands, within the crypt,
What think you? newspaper? and current coins?
And names of honored men? No, no, he placed
All those damned voices, that discolored so
The spirits of his workmen, hatreds all
That stained their Aprons, fouled their Trowels, cursed
The air of Palestine with notes of bell!
These things by his great power, King Solomon took
From out the hearts of that Freemason band,
Placed them within the crypt, and ordered quick
The mighty stone let down and closed them there,
And stamped his mystic seal upon the stone!
And there they lie intact unto this hour!
Henceforth the work all peacefully went on:
The giant-stones were laid within the walls
Without the sound of ax, or iron tool.
Pure Brotherly Love sublimely reigned, and so
The Temple of King Solomon was built!
Honored and well-beloved Grand Master! see
This mighty Order you so justly rule,
For thirty centuries has given respect
To Solomon's seal! his Cornerstone abides
Right where he planted it, the strange contents
Festering dishonored in their dark repose.
Oh, may they never rise to plague the Craft!
No blood is on our Aprons, on our Tools
No trace of human gore; upon our tongues-
No unfraternal epithets; thank God!
Thank God! and to the latest day of earth,
When the last trump shall call the blest above,
May peace, sweet peace, celestial! peace, abide
In Masons' Lodges and in Masons' souls!
IV. The Treasures in the Secret Chambers
Every traveler to Jerusalem is aware of the long-preserved tradition of the existence of vast treasures in sacred and sealed apartments under the Holy of Holies of King Solomon's Temple. As to the character of those treasures there is no question; the sacred vessels of inestimable value removed from the Temple A.D. 70, when the legions of Titus were thundering at its gates, and the dullest priest saw that the day of its utter destruction was nigh at hand. Then, says the general belief, a crypt or subterranean chamber, long kept in readiness for such an occasion; dry, commodious, unknown save to the descendants of the ancient Kassideans, was opened, and into it were borne the Ark of the Covenant, with its sacred deposits and all the holy utensils of the temple service. Carefully piled there, the entrance to the apartment was carefully closed and sealed up. Marks by which it could be found were preserved, and those marks have been handed down (so it is affirmed in the East) from father to son to this day.
The following engraving will enable the reader to form bis conclusions as to the place where this treasure lies.
Imagine yourself standing upon the Mount of Olives, and looking westward over Jerusalem. The small inclosure in front is the Garden of Gethsemane. Beyond that is the Valley of Jehoshaphat. The gate in the wall that first catches the eye is the so-called Golden Gate. It has long been closed up. It is believed there was once a high and noble bridge from that gate eastward across the Valley of Jehoshaphat to the Mount of Olives, from which our view is taken. On the extreme of the great wall before us is the southeast corner, where all are supposed to be standing when made Pilgrim Knights. Near the corner of that wall a large Square and Compass was cut by Dr. Morris in 1868, which is now a Masonic landmark at Jerusalem. The wall at the southeast corner is seventy feet high from the pile of rubbish at its foot, and it is eighty feet more through the rubbish to the base. Follow with the eye that wall sixteen hundred feet to the northeast corner, immediately through the center of the olive tree in the foreground of the picture. The distance is sixteen hundred feet. Along the base of the wall through all that distance the rubbish has accumulated from fifty to one hundred feet in depth.
The round building in the center of that inclosure is the edifice called, sometimes, the 1.lfosk of Omar, but, more properly, Rubbet es Sakhrah, "the Dome of the Rock." It stands over, dignifies, honors and preserves that famous rock (described on another page) upon which once stood the Holy of Holies of the Temple.
Now the Oriental tradition is that immediately under that rock, perhaps at a depth of one hundred or one hundred and fifty feet, lies the subterranean vault to which allusion has been made as the hiding-place of the sacred treasures. That such expectations are not unfounded, read the following paragraph:
Discoveries by Dr. Schliemann
This celebrated and most successful discoverer began his labors in the Orient at nearly the same period as Dr. Morris. One went to Palestine to exhume traditional treasures illustrative of Masonic and Bible history, the other to Asia Minor and Greece in search of objects to illustrate secular history. Schliemann began upon the site of ancient Troy, and found in five distinct layers or strata the evidences of as many successive cities there, the lowest being that of King Priam, whose fate enters so deeply into the Iliad of Homer. A thousand curious objects, true to Homeric descriptions, were unearthed, and these have opened a new chapter in human history.
Having completed his general reconnaissance of ancient Ilium, he began, in 1876, with one hundred and twenty-four laborers, at Mycenæ, in Greece. The story of his discoveries there reads like a romance. Five great tombs were brought to light, and in the fifth the skeletons of women whose rank must have been of the highest, for they were literally covered with jewels. Gold and silver was recovered in incredible quantities, more than one hundred pounds of the former being found in a single chamber. Swords, lances and breastplates of beaten gold proved that mighty warriors lay there.
