The History of Initiation - The Masonic Trowel

IN BRITAIN. 147
period of gestation in the womb of Cericlwen was complete,
the aspirant was prepared for the consummation
of his knowledge; and, after a very dangerous process
had been successfully braved, he received the highest
and most ineffable degree of light and purity which
mortal man was esteemed able either to confer or
receive. This was emblematically performed by placing
the new-born infant in a coracle, 69 or small boat, covered
with a skin, and committing it to the mercy of the
winds and waves. The candidate was actually set adrift
in the open sea on the evening of the 29th of April, 70
and was obliged to depend on his own address and
presence of mind to reach the opposite shore in safety.
This dangerous nocturnal expedition was the closing
act of initiation, and sometimes proved the closing scene
of life. If he possessed a strong arm and a well fortified
heart, he might succeed in gaining the safe landing-place
on Gwyddno's wear, which was the typical mountain
where the Ark rested when the waters of the Deluge
had subsided ; but, if either of these failed during the
enterprise, the prospect before him was little less than
certain death. Hence, on beholding across a stormy sea,
at the approach of night, the dashing waves breaking on
the wear at an immense and almost hopeless distance, the
timid probationer has frequently been induced to dis-
trust his own courage, and abandon the undertaking
altogether. A refusal which brought on a formal and
contemptuous rejection from the hierophant, and the
candidate was pronounced unworthy of a participation
and
in the honours and distinctions to which he aspired ;
to which, from this moment, he was for ever ineligible.
" Thy coming without external purity ;" thus was he
addressed in a prescribed formulary, " is a pledge that I
69 This description of boat is still used by the fishermen of Wales.
"These coracles," says Wyndham, in his Tour through Wales, "are
generally five feet and a half long, and four feet broad ; their bottom
is a little rounded, and their shape is exactly oval. They are ribbed
with light laths, or split twigs, in the manner of basket work, and
are covered with a raw hide and strong canvass, pitched in such a
manner as to prevent leaking. A seat crossed just above the centre
towards the broad end. The men paddle them with one hand, and
fish with the other; and when their work is finished, bring their
boats home on their backs."
70 Fab. Pag. Idol., vol. iii., p. 177.