Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...
Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...
Mystic masonry, or, The symbols of freemasonry and the greater ...
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<strong>The</strong> Secret Doctrine. 133<br />
Bro<strong>the</strong>r Pike says repeatedly that <strong>the</strong>y have been far<br />
<strong>of</strong>tener disfigured than apprehended, <strong>and</strong> never<br />
transcended in modern times. Masonry derives its<br />
genius, its inspiration, its glyphs, <strong>and</strong> its traditions<br />
from this philosophy as taught in <strong>the</strong> Mysteries.<br />
How sh<strong>or</strong>t-sighted <strong>and</strong> time-serving, <strong>the</strong>n, must it<br />
be f<strong>or</strong> Masonry to allow its Gr<strong>and</strong> Traditions, its<br />
priceless inheritance to be dwarfed <strong>and</strong> overlaid by<br />
illogical interpretations, derived from rec<strong>or</strong>ds that<br />
were in <strong>the</strong> beginning, <strong>and</strong> bef<strong>or</strong>e being disfigured<br />
by ign<strong>or</strong>ance <strong>or</strong> cupidity, only an alleg<strong>or</strong>y <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
true doctrines, prepared by "those who knew" f<strong>or</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> ign<strong>or</strong>ant masses, who dem<strong>and</strong>ed a sign <strong>and</strong><br />
could never rise above a fetish. This is like bartering<br />
a magnificent diamond f<strong>or</strong> a lump <strong>of</strong> common<br />
clay. Shall Masons now complete <strong>the</strong> folly by trying<br />
to convince <strong>the</strong>mselves <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>rs that <strong>the</strong> clay<br />
is<br />
<strong>the</strong> only diamond?<br />
How much one's idea <strong>of</strong> God col<strong>or</strong>s all his<br />
thoughts <strong>and</strong> deeds is seldom realized. <strong>The</strong> <strong>or</strong>dinary<br />
crude <strong>and</strong> ign<strong>or</strong>ant conception <strong>of</strong> a personal<br />
God m<strong>or</strong>e <strong>of</strong>ten results in slavish fear on <strong>the</strong> one<br />
h<strong>and</strong>, <strong>and</strong> A<strong>the</strong>ism on <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r. It is what Carlyle<br />
calls "an absentee God, doing nothing since<br />
<strong>the</strong> six days <strong>of</strong> creation, but sitting on <strong>the</strong> outside<br />
<strong>and</strong> seeing it go !" This idea <strong>of</strong> God carries with
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