The History of Initiation - The Masonic Trowel

156 HISTORY OF INITIATION.
virtue of procuring favour to the possessor, 23 and was
believed capable of conveying a decided advantage in
any legal suit or process. 24 The serpent and egg 25 was a
symbol of the Ark and its tenant Hu, and no other proof
is wanting of the importance which the Druids attached
to this emblem, than the fact, that the temple of Abury,
one of the most stupendous erections which ancient
Britain could boast, was constructed in the precise form
of a circle, an acknowledged symbol of the arkite egg, to
which a vast serpent was attached. 26
The Rainbow was the Druidical emblem of protection;
it was believed, figuratively, to surround the aspirant
when delivered from his confinement in the pastes or
Ark. Thus the Bard says, " My belt has been a Rain-
bow"*11 The Boat bore a reference to the Ark, or its
representative Ceridwen. The glain was a boat of glass,
and was probably presented during the ceremonies of the
insular sanctuary, to the successful probationer, as a
testimony of his competence to be admitted to the
superior degrees. 28 The Wheel was a famous Druidical
23 Toland. Hist. Druids, vol.
i., p. 60.
24 So extensively was this belief propagated, that the Emperor
Claudius Cesar actually put a gentleman of Rome to death for pleading
a cause with the anguinum in his bosom. (Plin. Nat. 1. Hist., xxix.,
c. 3.)
25 A splendid variety of this amulet was found by Sir R, C. Hoare,
in a large tumulus in the vicinity of
Stonehenge, which Stukeley distinguished
by the name of Bush Barrow. It consists of a curious
perforated stone of the kind called tabularia, moulded into the form
of an egg, and highly polished, and containing, in the veins of the
fossil, an intricate mass of small serpents entwined together in every
possible combination. From the situation in which this extraordinary
amulet was found, I should pronounce it to be the burial place of the
Supreme Archdruid of the British dominions; and, more particularly,
as the same tumulus contained, also, a rich breastplate of gold, in the
form of a lozenge, and highly decorated with carved work and devices.
26 In war, the British armies were attended by a magical banner,
which had been ritually consecrated by the Druids, and emblazoned
with a symbolical device. In the centre was a
serpent, surmounted
by the meridian sun, and supported by the great father and mother of
the human species, personified in Hu and Ceridwen.
27 Marwnad Uthyr Pendragon. Davies, p. 559.
28 The glain and anguinum were evidently artificial, and composed
of some vitrified substance, the secret of which was known only to the
Druids. They were considered equally potential in the communication
of benefits. This boat of glass was a sign or diploma of initiation,
which was capable of introducing the possessor to the 'sacred solemni-
ties without examination or proof