After the discoveries of Dr. Schliemann, our expectations at Jerusalem seem well founded.
The Great Rocks Es Sakhrah
Upon the summit of the original combing of Mount Moriah, and immediately under the chunk seen in the picture, there stands, unchanged by all the revolutions of time, a portion of the original stone. It has been built around to make the surface level, it has been scarped on one end by the chisel and touched up here and there by the tools of the workman, but in all essential features it remains to show to what an elevation rose the ancient mountain, and of what materials it was composed, and what was the general appearance of the locality, when Abraham, father of the faithful, first erected an altar there. The Arabic term Es Sakhrah signifies "The Rock."
This is one of the indispensable points of pilgrimage of every Pilgrim Knight visiting Holy Land. The following cut conveys a correct idea of its present appearance under the center of the majestic dome entitled Rubbet es Sakhrah (" Dome of the Rock"), commonly styled "The Mosque of Omar," which covers it.
Upon this stone descended that extraordinary manifestation on the Dedication Day of the Temple.
When from Jehovah's hand, the work to own,
The fire celestial and the cloud came down.
All the light of Freemasonry emanates from that spot, and as the Pilgrim Knight stands here he will recall incidents that punctuate the history of forty centuries. The descriptions of this stone from various authors give us all the particulars needed for our work. Capt. Wilson has made the following:
"The rock stands four feet nine and a half inch es above the marble pavement at its highest point, and one foot at its lowest. It is one of the missæ strata, and has a dip of 12° in a direction of 85° east of north. The surface of the rock bears the mark of hard treatment and rough chiseling. On the western side it is cut down in three steps, and on the northern side in an irregular shape, the object of which could not be discovered. Near, and a little to the east of, the door leading to the chamber below are a number of small rectangular holes cut in the rock, as if to receive the foot of a railing or screen, and at the same place is a circular opening, communicating with the cave. The entrance to the cave is by a flight of steps on the southeast, passing under a doorway with a pointed arch, which looks like an addition of the crusaders; the chamber is not very large, with an average height of six feet, its sides so covered with plast.er and whitewash that it is impossible to see any chisel marks, but the surface appears to be rough and irregular."
Dr. Barclay says:
"Immediately beneath the center of the dome is the venerated rock about which so much has been written. In the estimation of the Jew this is the most hallowed spot on earth, for according to the Rabbins this is the identical rock upon which Jacob pillowed his head, and set up for a pillar and poured oil upon the top of it: and he called the name of that place 'Bethel,' House of God (Gen. 28:17-22). It is the general belief, also, that this is the threshing-floor of Araunah the Jebusite, the spot where the faith of Abraham was so sorely tried in the command of God to offer up Isaac, and the site of the Holy of Ho lies of the Temple, which glowed beneath the Divine manifestations of Deity in the 'Shekinah.' Es Sakhrah is said to have been buried beneath an immense amount of filth and rubbish for a great length of time, until brought to light by Omar. A.D. 640. The Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, erected by Hadrian, once covered this sacred spot, and the magnificent building which now crowns the place is said to be the work of the munificent Khaliff Abd-el Melek, though supposed by some to be a Christian edifice.''The dimensions of the Sakhrah are "sixty feet in length from north to south, and fifty-five in breadth. It rises about five feet above the marble floor of the mosk, and would, consequently, be about fifteen feet above the central portion of the ground, but, inasmuch as it is situated immediately on the ridge, it is probably not elevated more than eight or ten feet above the contiguous ground.''
An enthusiastic and most elegant Orientalist (Prime) thus alludes to this rock:
"There has been no age of the world, since the time of David, when there have not been hearts yearning toward the rock of the temple,- no period when, somewhere on its broad surface, there have not been men dying with faces turned thitherward, and dim eyes gazing through tears, or through the films of death, to catch, with the first power of supernatural vision, the longed-for view of the threshing-floor of the Jebusite, the holy of holies of Solomon. Blessed were our eyes that, in the flesh, beheld the spot where the daily incense was wont to be offered, where the Ark of God for so many generations rested, where the cherubim overhung the Altar, and the visible glory of Jehovah was wont to be seen by the eyes of sinful men. Jews and Mohammedans alike believe in the sacredness of this work, and the former have faith that the ark is within its bosom now. It is a faith that needs not much argument to sustain. I know not why we should believe that the rod of Aaron and the pot of manna, that were so long preserved, should have been suffered to go to dust at last; nor can I assign any date to such a change in the miraculous intentions of God. It is pleasant to believe that somewhere on or in the earth those relics of his terrible judgments, as well as of his merciful dealings, are preserved; and I am not disposed to dispute the Jew, who believes them to be in the rocky heart of Es Sakhrah.''
