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

origin of Freemasonry.
I have shown how the Primitive Freemasonry, originating in this new
world;
with Noah, was handed down to his descendants as a purely speculative
institution, embracing certain traditions of the nature of God and of
the
soul.
I have shown how, soon after the deluge, the descendants of Noah
separated, one portion, losing their traditions, and substituting in
their
place idolatrous and polytheistic religions, while the other and
smaller
portion retained and communicated those original traditions under the
name
of the Primitive Freemasonry of antiquity.
I have shown how, among the polytheistic nations, there were a few
persons
who still had a dim and clouded understanding of these traditions, and
that they taught them in certain secret institutions, known as the
"Mysteries," thus establishing another branch of the speculative
science
which is known under the name of the Spurious Freemasonry of antiquity.
Again, I have shown how one sect or division of these Spurious
Freemasons
existed at Tyre about the time of the building of King Solomon's
temple,
and added to their speculative science, which was much purer than that
of
their contemporary Gentile mystics, the practice of the arts of
architecture and sculpture, under the name of the Dionysiac Fraternity
of
Artificers.
And, lastly, I have shown how, at the building of the Solomonic temple,
on
the invitation of the king of Israel, a large body of these architects
repaired from Tyre to Jerusalem, organized a new institution, or,
rather,
a modification of the two old ones, the Primitive Freemasons among the
Israelites yielding something, and the Spurious Freemasons among the
Tyrians yielding more; the former purifying the speculative science,
and
the latter introducing the operative art, together with the mystical
ceremonies with which they accompanied its administration.
It is at this epoch, then, that I place the first union of speculative
and
operative Masonry,--a union which continued uninterruptedly to exist
until
a comparatively recent period, to which I shall have occasion hereafter
briefly to advert.
The other branches of the Spurious Freemasonry were not, however,