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

It is a symbol of this life and its labors.
MISTLETOE. The sacred plant of Druidism; commemorated also in the
Scandinavian rites. It is the analogue of the acacia, and like all the
other sacred plants of antiquity, is a symbol of the immortality of the
soul. Lest the language of the text should be misunderstood, it may be
remarked here that the Druidical and the Scandinavian rites are not
identical. The former are Celtic, the latter Gothic. But the fact that
in
both the mistletoe was a sacred plant affords a violent presumption
that
there must have been a common point from which both religions started.
There was, as I have said, an identity of origin for the same ancient
and
general symbolic idea.
MITHRAS. He was the god worshipped by the ancient Persians, and
celebrated
in their Mysteries as the symbol of the sun. In the initiation in these
Mysteries, the candidate passed through many terrible trials, and his
courage and fortitude were exposed to the most rigorous tests. Among
others, after ascending the mystical ladder of seven steps, he passed
through a scenic representation of Hades, or the infernal regions; out
of
this and the surrounding darkness he was admitted into the full light
of
Elysium, where he was obligated by an oath of secrecy, and invested by
the
Archimagus, or High Priest, with the secret instructions of the rite,
among which was a knowledge of the Ineffable Name.
MOUNT CALVARY. A small hill of Jerusalem, in a westerly direction, and
not
far from Mount Moriah. In the legends of Freemasonry it is known as "a
small hill near Mount Moriah," and is referred to in the third degree.
This "small hill" having been determined as the burial-place of Jesus,
the
symbol has been Christianized by many modern masons.
There are many masonic traditions, principally borrowed from the
Talmud,
connected with Mount Calvary; such as, that it was the place where Adam
was buried, &c.
MOUNT MORIAH. The hill in Jerusalem on which the temple of Solomon was
built.
MYRTLE. The sacred plant in the Eleusinian Mysteries, and, as symbolic
of
a resurrection and immortality, the analogue of the acacia.
MYSTERIES. A secret worship paid by the ancients to several of the
pagan
gods, to which none were admitted but those who had been solemnly
initiated. The object of instruction in these Mysteries was, to teach
the
unity of God and the immortality of the soul. They were divided into