The History of Initiation - The Masonic Trowel

158 HISTORY OF INITIATION.
god with many superstitious ceremonies.35 Sometimes
it was divested of its collateral branches, and one of the
largest was so fixed as to preserve the form of a gigantic
cross. 36 The Misletoe of the oak was a symbol of protection
in all dangers and difficulties, whether mental or
corporeal.
Its medicinal properties were so highly estimated,
that it acquired the comprehensive name of All
Heal, and was considered a never-failing remedy for all
diseases. 37
It was reputed to counteract the effects of
poison, to prevent sterility; and, in a word, it was
esteemed a grand preservative against all evils, moral
and physical. 33 The Sclago, Samolus, and other medicinal
plants, were gathered with similar ceremonies, and invested
with peculiar virtues. The Beehive was used as
an emblem of industry; but the hive referred to the
Ark, and the initiated, or thrice born, were termed
bees. 39 Another symbol of the Ark was the Beaver; and
a Cube was the emblem of truth. 40
The Druids had also a comprehensive system of sym-
bolical language. 41 Thus it was said of the uninitiated :
35
Probably from an old tradition of the trees ofknowledge and life
in the garden of Eden, (Gen. iii., 5, 22,) for it is certain that the
ideas of science and immortality were combined in this sacred tree.
36 Borl. Ant. Corn., p. 108.
37 Its efficacy depended, however, in a great measure, on the superstitions
used at the ceremony of detaching it from the tree. The
archdruid, himself, was alone deemed worthy to pluck the rnisletoe;
and, lest it should sustain pollution in the act of gathering, and thus
expose the whole nation to divine vengeance, he very carefully purified
himself with consecrated water. Two white bulls, secured for the
first time by the horns, (Maur. Ind. Ant. }
vol. vi., p. 85,) were provided
as an offering of propitiation, and when the moon was six days old,
the archdruid, clad in his white vestment and red tiara, ascended the
tree with naked feet, severed the plant with a golden hook, held in his
left hand, which had never before been used, and received it in the
sagus or sacred vest, amidst the shouts and acclamations of the people.
The bulls were then sacrificed, and prayers offered to the gods, that
they would sanctify their own gift.
38 Plin. Nat. Hist., 1. xvi., c. 44. Acorns were offered in sacrifice
to their deities. (Welsh Archasol., vol. i., p. 66.)
50 In
Egypt, the bee was an emblem of a prince ruling his subjects
in
prosperity and peace.
10
Borl. "
Ant. Corn., p. 82. The Bards had a
secret," says Meyrick,
"like the
Freemasons, by which they knew one another; and, indeed, it
has been supposed by some, that Masonry is Bardism in disguise."
(Hist. Card., Introd.)
41 Thus the sacred
phrase, the language of the Chair, which origin-