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

and green bushes set around the edge of it, and a candle in the center; and
sometimes a stool is provided with holes about the edge, in which bushes are
placed, and a bundle of rags or tow, saturated with oil of turpentine, placed in the
center, to which fire is communicated. Sometimes a large bush is suspended from
the ceiling, around the stem of which tow is wound wet with the oil of turpentine.
In whatever way the bush is prepared, when the words are read, 'He looked and
behold the bush burned with fire,' etc., the bandage is removed from the eyes of
the candidate, and they see the fire in the bush; and at the words, 'Draw not nigh
hither, put off thy shoes,' etc., the shoes of the candidate are taken off, and they
remain in the same situation while the rest of the passage to the words, 'And
Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God,' is read. The bandage is
then replaced and the candidates again travel about the room while the next
passage of Scripture is read."
[Note. "This is frequently represented in this manner: When the person reading
comes to that part where it says, 'God called to him out of the midst of the bush,
and said.' etc., he stops reading, and a person behind the bush calls out, 'Moses,
Moses.' The conductor answers, 'Here am I.' The person behind the bush then
says: 'Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place
whereon thou standest is holy ground.' His shoes are then slipped off. 'Moreover, I
am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.' The person
first reading then says: 'And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon
God.' At these words the bandage is placed over the candidate's eyes."] And, if
any himself will examine, and read the books through for themselves, in which
these revelations are made, they will find that the higher degrees are replete with
the same shocking and monstrous perversion of the Scriptures. Many of the most
solemn passages in the Bible are selected, read in their lodges, repeated by their
candidates, and applied in a manner too shocking to read.
Here you observe the candidate taking the Royal Arch degree, when asked if he is
a Royal Arch Mason, replies: "l am that l am;" which is represented in the Bible
as being said by Jehovah himself. This answer was given by God to Moses when
he inquired after the Divine name. God answered, "I AM THAT I AM." Just
think! a Christian, when inquired of if he is a Royal Arch Mason, affirms of
himself "I am that I am," taking to himself the name of the God of Israel.
Again, in this representation of the burning bush, the candidate is told to take off
his shoes from off his feet, for the place on which he stands is holy ground; and
then the Master of the lodge claims to be the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of
Jacob. Now how awfully profane and blasphemous is this!
Again, observe that that most solemn scene, depicted in the ninth chapter of
Ezekiel, is misapplied in the most profane manner. Reader, the chapter is short;
will you not take your Bible and read it?
So again, in those chapters in Revelation, the opening of the seals by the Son of
God is misapplied, and profanely misrepresented. Just think! four aged men, with
bladders filled with wind, are made to represent the four angels that hold the four
winds from desolating the earth till the servants of God were sealed in their
foreheads. What a shocking misapplication and misrepresentation do we find