The history of this rock suggests the following subject:
Symbolical Sacrifice
In the notes to the various Masonic works by Dr. George Oliver, from whose vigilant eye nothing escaped, we find the following vivid description of the ceremony practiced by the ancient Israelites when entering into a covenant concerning an important piece of business:
After the selection of the lamb, his throat was cut across from ear to ear by a single cut with a long, keen knife, so as to separate veins, arteries, sinews and flesh. The blood and life having flowed out, the breast was then torn open and the heart and vitals extracted. These were put to a close inspection, that if any disease or malformation were detected the whole carcass might be rejected. Then the body was divided through at the center, and the parts placed N. and S. Between these the covenanting parties walked, hand in hand, from east to west, and in so doing pronounced the terrible imprecations upon themselves, should they prove faithless,
which were symbolized in the death, inspection and separation of the victim.
Biblical references to this solemn ceremony are not infrequent, but the most distinct is in Jeremiah 34: 18-20, and we incorporate it as part of this paragraph:
"And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant which they had made before me, and passed between the parts thereof (the princes of Judah and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs and the priests, and all the people of the land which passed between the parts of the calf), I will even give them in to the hands of their enemies and into the hands of them that seek their life.
"And their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth."
V. The Size and Massive Structure of the Foundation Wall
Why such an enormous wall was built, covering an area of thirty-six acres or more, and built up to a dizzy height, for an edifice like King Solomon's Temple, not more than two stories high, and but thirty feet by ninety in dimensions, is one of the questions duly considered among Pilgrim Knights. ·
Section 9. The Allotments
To each Pilgrim Knight an allotment is made of sacred soil,-not with the expectation that he will ever acquire an actual title to the ground, but theoretically as suggesting his interest in the land whence ail religion, science and Freemasonry itself originally sprung. Twenty-seven places were chosen for this purpose by Dr. Robert Morris in 1868. The selection for each Pilgrim Knight is made by the Supreme Chancellor, and enrolled by him in the Golden Book of the Order.
I. The First Allotment – Joppa
Famous for being the place of transshipment of the cedars and marbles brought from foreign countries for the erection of Solomon's Temple. It is situated about thirty-five miles north west of Jerusalem, of which it is the seaport, and has a population of about 8,000. There is a noble palm tree in the center of the city, the same which is figured in this volume. The Pilgrim's shell, which plays so important a part in our drama, comes from the sands of the sea at Joppa, as suggested in the song-
"From the foamy billows won,
To the sands of Joppa thrown
From the darkness of the salt, salt wave."
An instructive writer says:
Joppa is situated on the Mediterranean coast, about thirty-five miles northwest from Jerusalem. It is considered one of the oldest cities in the world, its establishment being claimed by tradition as antediluvian. It has ever been the port of Jerusalem, and on that account next to Jerusalem itself in importance to the kingdom of Solomon. In the system of Freemasonry it holds an exalted position, for it was to this port that the cedar was brought from Mount Lebanon, and the marble from Paros, these materials being transported thence to "the City of the Great King" by his servants, and wrought into the "House of the Lord." But, as the Masonic historian says, "In the best days of the Crusades (A.D. 1099-1187) pious pilgrims arriving at Joppa went out upon the seashore and selected shells, and these they ever afterward wore as symbols of pilgrimage and testimonials of their having performed it." Not only were the rafts of cedar, the cargoes of Parian marble and the gold from Ophir landed there, but it is there the token of every Pilgrim Knight is obtained. While in the rear of the city the orange orchards, citron groves and pomegranate thickets burden the air with their fragrance, and produce the richest fruit of their kind in the world, in front the restless waves of the Mediterranean are constantly throwing upon the sand our tokens to await the Pilgrim's hand.
A Pilgrim Knight visiting Holy Land will not fail to visit Joppa as one of the five indispensable points of his Holy Land itinerary.
II. The Second Allotment – Hebron
This city is famous as the burying-place of the faithful Abraham, whose act of devotion in building an altar on Moriah, the "Mountain of Vision," and consenting to the sacrifice of his son, Isaac, in obedience to the command of God, gave such sacredness to the spot, that, in constructing his temple upon Moriah, King Solomon placed the Holy of Holies upon it, as has been carefully described under that head. Lying in the vale of Mamre, it is connected in history with the famous oak under which Abraham dwelt, and entertained the angels.
A noted traveler says: "No intelligent traveler can approach Hebron with indifference. No city in Palestine so carries us back to earliest patriarchal times." It was here that Sarah died, and Abraham came to mourn for her, and purchased of Ephron the Hittite the field and cave of Machpelah. "And after this Abraham buried Sarah his wife, in the cave of the field of Machpelah, before Mamre; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan." There, in the following times, Abraham himself, and Isaac, Rebekah, Jacob and Leah found sweet repose at the end of useful lives. The place has been punctuated by ten thousand incidents in the long line of its history, dignified by the residence of Caleb, David and others, and venerated by all the world as containing the dust of the patriarchs. It is a good point, therefore, for an allotment to a Pilgrim Knight, and, as he goes out of Jerusalem by the west, or "Joppa" gate, he will find that the local name of that gate is Bab el Kaleel, or "the Gate of the Faithful Abraham!"
