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

CHARTER
CHERUBIM 145
bodies of a jurisdiction, and by their representatives
compose the Grand Lodge .
Charter Member. A Mason whose name
is attached to the petitiou upon which a Charter
or Warrant of Constitution has been
granted to a Lodge, Chapter, or other subordinate
body.
Charter of CologMe . See Cologne, Charter
Of.
Charter of WTansmission . See Transmission,
Charter of.
Chasidim . In Hebrew, C I-1`bM, meaning
saints. T>; le name of a sect which existed in
the time of the Maccabees, and which was
organized for the purpose of opposing innovatioris
upon the Jewish faith. Their, essential
principles were to observe all the ritual laws
of purification, to meet frequently for devotion,
to submit to acts of self-denial and mortification,
to have all things in common, and
sometimes to withdraw from society and to
devote themselves to contemplation . Lawrie,
who seeks to connect them with the Masonic
Institution as a continuation of the Masons of
the Solomonic era, describes them under the
name of "Kasideans" as "a religious Fraternity,
or an order of the KNIGHTS OF THE
TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM, who bound themselves
to adorn the porches of that magnificent
structure, and to preserve it from injury and
decay . This association was composed of the
gr eatest men of Israel, who were distinguished
Poor their charitable and peaceful dispositions,
and always signalized themselves by their
ardent zeal for the purity and preservation of
the Temple ." (History of Freemasonry, p .
38.)
Chastanler, Benedict .
A French surgeon,
who in the year 1767 introduced into
England a modification of the Rite of Pernetty,
in nine degrees, and established a
Lodge in London under the name of the "Illuminated
Theosophists" ; which, however,
according to Lenning, soon abandoned the
Masonic forms, and was converted into a mere
theosophic sect, intended to propagate the
religious system of Swedenborg . Mr. White,
in his Life of Emanuel Swedenborg (Lend .,
1868, p . 683), gives an account of "The Theosophical
Society, instituted for the purpose
of promoting the Heavenly Doctrines of the
New Jerusalem by translating., printing, and
publishing the theological writings of Emanuel
Swedenborg ." This society was formed in
1784, and met on Sundays and Thursdays at
chambers in New Court, Middle Temple, for
the discussion of Swedenborg's writings .
Among the twenty-five persons mentioned by
White as having either joined the society or
sympathized with its object, we find the name
of "Benedict Chastanier, French Surgeon, 62
Tottenham Court ." The nine degrees of Chastanier's
Rite of Illuminated Theosophists are
as follows : 1, 2, and 3, Symbolic degrees ; 4,
5, 6, Theosophic Apprentice, Fellow-Craft,
and Master ; 7, Sublime Scottish Mason, or
Celestial Jerusalem ; 8, Blue Brother ; and 9,
Red Brother.
Chastity . In the Regius or Halliwell MS .
of the Constitutions of Masonry, wfltten not
later than the latter part of the fourteenth
century, the seventh point is in these words :
"Thou schal not by thy maystres wyf ly .
NY by thy felows yn no manner wyse,
Lest the Craft wolde the despyse ;
Ny by thy felows concubyne,
No more thou woldest he dede by tbyne .'.'
Again, in the Constitutions known as the
Matthew Cooke MS., the date of which is
about the latter part of the fifteenth century,
the same regulation is enforced in these words :
"The 7th Point . That he covet not the
ne the daughter of his masters, nother of
fellows but if [unless] hit be in maryage ."
So all through the Old Constitutions and
Charges, we find this admonition to respect
the chastity of our brethren's wives and daughters
; an admonition which, it is scarcely necessary
to say, is continued to this day.
Chasuble . The outer dress which is worn
by the priest at the altar service, and is an
imitation of the old Roman toga . It is a circular
cloth, which falls down over the body so
as completely to cover it, with an aperture in
the center for the head to pass through . It is
used in the ceremonies of the Rose Croix Degree
.
Checkered Floor. See Mosaic Pavement
.
Chef-d'oeuvre. It was a custom among
many of the guilds, and especially among the
Compagnons du Devoir, who sprang up in the
sixteenth century in France, on the decay of
Freemasonry in that kingdom, and as one of
its results, to require every Apprentice, before
be could be admitted to the freedom of
the guild, to present a piece of finished work as
a proof of his skill in the art in which he had
been instructed . The piece of work was called
his chef-d'oeuvre, or masterpiece .
Chereau, Antoine Gui liaume. A painter
in Paris, who published, in 1806, two hermetico-philosophical
brochures entitled Explication
de la Pierre Cubique, and Explication
de la Croix Philosophique ; or Explanations of
the Cubical Stone and of the Philosophical
Cross. These works are brief, but give much
interesting information on the ritualism and
symbolism of the high degrees. They -
have
been republished by Tessier in his anuel
General, without, however, any acknowledgment
to the original author .
Cherubim . The second order of the angelic
hierarchy, the first being the seraphim .
The two cherubim that overtopped the mercyseat
or covering of the ark, in the holy of holies,
were placed there by Moses, in obedience
to the orders of God : "And thou shalt make
two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt
thou make them, in the two ends of the mercyseat.
And the cherubims, shall stretch forth
their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat
with their wings, and their faces shall look one
to another ; towards the mercy-seat shall the
faces of the cherubims be." (Exod . xxv. 18,
20.) It was between these cherubim that the
Shekinah or Divine presence rested, and from