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

76 ARCHIVES
ARK
Archives, Grand Keeper of the. An
officer in some of the bodies of the high degrees
whose duties are indicated by the name . In
the Grand Orient of France he is called Grand
Garde des timbres et Sceaux, as he combines the
duties of a keeper of the archives and a keeper
of the seals .
Archiviste. An officer in French Lodges
who has charge of the archives . The Germans
call him Archivar .
Ardarel. A word in the high degrees, used
as the name of the angel of fire . It is a distorted
form of Adariel, the splendor of God .
Arelim. A word used in some of the rituals
of the high degrees . It is found in Isaiah
(xxxiii . 7), where it is translated, in the A . V .,
" valiant ones," and by Lowth, "mighty
men." It is a doubtful word and is probably
formed from ariel, the lion of God . D'Herbelot
says that Mohammed called his uncle
Hamseh, on account of his valor, the lion of
God. In the Kabbala, Arelim is the angelic
name of the third sephirah.
Areopagus . The third apartment in a
Council of Kadosh is so called . It represents
a tribunal, and the name is derived from the
celebrated court of Athens.
Argonauts, Order of . A German androgynous
Masonic society founded in 1775,
by brethren of the Rite of Strict Observance .
Much of the myth of the Argonauts was introduced
into the forms and ceremonies, and
many of the symbols taken from this source,
such as meeting upon the deck of a vessel, the
chief officer being called Grand Admiral and
the nomenclature of parts of the vessel being
used . The motto was Es Lebe die Freude, or
Joy forever .
Ariel. In the demonology of the Kabbala,
the spirit of air ; the guardian angel of innocence
and purity : hence the Masonic synonym
. A name applied to Jerusalem ; a
water spirit .
Arithmetic. That science which is engaged
in considering the properties and powers
of numbers, and which, from its manifest
necessity in all the operations of weighing,
numbering, and measuring, must have had its
origin in the remotest ages of the world .
In the lecture of the degree of Grand Master
Architect, the application of this science to
Freemasonry is made to consist in its reminding
the Mason that he is continually to add to
his knowledge, never to subtract anything from
the character of his neighbor, to multiply his
benevolence to his fellow-creatures, and to
divide his means with a suffering brother .
Arizona, Grand Lodge of, was established
in 1882, and in 1910 had 19 Lodges and
1,410 brethren under its jurisdiction .
Ark. In the ritual of the American Royal
Arch Degree three arks are referred to : 1 . The
Ark of Safety, or of Noah ; 2 . The Ark of the
Covenant, or of Moses ; 3 . The Substitute
Ark, or the Ark of Zerubbabel . In what is
technically called " the passing of the veils,"
each of these arks has its commemorative illustration,
and in the order in which they have
been named . The first was constructed by
Shem, Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah ;
the second by Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel ;
and the third was discovered by Joshua, Haggai,
and Zerubbabel .
Ark and Anchor. See Anchor and Ark .
Ark and Dove . An illustrative degree,
preparatory to the Royal Arch, and usually
conferred, when conferred at all, immediately
before the solemn ceremony of exaltation .
The name of Noachite, sometimes given to it,
is incorrect, as this belongs to a degree in the
Ancient Scottish Rite. It is very probable
that the degree, which now, however, has lost
much of its significance, was derived from a
much older one called the Royal Ark Mariners
to which the reader is referred . The legend
and symbolism of the ark and dove formed an
important part of the spurious Freemasonry
of the ancients .
Ark Mariners . See Royal Ark Mariners .
Ark, Noah's, or the Ark of Safety, constructed
by Shem, Ham, and Japheth, under
the superintendence of Noah, and in it, as a
chosen tabernacle of refuge, the patriarch's
family took refuge . It has been called by
many commentators a tabernacle of Jehovah ;
and Dr . Jarvis, speaking of the word 1,12,
ZoHaR, which has been translated window,
says that, in all other passages of Scripture
where this word occurs, it signifies the meridian
light, the brightest effulgence of day, and
therefore it could not have been an aperture,
but a source of light itself. He supposes it
therefore to have been the Divine Shekinah, or
Glory of Jehovah, which afterward dwelt between
the cherubim over the Ark of the
Covenant in the tabernacle and the Temple .
(Church of the Redeemed, i., 20 .)
Ark of the Covenant . The Ark of the
Covenant or of the Testimony was a chest
originally constructed by Moses at God's
command (Exod . xxv. 10), in which were kept
the two tables of stone, on which were engraved
the Ten Commandments . It contained,
likewise, a golden pot filled with
manna, Aaron's rod, and the tables of the
covenant . It was at first deposited in the
most sacred place of the tabernacle and afterward
placed by Solomon in the Sanctum
Sanctorum of the Temple, and was lost upon
the destruction of that building by the Chaldeans.
The later history of this ark is buried
in obscurity . It is supposed that, upon the
destruction of the first Temple by the Chaldeans,
it was carried to Babylon among the
other sacred utensils which became the spoil
of the conquerors . But of its subsequent
fate all traces have been lost . It is, however,
certain that it was not brought back to Jerusalem
by Zerubbabel. The Talmudists say
that there were five things which were the
glory of the first Temple that were wanting in
the second ; namely, the Ark of the Covenant,
the Shekinah or Divine Presence, the
Urim and Thummim, the holy fire upon the
altar, and the spirit of prophecy. The Rev .
Salem Towne, it is true, has endeavored to
prove, by a very inge~nious argument, that the
original Ark of the Covenant was concealed by