THE ARCANE SCHOOLS - Fort Myers Beach Masonic Lodge No. 362

of our order. We expect you to proceed.' A clergyman, an acquaintance of mine,
came forward, and said: 'Companion Allyn, this part of the ceremonies is never
dispensed with. I, and all the Sir Knights, have drank from the cup and taken the
fifth libation. It is perfectly proper, and will be qualified to your satisfaction.' I
then drank of the cup of double damnation."
Now, can any profanity be more horrible than this? And yet there is nothing in
Masonry, we are told, that is at all inconsistent with the Christian religion! On the
187th page of the same volume, the "Knight of the Christian Mark," at the
conclusion of his obligation, says: "All this I promise in the name of the Father, of
the Son, and of the Ho]y Ghost; and if I perform it not, let me be
ANATHEMA MARANATHA! ANATHEMA MARANATHA!!" Anathema
Maranatha is understood to mean accursed at the Lord's coming. Again, the
"Knights of the Red Cross" take their obligations upon the following penalty,
page 164: "To all of which I do most solemnly promise and swear, binding myself
under no less penalty than that of having my house torn down, the timbers thereof
set up, and I hanged thereon; and when the last trump shall blow, that I be forever
excluded from the society of all true and courteous Knights, should I ever,
willfully or knowingly, violate any part of this solemn obligation of Knight of the
Red Cross. So help me, God, and keep me steadfast to keep and perform the
same."
The "Knights of the Eagle, and Sovereign Prince of Rose Croix de Heroden," in
receiving this degree, pass through the following, page 253, of Bernard's eighth
edition of "Light on Masonry:" "During this time the brethren in the second
department take off their black decorations, and put on the red, and, also, uncover
the jewels. The candidate knocks on the door, and the Warden, for answer, shuts
the door in his face. The Master of Ceremonies says: 'These marks of indignity
are not sufficiently humiliating; you must pass through more rigorous proofs,
before you can find it.' He then takes off the candidate the chasuble and black
apron, and puts over him a black cloth, covered with ashes and dust, and says to
him: 'I am going to conduct you into the darkest and most dismal place, from
whence the word shall triumphantly come to the glory and advantage of Masonry.'
He then takes him into the third apartment, and takes from him his covering, and
makes him go three times around (showing him the representation of the torments
of the damned), when he is led to the door of the chapter, and the Master of
Ceremonies says to him: 'The horrors which you have just now seen are but a
faint representation of those you shall suffer, if you break through our laws, or
infringe the obligation you have taken.'" In a footnote, the editor says: "This
certainly caps the climax, and renders the institution of Masonry complete. The
torments of the damned, the awful punishment which the Almighty inflicts on the
violators of his righteous law is but a faint emblem of the punishment which
Masonry here declares shall be inflicted on the violators of Masonic law, or those
who are guilty of an infraction of Masonic obligations!" But I get sick of pursuing
these loathsome and blasphemous details; and I fear I shall so shock my readers
that they will be as wearied as I am myself. In reading over these oaths, it would
seem as if a Masonic lodge was a place where men had assembled to commit the