A Lexicon of Freemasonry - The Masonic Trowel

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he finds himself in open air, and in the midst of a vast multi .
tude, who receive him with shouts as a person regenerated or
born again .*
This was the first degree of the Mexican mysteries . There
was a higher grade attainable only by the priests, in which the
instruction was of a symbolic character, and referred to the deluge
and the subsequent settlement of their ancestors on the lake of
Mexico . The details of this legend bear a remarkable similarity
to the scriptural account of the wanderings and final settlement
of the Israelites . The tribe was led by the god Vitzliputzli, who
was seated in a square ark, and held in his hand a rod formed
lilce a serpent. The ark was called the , throne of God, and its
four corners were surmounted by serpents' heads . During their
marches and encampments, Vitzliputzli revealed to them a mode
of worship and a code of laws to govern them after they had taken
possession of the promised land . In the midst of their encampment,
they erected a tabernacle with an altar, on which was
placed the sacred ark . After a tedious expedition, they finally
arrived at an island in the middle of a lake, where they built the
city of Mexico, and furnished it with a pyramidal temple .
The mysteries of the Peruvians were more simple and humane,
and consisted principally of a lustration, performed annually on
the first day of the September moon .
AMPLE FORM . When the Grand Lodge is opened by the
Grand Master in person, it is said to be opened in "ample form ;"
when by the Deputy Grand Master, it is in "due form ;" and
when by any other officer, it is said to be simply "in form ."
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE . See Scotch Rite .
ANCIENT CRAFT MASONRY . The degrees of Entered
Apprentice, Fellow-Craft, and Master Mason, are thus called,
* It may as well be remarked in this place, that this regeneration, or raising
from death to a second life, constituted the great end of all the pagan rites .