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

328 HIGH
HINDUSTAN
scendants, and was so confined until the
time of the Asmonean dynasty, when it
passed into the family of Judas Maccabmus .
The High Priest was at the head not only
of ecclesiastical but of civil affairs, presiding
in the Sanhedrim and judging the people .
He superintended the Temple, directing the
mode of worship, and preserving the building
from profanation . He was inducted into
his office by anointment and sacrifices, and
was invested with a peculiar dress . This
dress, as the Rabbis describe it, consisted
of eight parts, namely, the breastplate, the
ephod, with its curious girdle, the robe
of the ephod, the miter, the broidered coat,
and the girdle . The materials of which
these were composed were gold, blue, red,
purple, and fine white linen . As these garments
are to a certain extent represented
in the vestment of a High Priest of a Royal
Arch Chapter, a brief description of them
may be expedient :
The High Priest was first clothed in a
pair of linen drawers . Over this was a coat
or shirt of fine linen reaching to his feet,
and with sleeves extending to his wrists .
Over this again was a robe of blue, called
the coat of ephod . It was without sleeves,
but consisted of two pieces, one before and
another behind, having a large opening in
the top for the passage of the head, and another
on each side to admit the arms . It
extended only to the middle of the legs,
and its skirt was adorned with little golden
bells and pomegranates . Above all these
vestments was placed the ephod, which has
already been described as a short garment
coming down only to the breast before, but
somewhat longer behind, without sleeves,
and artificially wrought with gold, and blue,
and purple, and scarlet, in embroidery of
various figures . It was looped on the shoulders
with two onyx stones, on each of
which was inscribed the names of six of the
tribes. On the front of the ephod he wore
the breastplate ; at solemn ministrations a
miter of fine linen of a blue color. This was
wrapped in several folds, and worn about
his head in the manner of a Turkish turban,
except that it was without a crown, being
open on top, and sitting on his head like a
garland . In front of it there hung down
upon his forehead a square plate of gold,
called the plate of the golden crown, upon
which were inscribed the words HOLINESS
TO THE LORD, which were engraved in the
ancient Hebrew or Samaritan characters.
The vestments of a High Priest of a Royal
Arch Chapter are intended to representthough
the representation is imperfectthe
gorgeous apparel of the Jewish Pontiff .
They are a miter, breastplate, and a robe of
four colors . To these the Masonic ritualists
have ascribed a symbolic signification .
The miter teaches the High Priest the
dignity of his office ; the breastplate, his
responsibility to the laws and ordinances
of the Institution and that the honor and
interest of the C=hapter should be always
near his heart ; and the robe, the different
graces and virtues which are symbolized
by the various colors of which it is composed .
High Twelve . The hour of noon or
twelve o'clock in the day, when the sun is
high in the heavens, in contradistinction
to low twelve, or midnight, when the sun is
low down beneath the earth . The expression
is always used, in Masonic language, to
indicate the hour of noon, at which time,
as the tradition tells us, the Craft in the
Temple were called from labor to refreshment.
The phrase was used in the earliest
rituals of the last century . The answer in
the old catechisms to the question, "What's
a clock?" was always, "High Twelve ."
Hindustan, Mysteries of . Of all the
ethnic religions, that of Hindustan is admitted
to be the oldest, for its Vedas or sacred books
claim an antiquity of nearly forty centuries .
However Brahmanism may have been corrupted
in more modern times, in its earliest
state it consisted of a series of doctrines which
embraced a belief in a Supreme Being and in
the immortality of the soul . All primitive
religions were more or less mystical, and that
of India formed no exception to the - rule.
Oliver, . in his History of Initiation, has given
a very succinct account of the Brahmanical
mysteries, collected from the most authentic
sources, such as Maurice, Colebrook,
Jones, and Faber . His description refers
almost exclusively to the reception and
advancement of a Brahman in his sacred
profession ; for the initiations of India, like
those of Egypt, were confined to the priesthood
. All Brahmans, it is true, do not
necessarily belong to the sacerdotal order,
but every Brahman who has been initiated,
and thus been made acquainted with the
formulas of worship, may at any time become
an officiating priest . The ceremonies
of initiation, as they have been described
by Oliver, were celebrated in spacious caverns,
the principal of which were Elephanta
and Salsette, both situated near Bombay .
The mysteries were divided into four degrees,
and the candidate was permitted to perform
the probation of the first at the early age
of eight years . It consisted simply in the
investiture with the linen garment and Zennar
or sacred cord ; of sacrifices accompanied by
ablutions ; and of an explanatory lecture.
The aspirant was now delivered into the care
of a Brahman, who thenceforth became his
spiritual guide, and prepared him by repeated
instructions and a life of austerity
for admission into the second degree . To
this, if found qualified, he was admitted at
the requisite age . The probationary ceremonies
of this degree consisted in an incessant
occupation in prayers, fastings, ablutions,
and the study of astronomy . Having
undergone these austerities for a sufficient
period, he was led at night to the gloomy
caverns of initiation, which had been duly
prepared for his reception .
The interior of this cavern was brilliantly
illuminated, and there sat the three chief