The History of Initiation - The Masonic Trowel

128 HISTORY OF INITIATION.
of a religious edifice f and were doubtless erected at
the instance and under the direction of this priesthood
to add dignity and authority to the rites of the national
and hence the most herculean labours were per-
religion ;
formed in their construction. 48 Attached to the temple
was generally placed a stone more elevated and of superior
dimensions to the rest, which was worshipped as the
representative of the deity. 49
The general name of the sanctuary where the peculiar
mysteries of Ceridwen were formally celebrated was Cacr
Sidij the circle of revolution ; so called from the well
known form of the Druidical temples. 50
It appears ex-
tremely probable that this sanctuary 51 consisted of a range
47 This method of erecting temples consecrated to the celebration
of divine rites, was consonant with primitive usage; for the most early
patriarchal temples consisted of twelve stones placed in the open air,
( Vid. Ex. xxiv., 4 ; Josh. iv., 9.) but the Druids added to the magnificence
of their religious edifices, by an increased number of stones,
arranged with an allusion to astronomical calculations. They consisted
chiefly of three, seven, twelve, nineteen, thirty, sixty, and one hundred
and twenty stones, exclusive of the detached phalli which occupied
places out of the circumference. Three referred to the divine triad
Hu Ceridwin Creirwy; seven to the seven heavens which they
taught were placed in the upper regions of the air ; twelve to the twelve
signs of the Zodiac; nineteen to the Metonic cycle ; thirty to the famous
age or generation of the Druids ; sixty to the sexagenary cycle of India,
with which they were undoubtedly acquainted ; and one hundred and
twenty to the double sexagenary.
48 It is asserted by Stukeley, that at the present time it would cost
20,000 to throw up such a mound as Silbury hill.
49 The monument called Long Meg, is a fine specimen of this kind
of idol.
50 This phrase, according to Mr. Davies, implies "in the first place,
the Ark in which the patriarch and his family were inclosed ; secondly,
the circle of the Zodiac, in which their luminous emblems, the sun,
moon, and planets revolved ; thirdly, the sanctuary of the British
Ceres, which represented both the Ark and the zodiac." (Mytho.
Druid., p. 516.)
51 In the poem called Kadair Teyrn On, (Welch Arch., vol. i., p.
65,) we are told that there are four grand sanctuaries in the British
dominions. It would have been highly satisfactory if the bard had
enumerated them. The two principal ones were doubtless that of
Stonehenge or Abury for the southern division of Britain ; and probably
the Temple at Shap, in Cumberland, which, as Stukeley affirms,
(Itin., vol. ii., p. 15,) was constructed on the plan of a serpent transmitted
through a circle, and full two miles in length, for the northern
division. In one of the Triads, however, (Meyrick. Cardig. Introd.,)
the Bard says, "there are three principal Choirs in Britain," ajid
names them as follows : The Knight Iltuds Bangor in Caer Worgorn