III. The Third Allotment – Bethlehem
Famous as the birthplace of Benjamin, David and Jesus, and the tomb of Rachel; for the filial devotion of Ruth; for being the place which furnished the wine for Masonic consecrations; near the site of the grand water-pools of Solomon; and called in Hebrew "the House of Bread." It is one of the oldest towns in Holy Land. It had long been a recognized point of departure for travelers into Egypt: "And they departed, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is by Bethlehem, to go to enter into Egypt." (Jer. 41:17.) The traditional well of David is there. While in the cave of Adullam David cried, "Oh, that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate." ''And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate, and took it and brought it to David." (2 Samuel 23:15, 16.)
It is asserted that there is something in the water of certain places in Holy Land "which renders the people sturdy, hard and fearless, and it is curious enough that people of this character have ever been connected with Bethlehem. David and his family, his mightiest captains, Joab and others, came from it." It was on her plains that the shepherds watched their flocks by night, and there the youthful David practiced the use of the sling, by which be slew the giant leader of the Philistine host, and secured a complete victory to Israel's arms.
IV. The Fourth Allotment – Jerusalem
This city is famous as the city of Melchizedeck, David, and Solomon; for its innumerable sieges, assaults and captures; for its magnificent temple; the great metropolis of Judea, the center of all true worship; the dwelling-place of God among men, and the type of Heaven. "Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north, the city of the Great King." (Psa. 48: 2.) In the days of Jerusalem's glory gold was as plentiful as stones, while silver was so abundant "that it was not anything accounted of." Seventeen times overthrown, as often restored, and, while the temple of Solomon (the most costly and imposing structure ever reared), the temple of Zerubbabel, and the temple of Herod, have successively been destroyed, so that not a vestige of either now remains, still the grand old platform of Mount Moriah, on which they once stood, still holds up its head in all her noble proportions, fifteen hundred feet long and one thousand feet wide. That monument of King Solomon and the two Hirams has defied the power of time for three thou sand years, and doubtless will until the pillars of time are broken up.
The large engraving of Jerusalem from Mount Olivet obviates the necessity of inserting one at this place.
V. The Fifth Allotment – Bethany
This place is memorable as the scene of the resurrection of Lazarus, the home of Mary and Martha, and the place of the ascension of our Lord. There was the home of Simon the Leper, in which the generous act of Mary was performed. It is situated two miles east of Jerusalem, and is admirably represented in this engraving.
VI. The Sixth Allotment – The Clay-Grounds
These were famous as the site of Hiram's foundries, situated in the plain of Jordan, between Succoth and Zarthan. "In the plain of Jordan did the king cast them, in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zarthan." (2 Kings 7: 46). The clay in this Allotment is the best matrix clay existing within reach of Hiram Abif, and it is found only in the clay-ground between Succoth and Zaradatha, and considerable as was the distance, and extremely inconvenient as was the locality, so important did the master-workman deem it to secure a sharp and perfect mould for his castings, that, as the Biblical record informs us, he established his furnaces there.
VII. The Seventh Allotment – Bethel
Famous as the locality of Jacob's dream. The name signifies House of God. The Lord appeared unto Jacob when he came out of Padanaram, and blessed him, and said un to him, "The land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in the place where he talked with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone, and he poured a drink offering, and he poured oil thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him Bethel. (Gen. 35: 12-15.)
The ladder which Jacob in his vision saw at this place, ascending from earth to heaven, is made use of in the lectures of the Entered Apprentice to inculcate one of the most hopeful lessons that the Masonic system affords. As an emblem, it has a prominent place on all our tracing-boards, and admits of only one interpretation. The clear sky of Palestine still gives an insight into the starry system that wheels over the hills surrounding Bethel, such as can be had in no other country. The cool waters gush from many fountains in the vicinity. The vine, olive and fig tree give their welcome shelter in the noonday, and supply the simple wants of the inhabitants.
VIII. The Eighth Allotment – Shiloh
Famous as the central place of Israel for three hundred and twenty-eight years, where the Ark of the Covenant rested and the priests performed the ancient rites; situated about eighteen miles from Jerusalem, in the Lot of Ephraim. It was the dwelling-place of the prophet Ahijah. Joshua cast lots for the tribes in Shiloh before the Lord; and there Joshua divided the land unto the children of Israel according to their divisions. (Joshua 18: 10.) It was here, by a singular contrivance, that the tribe of Benjamin was preserved from extinction. (Judges 21: 19-23.) Here Eli judged Israel, and died of grief.
