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

54 AMMON
ANAGRAM
members, among whom was Savalette de
Langes, and played for many years an important
part in the affairs of French Masonry .
In its bosom was originated, in 1775, the Rite
of Philalethes. In 1784 it convoked the first
Congress of Paris, which was held in 1785, for
the laudable purpose of endeavoring to disentangle
Freemasonry from the almost inextricable
confusion into which it had fallen
by the invention of so many rites and new
d . The Lodge was in possession of a
v uable library for the use of its members
and had an excellent cabinet of the physical
and natural sciences . Upon the death of
Savalette, who was the soul of the Lodge, it
fell into decay, and its books, manuscripts,
and cabinet were scattered . (Clavel, p . 171 .)
All of its library that was valuable was transferred
to the archives of the Mother Lodge of
the Philosophic Scottish Rite . Barruel gives
a brilliant picture of the concerts, balls and
suppers given by this Lodge in its halcyon
days, to which " lea Cresus de la Maconnene "
congregated, while a few superior members
were engaged, as he says, in hatching political
and revolutionary schemes, but really in plans
for the elevation of Masonry as a philosophic
institution. (Barruel, Memoires pour servir d
l'Histoire du Jaeobinisme, iv ., 343.)
Ammon. See Amun.
Ammonitish War. A war to which
allusion is made in the Fellow-Craft's Degree .
The Ammonites were the descendants of the
younger son of Lot, and dwelt east of the
river Jordan, but originally formed no part of
the land of Canaan, the Israelites having been
directed not to molest them for the sake of
their great progenitor, the nephew of Abraham .
But in the time of Jephthah, their king having
charged the Israelites with taking away a part
of his territory the Ammonites crossed the
river Jordan and made war upon the Israelites .
Jephthah defeated them with great slaughter,
and took an immense amount of spoil . It was
on account of this spoil-in which they had no
share-that the Ephraimites rebelled against
Jephthah, and gave him battle . (SeeEphraimites
.)
Amor Honor et Justitla . A motto of the
Grand Lodge of England used prior to the
union of 1813, which is to be found graven on
the " Masonic Token " of 1794, commemorative
of the election of the Prince of Wales as
M . W . Grand Master, November 24, 1790 .
Amphibalus. See Saint Amphibalus.
Ample Form. When the Grand Master
is present at the opening or closing of the
Grand Lodge, it is said to be opened or closed
" in ample form . Any ceremony performed
by the Grand Master is said to be done " in
ample form"- when performed by the Deputy,
it is said to 6 "in due form" ; and by any
other temporarily presiding officer, it is "in
form." (See Form .)
Amru . The name given to the Phoenician
carpenter, who is represented in some legends
as one of the Assassins, Fanor and Metusael
being the other two.
Anishaspands . The name given in the Per-
sian Avesta to the six good genii or powerful
angels who continuously wait round the throne
of Ormudz, or Ormazd . Also the name of the
six summer months and the six productive
working properties of nature .
Amulet. See Talisman .
Amun . The Supreme God among the
Egyptians. He was a concealed god, and is
styled " the Celestial Lord who sheds light on
hidden things ." From him all things emanated,
though he created nothing. He corresponded
with the Jove of the Greeks, and,
consequently, with the Jehovah of the Jews .
His symbol was a ram, which animal was
sacred to him. On the monuments he is
represented with a human face and limbs free,
having two tall straight feathers on his head,
issuing from a red cap ; in front of the plumes a
disk is sometimes seen. His body is colored a
deep blue . He is sometimes, however, represented
with the head of a ram, and the Greek
and Roman writers in general agree in describing
him as being ram-headed . There is
some confusion on this point . Kenrick says
that Nouf was in the majority of instances,
the ram-headed god of the Egyptians ; but he
admits that Amun may have been sometimes
so represented .
Anachronism. Ritual makers, especially
when theyhave been ignorant anduneducated
have often committed anachronisms by the
introduction into Masonic ceremonies of
matters entirely out of time. Thus, the use
of a bell to indicate the hour of the night,
practised in the Third Degree ; the placing of a
celestial and a terrestrial globe on the summit
of the pillars of the porch, in the Second
Degree ; and quotations from the New Testament
and references to the teachings of Christ,
in the Mark Degree, are all anachronisms .
But, although it were to be wished that these
disturbances of the order of time had been
avoided, the fault is not really of much importance
. The object of the ritualist was
simply to convey an idea, and this he has done
in the way which he supposed would be most
readily comprehended by those for whom the
ritual was made. The idea itself is old, although
the mode of conveying it may be new .
Thus, the bell is used to indicate a specific
point of time, the globes to symbolize the universality
of Masonry, and passages from the
New Testament to inculcate the practise of
duties whose obligations are older than Christianity
.
Anagram. The manufacture of anagrams
out of proper names or other words has always
been a favorite exercise, sometimes to pay a
compliment-as when Dr . Burney made
Honor est a Nilo out of Horatio Nelson-and
sometimes for purposes of secrecy, as when
Roger Bacon concealed under an anagram one
of the ingredients in his recipe for gunpowder,
that the world might not too easily become
acquainted with the composition of so dangerous
a material. The same method was
adopted by the adherents of the house of
Stuart when they manufactured their system
of high degrees as a political engine, and thus,