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

298 GILKES
GLOBE
have believed, for many centuries, in the doctrine
of Gilgul, according to which the bodies
of Jews deposited in foreign tombs contain
within them a principle of soul which cannot
rest until, by a process called by them `the
whirling of the soul,' the immortal particle
reaches once more the sacred soil of the Promised
Land. This whirling of souls was supposed
to be accomplished by a process somewhat
similar to that of the metempsychosis of
the Hindus, the psychical spark being conveyed
through bird, beast, or fish, and, sometimes,
the most minute insect . The famous
Rabbi Akiba (followed by the Rabbis Judah
and Meir) declared that none could come to
the resurrection save those of the Jews who
were buried in the Holy Land, or whose remains
were, in the process of ages, gradually
brought thither. IPicart's wonderful and
laborious work there are many references to
this doctrine . The learned may consult further
authorities on this curious subject in the
Kabbala Denudata of Heinrich Khunrath,
1677 ."
Gilkes, Peter William . Born in London
in 1765, and died in 1833 . He was celebrated
for his perfect knowledge of the ritual
of Ancient Craft Masonry according to the
English ritual, which he successfully taught
for many years . His reputation in England as
a Masonic teacher was very great .
Girdle . In ancient symbology the girdle
was always considered as typical of chastity
and purity . In the Brahmanical initiations,
the candidate was presented with the Zennar,
or sacred cord,. as a part of the sacred garments
; and Gibbon says that "at the age of
puberty the faithful Persian was invested
with a mysterious girdle ; fifteen genuflections
were required after he put on the sacred
girdle ." The old Templars assumed the obligations
of poverty, obedience, and chastity ;
and a girdle was given them, at their initiation,
as a symbol of the last of the three vows .
As a symbol of purity, the girdle is still used
in many chivalric initiations, and may be
properly considered as the analogue of the
Masonic apron.
Glaire, Peter Maurice. A distinguished
Mason, who was born in Switzerland in 1743,
and died in 1819. In 1764, he went to Poland,
and became the intimate friend of King
Stanislaus Poniatowski, who confided to him
many important diplomatic missions . During
his residence in Poland, Glaire greatly
patronized the Freemasons of that kingdom,
and established there a Rite of seven degrees .
He returned to Switzerland in 1788, where
he continued to exercise an interest in Freemasonry
and in 1810 was elected Grand
Master for three years, and in 1813 for life,
of the Roman Grand Orient of Helvetia,
which body adopted his Rite .
Glastonbury, Holy Thorn of. There
is an ancient market town in County Somerset,
Eng ., with a po pulation of 3,700 . which
owes its origin to a celebrated abbey, founded,
according to tradition, in 60 A.D. We are
further told that Joseph of Arimathea was
the founder, and the "miraculous thorn"
which flowered on Christmas day was believed
by the common people to be the veritable
staff with which Joseph aided his steps from
the Holy Land . The tree was destroyed
during the civil wars, but grafts flourish in
neighboring gardens. Glastonbury has the
honor of ranking St. Patrick (415 A.D.) and
St . Dunstan among its abbots . In 1539,
Henry VIII . summoned Abbot Whiting to
surrender the town and all its treasures, and
on his refusal condemned him to be hanged
and quartered, and the monastery confiscated
to the king's use, which sentence was immediately
carried into execution . King Arthur
is said to be buried in this place .
Gleason, Benjamin . A lecturer and
teacher of the Masonic ritual, according to
the system of Webb, in the Grand Lodge of
Massachusetts, from 1806 to 1842 . Gleason
is said to have been a man of liberal education,
and a graduate in 1802 of Brown University .
He became soon after a pupil of Thomas
Smith Webb, whose lectures he taught in
Massachusetts and elsewhere . The assertion
of some writers that Gleason went to
England and lectured before the Grand
Lodge of England, which recognized his or
Webb's system as being the same as that of
Preston, is highly improbable and wants
confirmation.
Globe. In the Second Degree, the celestial
and terrestrial globes have been adopted as
s bols of the universal extension of the
rder, and as suggestive of the universal
claims of brotherly love. The symbol is a
very ancient one, and is to be found in the
religious systems of many countries. Among
the Mexicans the globe was the symbol of
universal power . But the Masonic symbol
appears to have been derived from, or at
least to have an allusion to the Egyptian
symbol of the winged globe. there is nothing
more common among the Egyptian monuments
than the symbol of a globe supported
on each side by a serpent, and accompanied
with wings extended wide beyond them,
occupying nearly the whole of the entablature
above the entrance of many of their
temples. We are thus reminded of the
globes on the pillars at the entrance of the
Temple of Solomon . The winged globe,
as the symbol of Cneph, the Creator Sun,
was adopted by the Egyptians as their national
device, as the Lion is that of England, or
the Eagle of the United States . In the
eighteenth chapter of Isaiah (v . i .), where
the authorized version of King James's Bible
has "Woe to the land shadowing with wins, "
Lowth, after Bochart, translates, "Hol to
the land of the winged cymbal," supposing
the Hebrew ~3 7.V to mean the sistrum
which was a round instrument, consisting of
a broad rim of metal, having rods passing
through it, and some of which, extending
beyond the sides, would, says Bishop
Lowth, have the appearance of wings, and
be expressed by the same Hebrew word .
But _ Rosellini translates the passage differ-