IX. The Ninth Allotment – Shechem
Famous for Jacob's well and Joseph's tomb. This allotment was a part of the heritage of Manasseh, about twenty-eight miles north of Jerusalem, at the foot of Mounts Ebal and Mount Gerizim, where the reading of the law occurred after the conquest of Canaan by Joshua. This lot is noted for its lovely morning and evening prospect. It was here that Abraham pitched his tent and built an altar, on his first journey to the promised land, and which he gave for an inheritance to the children of Joseph. Simeon and Levi at one time slew all the male inhabitants, whereby they brought deep sorrow to the heart of Jacob their father. It was here that Jacob hid the idol gods of his people under the oak which is by Shechem. (Gen. 35:1, 4.) Here the Shechemites made Abimilech king; and here all Israel made Rehoboam king; and here, also, at the same time, the ten tribes revolted. Shechem remained a principal city of the Samaritans until the destruction of their temple on Mount Gerizim, B.C. 129. The city now occupying the spot is now called Nablous, and is the birth-place of Justin Martyr, the first christian philosopher. The chief building of the place is a great mosk, first built as a christian church, and dedicated to St. John by the Crusaders.
X. The Tenth Allotment – Jacob's Well
This allotment is situated near the city of Shechem, at the opening of the fertile plain at the foot of Mount Gerizim. It is a monument of the hospitality and goodness of Jacob, and famous as the place where the people, and the flocks of successive generations quenched their thirst under the scorching rays of an eastern sun. It is famous in Christian history for the conversation of Jesus with the woman of Samaria. And now, as in the days of Simeon and Reuben, may be seen caravans of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh. The flocks and herds are still seen upon the plain and upon the sides of Mt. Ebal and Gerizim, as in the day of old. It has been visited by venerating pilgrims for thousands of years.
XI. The Eleventh Allotment – Capernaum
Famous as the residence of Jesus and his Apostles, the scene of so many miracles and gracious words. At Nazareth He was brought up, but Capernaum was emphatically his own city.
It was here that Jesus found Matthew sitting at the receipt of customs and he saith unto him, "follow me." It was at this place that our Lord healed many sick people.
XII. The Twelfth Allotment – Mount Hermon
This allotment is about one hundred miles northeast from Jerusalem, and is called by our Masonic historian, "Freemasonry's grandest type of brotherly love." David speaks of that virtue, "As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended on the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded his blessing, even life for evermore" (Psa. 130:3). Hermon stands about ten thousand feet above the level of the sea and exhibits a more commanding aspect than any other mountain in Syria; is supposed by some to be the "Mount of Transfiguration." The snow which perpetually crowns its brow gives to it a bright and glistening appearance. It is called by the Orientals Jebel-esh-sheikh, the chief mountain. There are three summits to this chief mountain, situated like the angles of a triangle and about a quarter of a mile apart. The Psalmist says, "O my God, my soul is cast down within me: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and of the Hermonites."
XIII. The Thirteenth Allotment – Tyre
Tyre was the home of our Grand Master King Hiram, whose tomb still remains three miles east of the city. The name of Tyre is sacred to every Pilgrim Knight because associated with Hiram, the friend of King Solomon. The city is about one hundred miles due north from Jerusalem, and said by Joseph us to have been founded two hundred and thirty years before the corner-stone of Solomon's Temple was planted (that is, B.C. 1242). As early as the time of Solomon its people had become famous for their skill in manufactures and arts; and Hiram, the widow's son, was called from Gebal by King Hiram, to prepare all the sacred emblems for King Solomon's Temple. This famous city stood the shock and siege of the Assyrian power for four years, it afterward held out thirteen years against Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The former strength and wealth of Tyre is told by Zechariah, "And Tyrus did build herself a stronghold, and heaped up silver as the dust, and fine gold as the mire of the streets." At one time she was queen of nations and mistress of the seas," doing the trade and commerce of the civilized world; at the present she is a miserable ruin, scarcely furnishing objects enough above ground, upon which the more miserable fishermen may bang their nets; many times defeated, as often revived; torn down by one, built up by another. It was her sturdy sons that felled the cedars of Lebanon and bore them to the sea, and in rafts conveyed them to Joppa, and thence to the "City of the Great King." It was the honest toil of her sons that quarried the rough ashlars from Zion's bosom; with mallet and chisel shaped them well, and at the bidding of the widow's son, with level, plumb and square, placed them in the great wall of Mount Moriah, where they remain to this day.
XIV. The Fourteenth Allotment - The Plain of Sharon.
This allotment extends from Caesarea to Joppa, on the border of the sea, affording a rich pasturage. The royal herds of David pastured there. It is painted in springtime with beautiful flowers. The Rose of Sharon has been the synonyme of loveliness in every age. The prophet Isaiah says: "The excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God."
