The Lost Keys of Freemasonry - RoseCroix.org.au

EPILOGUETHE PRIEST OF RAWhat words are there in modern language to describe the great temple of AmmonRa? It now stands amidst the sands of Egypt a pile of broken ruins, but in the heydayof its glory it rose a forest of plumed pillars holding up roofs of solid sandstone,carved by hands long laid to rest into friezes of lotus blossoms and papyrus andcolored lifelike by pigments the secrets of which were lost with the civilization thatdiscovered them. A checkerboard floor of black and white blocks stretched out until itwas lost among the wilderness of pillars. From the massive walls the impassive facesof gods unnamed looked down upon the silent files of priests who kept alight thealtar fires, whose feeble glow alone alighted the massive chambers throughout thedarkness of an Egyptian night. It was a weird, impressive scene, and the flickeringlights sent strange, ghostly forms scurrying among the piles of granite which roselike mighty altars from the darkness below to be lost in the shadows above.Suddenly a figure emerged from the shadows, carrying in his hand a small oil lampwhich pierced the darkness like some distant star, bringing into strange relief thefigure of him who bore it. He appeared to be old, for his long beard and braided hairwere quite gray, but his large black eyes shone with a fire seldom seen even inyouth. He was robed from head to foot in blue and gold, and around his foreheadwas coiled a snake of precious metal, set with jewelled eyes that gave out flashes oflight. Never had the light of Ra's chamber shone on a grander head or a form morepowerful than that of the high priest of the temple. He was the mouthpiece of thegods and the sacred wisdom of ancient Egypt was impressed in fiery letters upon hissoul. As he crossed the great room - in one hand the sceptre of the priestcraft, in theother the tiny lamp - he was more like a spirit visitor from beyond the environs ofdeath than a physical being, for his jewelled sandals made no sound and the sheenfrom his robes form ed a halo of light around his stately form.Down through the silent passageways, lined with their massive pillars, passed thephantom figure - down steps lined with kneeling sphinxes and through avenues ofcrouching lions the priest picked his way until at last he reached a vaulted chamberwhose marble floor bore strange designs traced in some language long forgotten.Each angle of the many-sided and dimly-lighted room was filled by a seated figurecarved in stone, so massive that its head and shoulders were lost in shadows no eyecould pierce.In the center of this mystic chamber stood a great chest of some black stone carvedwith serpents and strange winged dragons. The lid was a solid slab, weighinghundreds of pounds, without handle of any kind and the chest apparently had nomeans of being opened without the aid of some herculean power.The high priest leaned over and from the lamp he carried lighted the fire upon analtar that stood near, sending the shadows of that weird chamber scurrying into themost distant corners. As the flame rose, it was reflected from the great stone facesabove, which seemed to stare at the black coffer in the center of the room with theirstrange, sightless eyes.