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

pervaded
all the Oriental religions, and its influences are to be seen in the
system of Speculative Masonry, where it is developed in the symbolism
of
Light and Darkness.
E
EAST. That part of the heavens where the sun rises; and as the source
of
material light to which we figuratively apply the idea of intellectual
light, it has been adopted as a symbol of the Order of Freemasonry. And
this symbolism is strengthened by the fact that the earliest learning
and
the earliest religion came from the east, and have ever been travelling
to
the west.
In Freemasonry, the east has always been considered the most sacred of
the
cardinal points, because it is the place where light issues; and it was
originally referred to the primitive religion, or sun-worship. But in
Freemasonry it refers especially to that east whence an ancient
priesthood
first disseminated truth to enlighten the world; wherefore the east is
masonically called "the place of light."
EGG. The mundane egg is a well-recognized symbol of the world. "The
ancient pagans," says Faber, "in almost every part of the globe, were
wont
to symbolize the world by an egg. Hence this symbol is introduced into
the
cosmogony of nearly all nations; and there are few persons, even among
those who have not made mythology their study, to whom the _Mundane
Egg_
is not perfectly familiar. It was employed not only to represent the
earth, but also the universe in its largest extent." _Origin of Pag.
Idolatry_, i. 175.
EGG AND LUNETTE. The egg, being a symbol not only of the resurrection,
but also of the world rescued from destruction by the Noachic ark, and
the
lunette, or horizontal crescent, being a symbol of the Great Father,
represented by Noah, the egg and lunette combined, which was the
hieroglyphic of the god Lunus, at Heliopolis, was a symbol of the world
proceeding from the Great Father.
EGYPT. Egypt has been considered as the cradle not only of the
sciences,
but of the religions of the ancient world. Although a monarchy, with a
king nominally at the head of the state, the government really was in
the
hands of the priests, who were the sole depositaries of learning, and
were