XV. The Fifteenth Allotment – The Plain of Hattin
Famous for the great struggle between the Crusaders, led by the Knights Templar, and Hospitallers, under King Guy, and the hosts of Saladin, the Arab conqueror, where, on July 3 and 4, A.D. 1187, the christian host fell by hundreds, from exhaustion, thirst and hunger, and the overwhelming power of the Saracenic forces. On that ensanguined field Gerard, Grand Master of the Templars, performed miracles of valor, and the Knights of the Temple and the Knights of St. John vied with each other in bravery. The cry of battle went up amid smoke and flame before God, and he permitted the end to come.
XVI. The Sixteenth Allotment – Ascalon
This allotment is in the extreme western border of the land of Judah, on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It was in this place that Samson slew thirty Philistines and took their spoil. Here the Syrians erected a temple to the worship of the goddess Decerto. The soil around the town was remarkable for its fertility; the wine of Ascalon was also celebrated. The place was noted for cypresses, figs, olives, pomegranates and bees. The Sacred Doves of Venus still till with their cooings the luxuriant gardens which grow in the sandy hollow within the ruined walls. Here was in trenched the hero of the last gleam of history which has thrown its light over the plains of Philistia, and within the walls and towers now standing the English King Richard held his court. At one time there were some wells near the town, which were believed to have been dug by Isaac.
XVII. The Seventeenth Allotment – Gaza
Gaza is situated near the Mediterranean Sea, toward the southern extremity of the Promised Land. It was one of the five chief cities of the Philistines. Its name denotes strength, and it was doubtless their capital. It has a long and varied history. It is mentioned by Moses (Genesis 10:19). Alexander the Great took it, after a desperate resistance of two months. Antiochus the Great sacked it. It was taken several times from the Syrians by the Maccabees. Hezekiah "smote the Philistines even unto Gaza." The city was burned by Jannæus, B.C. 94; taken by the generals of Kalif Abu Bekr, A.D. 634; passed through some important campaigns of the Crusades; garrisoned by the Knights Templar in the twelfth century. It fell into the hands of Saladin A.D. 1187, after the destructive battle of Hattin.
It was famous as the baptizing place of the Ethiopian eunuch; also as the scene of Samson's revenge and death, when he "took hold of the two middle pillars upon which the bouse stood," "and bowed himself with all his might; and the ho use fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein" (Judges 16), and destroyed three thousand of his enemies. Two large granite columns are still exhibited there.
The surrounding country, because of its fertility in producing corn and oil and fruits in abundance, made it ever the joy of the traveler into Egypt, as a place to obtain supplies for his tedious and perilous journey, and to the returning pilgrim, who there rested his exhausted body and refreshed himself with the luxurious fruits of the land.
XVIII. The Eighteenth Allotment – Nazareth
Nazareth is situated in the tribe of Zebulun, in lower Galilee, and famous for its connection with the history of our Divine Lord, who was called "Jesus of Nazareth." A little east of the town is the fountain of the Virgin Helena, the mother of Constantine, who built the first Church of the Annunciation here. The town has been shocked by wars and earthquakes, but the Pilgrim in Holy Land still finds the sacred spot.
XIX. The Nineteenth Allotment – The Field of Boaz
This allotment was once the heritage of Boaz, the distinguished Bethlehemite and kinsman to Elimelech, who became the husband of Ruth, and a link in the chain of the genealogy of our Divine Lord, and for whom one of the brazen pillars of King Solomon's Temple was named.
X. The Twentieth Allotment – The Plain of Esdrælon
This allotment is due north of Jerusalem, and a part of the heritage of the tribe of Issachar; also called The Great Plain and The Valley of Jezreel, and by far the largest plain in the Holy Land. Famous for the defeat of Sisera by Barak. Josiah, king of Judah, met his defeat here while engaged in battle with Necho, king of Egypt. Here Gideon defeated the Amalekites and the Midianites. The sanguinary Assyrians, French, Turks, Mamelukes, Jews, Gentiles, Saracens, Christians, Druses, Persians, alike have pitched their tents on the plain of Esdrælon, and mingled their blood with its soil. It was this plain that echoed with the war song of Deborah, and it was here that "dogs ate the flesh of Jezebel."
XXI. The Twenty-first Allotment – The Tomb of King Hiram
This allotment is one of the most celebrated monuments of antiquity in the Holy Land. It is situated about three miles east of the city of Tyre. Resting upon the lowest of all the spurs of Lebanon, it has defied the storms of centuries. A sight of this noble structure will call to memory the admirer of David, and the friend and ally of King Solomon, and the distinguished answer of King Hiram upon the request of Solomon for cedar and fir trees to be used in building the Temple. (1 Kings 5).
A distinguished writer says: "I am confident of having the approving sentiment of every Mason of intelligence in adopting Kabr Hairan ('the Tomb of Hiram') as the best remaining monument of the most ancient Masonic period."
