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

214 DIONYSUS
DISCALCEATION
livered to the conductor, who, after the mystic
warning, ENLls, EKCfs, gave, $'ii Xo[, " Depart
hence, all ye profane! " exhorted the candidate
to exert all his fortitude and courage in the
dangers and trials through which he was
about to pass . He was then led through a
series of dark caverns, mart of the ceremonies
which Stobieus calls 'a rude and fearful
march through night and darkness." During
this passage he was terrified by the howling
of wild beasts, and other fearful noises ; artificial
thunder reverberated through the subterranean
apartments, and transient flashes of
lightning revealed monstrous apparitions to
his sight. In this state of darkness and terror
he was kept for three days and nights, after
which he commenced the aphanism or mystical
death of Bacchus . He was now placed on
the pastor or couch, that is, he was confined
in a solitary cell, where he could reflect seriously
on the nature of the undertaking in
which he was engaged . During this time, he
was alarmed with the sudden crash of waters,
which was intended to represent the deluge .
Typhon, searching for Osiris, or Dionysus, for
they are here identical, discovered the ark in
which he had been secreted, and, tearing it
violently asunder, scattered the limbs of his
victim upon the waters . The aspirant now
heard the lamentations which were instituted
for the death of the god. Then commenced the
search of Rhea for the remains of Dionysus .
The apartments were filled with shrieks and
groans ; the initiated mingled with their howlings
of despair the frantic dances of the Corybantes
; everything was a scene of distraction,
until, at a signal from the hierophant, the
whole drama changed-the mourning was
turned to joy ; the mangled body was found ;
and the aspirant was released from his confinement,theshoutsof
ESpiilcaµev, EoyXafpwµev,
"We have found it ; let us rejoice together ."
The candidate was now made to descend into
the infernal regions, where he beheld the torments
of the wicked and the rewards of the
virtuous . It was now that he received the
lecture explanatory of the Rites, and was
invested with the tokens which served the initiated
as a means of recognition. He then underwent
a lustration, after which he was introduced
into the holy place, where he received
the name of epopt, and was fully instructed in
the doctrine of the mysteries, which consisted
in a belief in the existence of one God and a
future state of rewards and punishments .
These doctrines were inculcated by a variety
of significant symbols . After the performance
of these ceremonies, the aspirant was dismissed,
and the Rites concluded with the pronunciation
of the mystic words, Konx Ompax .
Sainte-Croix (Myst. du Pag., ii ., 90), says that
the murder of Dionysus by the Titans was
only an allegory of the physical revolutions of
the world ; but these were in part, in the ancient
initiations, significant of the changes of
life and death and resurrection .
Dionysus. The Greek name of Bacchus .
(See Dionysian Mysteries .)
Diploma. Literally means something
folded . From the Greek, ScrAAw. The word
is applied in Masonry to the certificates
granted by Lodges, Chapters and Commanderies
to their members, whic i should always
be written on parchment. The more usual
word, however, is Certificate, which see . In
the Scottish Rite they are called Patents .
Director of Ceremonies, Grand . An
officer in the Grand Lodge of England, who
has the arrangement and direction of all processions
and ceremonies of the Grand Lodge
and the care of the regalia, clothing, insignia,
and jewels belonging to the Grand Lodge .
His jewel is two rods in saltire, tied by a ribbon.
Directory . In German Lodges, the Master
and other officers constitute a council of
management, under the name of Directorium
or Directory .
Directory, Roman Helvetic . The name
assumed in 1739 by the Supreme Masonic authority
at Lausanne, in Switzerland . (See
Switzerland .)
Discalceation, Rite of . The ceremony of
taking off the shoes, as a token of respect,
whenever we are on or about to approach holy
ground . It is referred to in Exodus iii . 5,
where the angel of the Lord, at the burning
bush, exclaims to Moses : "Draw not nigh
hither ; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy
ground." It is again mentioned in Joshua v .
15, in the following words : "And the captain
of the Lord's host said unto Joshua, Loose thy
shoe from off thy foot ; for the place whereon
thou standest is holy." And lastly, it is alluded
to in the injunction given in Ecclesiastes
v . 1 : "Keep thy foot when thou goest
to the house of God ."
The Rite, in fact, always was, and still is,
used among the Jews and other Oriental nations
when entering their temples and other
sacred edifices . It does not seem to have been
derived from the command given to Moses ;
but rather to have existed as a religious custom
from time immemorial, and to have been
borrowed, as Mede supposes, by the Gentiles,
through tradition, from the patriarchs .
The direction of Pythagoras to his disciples
was in these words : AxenrAwos Bde ical
apLoabvec-that is, "Offer sacrifice and worship
with thy shoes off ."
Justin Martyr says that those who came to
worship in the sanctuaries and temples of the
Gentiles were commanded by their priests to
put off their shoes .
Drusius, in his Notes on the Book of Joshua,
says that among most of the Eastern nations
it was a pious duty to tread the pavement of
the temple with unshod feet .
Maimonides, the great expounder of the
Jewish law, asserts (Beth Habbechirah, c .
vii .) that "it was not lawful for a man to
come into the mountain of God's house with
his shoes on his feet, or with his staff, or in his
working garments, or with dust on his feet ."
Rabbi Solomon, commenting on the command
in Leviticus xix . 30, "Ye shall reverence
my sanctuary," makes the same remark in