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

Albert Pike: "The initiates in these Mysteries had preserved the ritual
and ceremonies that accorded with the simplicity of the earliest ages,
and
the manners of the first men. The rules of Pythagoras were followed
there.
Like the Egyptians, who held wool unclean, they buried no initiate in
woollen garments. They abstained from bloody sacrifices, and lived on
fruits or vegetables. They imitated the life of the contemplative sects
of
the Orient. One of the most precious advantages promised by their
initiation was to put man in communion with the gods by purifying his
soul of all the passions that interfere with that enjoyment, and dim
the
rays of divine light that are communicated to every soul capable of
receiving them. The sacred gates of the temple, where the ceremonies of
initiation were performed, were opened but once in each year, and no
stranger was allowed to enter. Night threw her veil over these august
Mysteries. There the sufferings of Dionysus were represented, who, like
Osiris, died, descended to hell, and rose to life again; and raw flesh
was
distributed to the initiates, which each ate in memory of the death of
the
deity torn in pieces by the Titans."
DIONYSUS. Or Bacchus; mythologically said to be the son of Zeus and
Semele. In his Mysteries he was identified with Osiris, and regarded as
the sun. His Mysteries prevailed in Greece, Rome, and Asia, and were
celebrated by the Dionysiac artificers--those builders who united with
the
Jews in the construction of King Solomon's temple. Hence, of all the
ancient Mysteries, they are the most interesting to the masonic
student.
DISSEVERANCE. The disseverance of the operative from the speculative
element of Freemasonry occurred at the beginning of the eighteenth
century.
DISCALCEATION, RITE OF. The ceremony of uncovering the feet, or taking
off
the shoes; from the Latin _discalceare_. It is a symbol of reverence.
See
_Bare Feet_.
DRUIDICAL MYSTERIES. The Celtic Mysteries celebrated in Britain and
Gaul.
They resembled, in all material points, the other mysteries of
antiquity,
and had the same design. The aspirant was subjected to severe trials,
underwent a mystical death and burial in imitation of the death of the
god
Hu, and was eventually enlightened by the communication to him of the
great truths of God and immortality, which it was the object of all the
Mysteries to teach.
DUALISM. A mythological and philosophical doctrine, which supposes the
world to have been always governed by two antagonistic principles,
distinguished as the good and the evil principle. This doctrine