Mackey A G - Encylopedia of Freemasonry - The Grand Masonic ...

CATECHUMEN
CAVERN 137
all but the rudimentary parts of their catechism,
which they derive only from hearing
portions of it communicated at the opening
and closing of the Lodge .
Catechumen. One who had attained the
Second Degree of the Essenian or early Christian
Mysteries and assumed the name of
Constans. There were three degrees in the
ceremonies, which, to a limited extent, resembled
the Pagan services . Of the three classes,
the first were Auditors, the second Catechumens,
and the third the Faithful. The Auditors
were novices, prepared by ceremonies
and instruction to receive the dogmas of
Christianity. A portion of these dogmas was
made known to the Catechumens, who, after
particular purifications, received baptism, or
the initiation of the theogenesis (Divine regeneration)
; but in the grand mysteries of that
religion-the incarnation, nativity, passion,
and resurrection of Christ-none was initiated
but the Faithful . The Mysteries were divided
into two parts-the first, styled the Mass of
the Catechumens ; the second, the Mass of
the Faithful .
Many beautiful ceremonies and much instruction
touching these matters will be found
in that most enticing degree called Prince of
Mercy, and known as the Twenty-sixth in the
Scottish Rite services.
Catenarian Arch. If a rope be suspended
loosely by its two ends, the curve into which it
falls is called a catenarian curve, and this
inverted forms the catenarian arch, which is
said to be the strongest of all arches. As the
form of a symbolic Lodge is an oblong square,
that of a Royal Arch Chapter, according to
the English ritual, is a catenarian arch .
Catharine II . Catharine the Great,
Empress of Russia, in 1762, prohibited by an
edict all Masonic meetings in her dominions .
But subsequently better sentiments prevailed,
and having learned the true character of the
Institution, she not only revoked her order of
prohibition, but invited the Masons to reestablish
their Lodges and to constitute new
ones, and went so far in 1763 as to proclaim
herself the Protectress of the Order and
"Tutrice " of the Lodge of Clio, at Moscow .
(Thory, ActaLatomorum, i ., 82 .) During the
remainder of her reign Freemasonry was in a
flourishing condition in Russia, and many of
the nobles organized Lodges in their palaces .
But in 1794 her feelings changed and she
became suspicious that the Lodges of Moscow
were intriguing against the Court and the
Ministers ; this idea, coupled with the horrors
of the French Revolution and other crimes
said to be due to secret societies, caused her
to cease to protect the Order, and without any
express prohibition emanatin from her, the
Lodges ceased to work . (Ibid ., i ., 195 .)
She died November 6 1796, and in 1797 her
successor, Paul I ., forbade all secret societies
in Russia.
Caution. It was formerly the custom to
bestow upon an Entered Apprentice, on his
initiation, a new name, which was "caution ."
The custom is now very generally discontin-
ued, although the principle which it inculcated
should never be forgotten.
The Old Charges of 1723 impress upon a
Mason the necessity, when in the presence of
strangers not Masons, to be "cautious in your
words and carriage, that the most penetrating
stranger shall not be able to discover or find
out what is not proper to be intimated " ; as
these Charges were particularly directed to
Apprentices, who then constituted the great
body of the Fraternity, it is evident that the
" new name " gave rise to the Charge, or, more
likely, that the Charge gave rise to the " new
name."
Cavern . In the Pagan mysteries of antiquity
the initiations were often performed
in caverns, of which a few, like the cave of
Elephants in India, still remain to indicate
by their form and extent the character of the
rites that were then performed . The cavern
of Elephanta, which was the most gorgeous
temple in the world, is one hundred and thirty
feet square, and eighteen feet high . It is supported
by four massive pillars, and its walls
are covered with statues and carved symbolic
decorations . The sacellum, or sacred place,
which contained the phallic symbol, was in
the western extremity, and accessible only to
the initiated . The caverns of Salsette greatly
exceeded in magnitude that of Elephanta,
being three hundred in number, all adorned
with symbolic figures, among which the phallic
emblems were predominant, which were
placed in the most secret caverns, accessible
only by private entrances. In every cavern
was a basin to contain the consecrated water of
ablution, on the surface of which floated the
sacred lotus flower . All these caverns were
places of initiation into the Hindu mysteries,
and every arrangement was made for the performance
of the most impressive ceremonies .
Faber (Mys . Cab ., ii ., 257) says that "wherever
the Cabiric Mysteries were practised,
they were always in some manner or other
connected with caverns " ; and he mentions,
among other instances, the cave Zirinthus,
within whose dark recesses the most mysterious
Rites of the Samothracian Cabiri were
performed .
Maurice (Ind. Ant., iii ., 536) speaking of
the subterrranean passages of tine Temple of
Isis, in the island of Phile in the river Nile,
says "it was in these gloomy caverns that the
grand and mystic arcana of the goddess were
unfolded to the adoring aspirant, while the
solemn hymns of initiation resounded through
the long extent of these stony recesses ."
Many of the ancient oracles, as, for instance,
that of Trophonius in Bceotia, were delivered
in caves . Hence, the cave-subterranean,
dark, and silent-was mingled in the ancient
mind with the idea of mystery .
In the ceremonies of Masonry, we find the
cavern or vault in what is called the Cryptic
Masonry of the American Rite, and also in the
high degrees of the French and Scottish Rites,
in which it is a symbol of the darkness of i
norance and crime impenetrable to the
of truth.
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