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

192 CUP
CYRUS
the construction of his Temple, that he was
"cunning to work all works in brass ."
Cup of Bitterness . (Calice d'Amertume .)
A ceremony in the First Degree of the French
Rite . It is a symbol of the misfortunes and
sorrows that assail us in the voyage of life, and
which we are taught to support with calmness
and resignation .
Curetes. Priests of ancient Crete, whose
mysteries were celebrated in honor of the
Mother of the Gods, and bore, therefore, some
resemblance to the Eleusinian Rites . The neophyte
was initiated in a cave, where he remained
closely confined for thrice nine days .
Porphyry tells us that Pythagoras repaired
to Crete to receive initiation into their rites.
Curiosity . It is a very general opinion
among Masons that a candidate should not be
actuated by curiosity in seeking admission into
the Order . But, in fact, there is no regulation
nor landmark on the subject . An idle curiosity
is, it is true, the characteristic of a weak mind .
But to be influenced by a laudable curiosity to
penetrate the mysteries of an Institution venerable
for its antiquity and its universality, is
to be controlled by a motive which is not reprehensible
. There are, indeed, in legends of
the high degrees, some instances where curiosity
is condemned ; but the curiosity, in these
instances, led to an intrusion into forbidden
places, and is very different from the curiosity
or desire for knowledge which leads a profane
to seek fairly and openly an acquaintance
with mysteries which he has already learned
to respect.
Curious. Latin, curiosus, from cura, care.
An archaic expression for careful . Thus in
Masonic language, which abounds in archaisms,
an evidence, indeed, of its antiquity
Hiram Abif is described as a "curious and
cunning workman," that is to say, "careful
and skilful."
Customs, Ancient . See Usages.
Cynocephalus . The figure of a man with
the head of a dog. A very general and important
hieroglyphic among the ancient Egyptians.
It was with them a symbol of the sun
and moon ; and in their mysteries they taught
that it had indicated to Isis the place where
the body of Osiris lay concealed . The possessor
of the high degrees of Masonry will be
familiar with the symbol of a dog, which is
used in those degrees because that animal is
said to have pointed out on a certain occasion
an important secret . Hence the figure of a dog
is sometimes found engraved among the symbols
on old Masonic diplomas.
Cyrus . Cyrus, King of Persia, was a great
conqueror, and after having reduced nearly
all Asia, he crossed the . Euphrates, and laid
siege to Babylon, which he took by diverting
the course of the river which ran through it .
The Jews, who had been carried away by
Nebuchadnezzar on the destruction of the
Temple, were then remaining as captives in
Babylon. These Cyrus released A.M . 3466,
or B.c . 538, and sent back to Jerusalem to
rebuild the house of God under the care of
Joshua, Zerubbabel, and Haggai. Hence,
from this connection of Cyrus with the history
of Masonry, he plays an important part
in the rituals of many of the high degrees.
But from late discoveries of inscriptions pertaining
to Cyrus, as mentioned in the excellent
little London work called Fresh Light from the
Ancient Monuments (pp . 166-186), A . H .
Sayce, M .A ., it would appear that this king
was a polytheist, and that he was not a king of
Persia, although he acquired that country
after his conquest of Astyages, B .c . 559, between
the sixth and ninth years of Nabomdos .
Cyrus was king of Elam. The empire he
founded was not a Persian one ; Darius, the
son of Hystaspes, at a subsequent period, was
the real founder of that kingdom . Prof . Sayce
continues : "It was only as the predecessor of
Darius, and for the sake of intelligibility to
the readers of a later day, that Cyrus could be
called a king of Persia." (Ezra i . 2 .) The original
words of his proclamation, "King of
Elam," have been changed into the more familiar
and intelligible "King of Persia ." Elsewhere
in the Bible (Isa. xxi . 1-10), when the
invasion of Babylon is described, there is no
mention of Persia, only of Elam and Media,
the ancestral dominions of Cyrus . This is in
strict accordance with the revelations of the
Monuments, and testifies to the accuracy of
the Old •Testament records .
Cyrus never besieged Babylon, a city fifteen
miles square . It opened its gates to his general
without battle, B .C . 538 . The description by
Herodotus belongs to the reign of Darius . Mr .
Bosanquet asserts that the Darius of the Book
of Darnel is Darius the son of Hystaspes .
Cyrus had learned that a disaffected conquered
people imported into a kingdom was
a constant menace and danger, and he returned
the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem to rebuild
their city and be a fortress and check
upon Egypt . The nations which had been
brought from East and West were restored to
their lands along with their gods . So it was
with the captives of Judah. His dominions extended
from the Hellespont almost to India .
Cyrus was a worshiper of Merodach,
originally the Sun-god, who is mentioned an
intended by the name Bel, and Nebo, his
prophet . (Isa. xlvi . 1 .) His first act after acquiring
Babylonia was to restore the Babylonian
gods to their shrines, from which they had
been removed by Nabonidos, and further asks
for their intercession . The theory that Cyrus
believed in but one supreme god-Ormudzmust
be abandoned . God consecrated Cyrus
to be His instrument in restoring His chosen
people to their land, not because the King of
Elam was a Monotheist, but because the
period of prophecy, "ten weeks of years," was
drawing to a close .
These statements are made upon the authority
of the three inscriptions among the
clay documents lately discovered in Babylonia
by Mr . Rassam, and translated by Sir
Henry Rawlinson and Mr . Pinches. The first
of these is a cylinder, inscribed by order of
Cyrus ; the second a tablet, which describes
the conquest of Babylonia by Cyrusi while