XXII. The Twenty-second Allotment – The Pools of Solomon
This allotment is situated near Bethlehem, and is conspicuous among the objects of interest in Holy Land. It is composed of three immense reservoirs, which are partly cut out of the solid rock, and partly of most enduring masonry, and incrusted with the best of cement. The upper pool is 380 feet long, 236 feet wide, and 25 feet deep; the middle one is 423 feet long, 229 feet wide, and 39 feet deep, and the lower one is 582 feet long, 207 feet wide, and 50 feet deep. These pools receive their supplies from a subterranean fountain some distance up the valley to the northwest, conveyed into the pools by underground aqueducts, and from the pools past Bethlehem to Jerusalem in the same way.
XXIII. The Twenty-third Allotment – Mount Lebanon
This allotment is on the northern border of the Promised Land, and is called the Mont Blanc ("white mountain") of Palestine, the highest point being ten thousand two hundred feet above the level of the sea. It is famous for having produced the cedar used in building the Temple of King Solomon, and his palace in Zion, which was called "the bouse of the forest of Lebanon."
Vines and mulberry trees cover the more gentle declivities, groves of olives fill the glens, while fig trees are seen clinging to the naked rocks, all demonstrating the richness of the soil. The cedar is the king of trees, the monarch of Mount Lebanon; its foot is eternal snow, and above it soars the eagle. In this mountain dwelt the Gibbites and the Hivites. When the Almighty would speak of bestowing his choicest blessings, he would say:
The glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it.
I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.
Dr. Schaff says: "Old Lebanon looks like an august monarch, with a diadem of stars around his snowy turban, with bis head in heaven and his feet upon the sea."
XXIV. The Twenty-fourth Allotment – Gebal
This allotment lies about twenty-five miles up the coast, north of Beyrout, and was once the home of Hiram, the widow's son, and many others who went up at the call of Hiram the king to help build the Temple of Solomon at Jen1salem. The inhabitants were called Gibbites, a name familiar to all Freemasons. "Here," says Dr. Morris, "I find upon the monstrous ashlars of Phoenician ages (hewn stones eighteen feet long and upward) the distinguishing mark, the rebate or bevel, of which I have so much read, but now, for the first time in my life, I see. This is the Masonic mark of ancient craft Masonry. As I have told the thousands of brothers and fellows who will read these pages, all stones having this mark upon them belong to us! Our fathers wrought them, and set them up in useful places in great edifices, and we, their lineal descendants in the mystic line, must not forget our inheritance therein. And this deep-plowed furrow upon their edges, what a hopeful thought does this convey to a Freemason! So long as that mark remains- so long as the main surface of the wall stands out far enough to protect and shield the mystic device of the Phoenician, so long the institution of Freemasonry will survive. Gebal is full of the 'Handmarks of Hiram.' Here was the great School of Architecture, and of the seven liberal arts and sciences; here, in the days of Hiram, the widow's son, was a congregation of earth's wisest, let us believe earth's best spirits, to whom a seeker of knowledge like himself could come for instruction, and where such a genius as his could be fitly schooled."
XXV. The Twenty-fifth Allotment – The Masonic Bay
This sheet of water is known as the Bay of Beyrout, or St. George's Bay. After repeatedly exploring the Bay of St. George, and comparing it with all the other bays upon the coast near by, Dr. Morris came to the conclusion that here was the chief of those nocturnal coves or harbors used by our ancient brethren in making up "flotes" of the cedars which they felled from the sides of the hills that rise above it, and shipped to Joppa. Hiram, in his celebrated letter to Salomon, says: "My servants shall bring them (the timbers) down from Lebanon to the sea in flotes unto the place thou shalt appoint, and I will cause them to be discharged there, and thou shalt receive them.''
At the northern extremity of this bay is the celebrated military pass, through which the mighty Egyptian conqueror Sesostris passed to the conquest of Assyria 3,300 years ago; and through this way Sennacherib, the Assyrian conqueror, came to the conquest of Egypt 2,600 years ago, each of these, and other mighty men, leaving panels of deftly-wrought characters by the sides of the pass, which remain unto this day, and said by our historian to be the most remarkable collection of ancient emblems and inscriptions in the world. There he cut the square and compass.
XXVI. The Twenty-sixth Allotment – Ramleh
This allotment is situated about five miles east from Joppa on the road to Jerusalem, and famous as the birthplace of the prophet Samuel. It was also the native place of Joseph of Arimathea, who begged the body of Jesus. Dr. Thomson speaks of the town as approximating to the style and manners of a city more than other towns of the same size in Palestine. It is distinguished for its cisterns, its vaults, and a bell-tower, from the top of which a transcendent view of the surrounding country is obtained. "Beautiful as vast, and diversified as beautiful, the eye is fascinated, the imagination enchanted, especially when the last rays of the setting sun light up the white villages which sit or bang upon the many-shaped declivities of the mountains. Then the lengthening shadows retreat over the plain, and ascend the hill-sides, while all below fades out of view under the misty and mellow haze of summer's twilight."
