Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...

The Genius of Freemasonry. 87
an imitation of ancient genuine Mysteries, the
writer has no design of reading into it a meaning
which can not be fully verified. For the greater
part, modern Masons are dealing with symbols, the
Key for the real interpretation of which they never
possessed, or even suspected that it existed. It remains
for the future to determine whether any considerable
number of our Masonic Brethren really
desire to possess in fuller measure the Living Truth
which the dead-letter text conceals. That Living
Truth exists, and is as accessible to every Mason as
is the dead-letter or the dumb-show under which it
masquerades in every Lodge.
As to the sprig of Acacia, Bro. Pike says: "The
genuine Acacia also is the thorny tamarisk, the
same tree which grew up around the body of Osiris.
It is a sacred tree among the Arabs, who made of
it the Idol Al-Uzza, which Mohammed destroyed
It is abundant as a bush in the desert of Thur, arf
of it
the 'crown of thorns' was composed, which was
set on the forehead of Jesus of Nazareth. It is a
fit type of immortality on account of its tenacity of
life ; for it has been known, when planted as a doorpost,
to take root and shoot out budding boughs
above the threshold."
Here, again, we see a symbol ages old, revived