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

Introduction.
xxxv
few points of contact, to outline methods of interpretation,
to convince the unbiased reader that in
the ancient mysteries lies a mine of wisdom far beyond
all modern achievement, and to invite the cooperation
of Masons in upholding these Ancient
Truths. To recover the Lost Word is to revive the
Ancient Wisdom, and this will facilitate Universal
Fraternity and Universal Progress more than all
other agencies now in our possession.
In its ritualism and monitorial lessons Masonry
teaches nothing in morals, in science, in religion, or
in any other department of human knowledge or
human interest, not taught 'elsewhere in current
forms of thought, or by the sages of the past. In
these directions it has no secrets of any kind. It is
in the ancient symbols of Freemasonry that its
real
secrets lie concealed, and these are as densely veiled
to the Mason as to any other, unless he has studied
the science of symbolism in general, and masonic
symbols in particular. In place of the term Mystic
Masonry, the term Symbolic Masonry might have
been used alone, but just here lies the whole secret,
a profound mystery, and few Masons up to the
present time have had the interest or the patience
necessary to such investigation. This is a fact, and
not intended as either a criticism or a reproach. If