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

history over which so much doubt has been thrown, that it will probably
never be satisfactorily solved. For a translation of the charter, and
copious explanatory notes, by the author of this work, the reader is
referred to the "American Quarterly Review of Freemasonry," vol. ii. p.
52.
CHRISTIANIZATION OF FREEMASONRY. The interpretation of its symbols from
a
Christian point of view. This is an error into which Hutchinson and
Oliver in England, and Scott and one or two others of less celebrity in
this country, have fallen. It is impossible to derive Freemasonry from
Christianity, because the former, in point of time, preceded the
latter.
In fact, the symbols of Freemasonry are Solomonic, and its religion was
derived from the ancient priesthood.
The infusion of the Christian element was, however, a natural result of
surrounding circumstances; yet to sustain it would be fatal to the
cosmopolitan character of the institution.
Such interpretation is therefore modern, and does not belong to the
ancient system.
CIRCULAR TEMPLES. These were used in the initiations of the religion of
Zoroaster. Like the square temples of Masonry, and the other Mysteries,
they were symbolic of the world, and the symbol was completed by making
the circumference of the circle a representation of the zodiac.
CIRCUMAMBULATION. The ceremony of perambulating the lodge, or going in
procession around the altar, which was universally practised in the
ancient initiations and other religious ceremonies, and was always
performed so that the persons moving should have the altar on their
right
hand. The rite was symbolic of the apparent daily course of the sun
from
the east to the west by the way of the south, and was undoubtedly
derived
from the ancient sun-worship.
CIVILIZATION. Freemasonry is a result of civilization, for it exists in
no
savage or barbarous state of society; and in return it has proved, by
its
social and moral principles, a means of extending and elevating the
civilization which gave it birth.
Freemasonry is therefore a type of civilization, bearing the same
relation
to the profane world that civilization does to the savage state.
COLLEGES OF ARTIFICERS. The _Collegia Fabrorum_, or Workmen's Colleges,
were established in Rome by Numa, who for this purpose distributed all
the
artisans of the city into companies, or colleges, according to their
arts
and trades. They resembled the modern corporations, or _guilds_, which
sprang up in the middle ages. The rule established by their founder,