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

six centuries after the Christian era. As the vowel sounds were
originally
supplied by the reader, while reading, from a knowledge which he had
previously received, by means of oral instruction, of the proper
pronunciation of the word, he was necessarily unable to pronounce any
word
which had never before been uttered in his presence. As we know that
_Dr._
is to be pronounced _Doctor_, and _Mr. Mister_, because we have always
heard those peculiar combinations of letters thus enunciated, and not
because the letters themselves give any such sound; so the Jew knew
from
instruction and constant practice, and not from the power of the
letters,
how the consonants in the different words in daily use were to be
vocalized. But as the four letters which compose the word _Jehovah_, as
we
now call it, were never pronounced in his presence, but were made to
represent another word, _Adonai_, which was substituted for it, and as
the
combination of these four consonants would give no more indication for
any
sort of enunciation than the combinations _Dr._ or _Mr._ give in our
language, the Jew, being ignorant of what vocal sounds were to be
supplied, was unable to pronounce the word, so that its true
pronunciation
was in time lost to the masses of the people.
There was one person, however, who, it is said, was in possession of
the
proper sound of the letters and the true pronunciation of the word.
This
was the high priest, who, receiving it from his predecessor, preserved
the
recollection of the sound by pronouncing it three times, once a year,
on
the day of the atonement, when he entered the holy of holies of the
tabernacle or the temple.
If the traditions of Masonry on this subject are correct, the kings,
after
the establishment of the monarchy, must have participated in this
privilege; for Solomon is said to have been in possession of the word,
and
to have communicated it to his two colleagues at the building of the
temple.
This is the word which, from the number of its letters, was called the
"tetragrammaton," or four-lettered name, and, from its sacred
inviolability, the "ineffable" or unutterable name.
The Cabalists and Talmudists have enveloped it in a host of mystical
superstitions, most of which are as absurd as they are incredible, but
all
of them tending to show the great veneration that has always been paid
to
it.[127] Thus they say that it is possessed of unlimited powers, and