XXVII. The Twenty-seventh Allotment – Jericho
Jericho was a city of the tribe of Benjamin, on the border of Judah, twelve miles northeast of Jerusalem, and called by Moses "the City of Palm Trees." It was famous for its balsam trees, hence the definition of Jericho, "place of fragrance." Near by is the fountain of Elisha, memorable for the miracle of healing by salt, once noted for its abundance of gold, silver and vessels of brass, sheep, oxen and valuable garments. In the immediate vicinity of this city the sons of the prophets sought retirement from the world, and over against it, beyond Jordan, Elijah went up, by a whirlwind, into heaven. In the plains of Jericho Zedekiah was overtaken by the Chaldeans, "and ail his army were scattered from him."
The men of Jericho helped to build the Temple walls, under Nehemiah. This was the place to which the Good Samaritan brought the wounded Jew. The plains of Jericho are famous in history, both sacred and profane.
Section 10. Masonic Work in Palestine
It has been intimated that the wealthy members of Israelitish families purpose to buy up the Holy Land, and colonize, and every few years the newspaper story is revived that the Rothschilds have a mortgage upon Palestine and purpose to foreclose. A late writer (Schaff) recommends them to purchase it. Now a sufficient answer to all this rubbish is that the country is not for sale. It no more belongs to the Turkish government than London belongs to the British government. The land is held by private owners, as in other countries, and could only be alienated as France recently ceded Alsace to the German government, but without changing the property titles.
The Israelite, published in Cincinnati and edited by Brother the Rabbi Wise, ridicules the announcements referred to thus:
"It is not likely that one would purchase all the Druses, Arabs, Bedouins, thieves and robbers of Palestine on a speculation. Among all the wild-goose speculations of Bohemians we think that of purchasing Palestine is one of the most ludicrous caricatures. One point is always forgotten, viz, after Mecca, Jerusalem is the most holy city of the Islam. As little as the Mohammedans will give up Mecca they will give up Jerusalem, and the Islam has more than one hundred millions of believers. The sultan might as well be charged with the intention of selling Mecca, with the prophet's grave, as he would Jerusalem with the Mosk of Omar, or the pope would sell the cathedral of Rome."
No, the Israelite has no intention of occupying the country of his fathers. But there is a society whose membership is composed of Israelite, Mohammedan and Christian, whose traditions reach back to the palmy days of the Israelites, whose faith in God is that of Moses and the prophets, whose light is all from Jerusalem and Mount Moriah, and whose emblems are derived from the Temple builders of King Solomon; and if ever the Holy Land is to be occupied (morally, not politically) it will be by them-by the Freemasons!
The general spirit of the Allotments is seen in the following poem, entitled,
The Land of Milk and Honey
"O land of wondrous story, old Canaan bright and fair,
Thou type of home celestial, where the saints and angels are!
In heartfelt admiration we address thy bills divine
And gather consolation on the fields of Palestine.
In all our lamentations, in the hour of deepest ill,
When sorrow wraps the spirit, as the storm-clouds wrap the hill,
Some name comes up before us from thy bright immortal band,
As the shadow of a great rock falls upon a weary land.
The dew of Hermon falling yet revives the golden days;
Sweet Sharon lends her roses still, to win the poet's lays;
In every vale the lily bends, while o'er them wing the birds,
Whose cheerful notes so marvelously recall the Saviour's words.
From Bethlehem awake the songs of Rachel and of Ruth,
From Mizpah's mountain-fastness mournful notes of filial truth;
Magdala gives narration of the penitent thrice blest,
And Bethany of sister-hosts who loved their gentle guest.
Would we retrace the pilgrimage of Jesus Christ our Lord,
Behold His footsteps everywhere, on rocky knoll and sward;
From Bethlehem to Golgotha, His cradle and His tomb,
He sanctified old Canaan and accepted it His home.
He prayed upon thy mountain-side, He rested in thy grove,
He walked upon thy Galilee, when winds with billows above:
Thy land was full of happy homes, that loving hearts did own,
E'en foxes and the birds of air,- but Jesus Christ bad none.
Thou land of milk and honey,-land of corn and oil and wine,-
How longs my hungry spirit to enjoy thy food divine!
I hunger and I thirst afar: the Jordan rolls between,-
I faintly see thy paradise all clothed in living green.
My day of life declineth, and my sun is sinking low;
I near the banks of Jordan, through whose waters I must go:
Oh, let me wake beyond the stream, in land celestial blest,
To be forey with the Lord in Canaan 's promised rest."
Solemn Charge
"By land and sea, where'er the breezes blow,
The knighted Knights this shelly token know:
This pilgrim-badge, hight from old Joppa's shore,
Whispers its quaint old word, utilior.
List to its teachings; O ye Knights take heed,
Band in the covenant of salt and bread,
Nor lay this mystic messenger aside
Until concealed beneath the coffin-lid."