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

lacksmith," so that the word would then signify "the lord of the
blacksmiths." Masonic writers have, however, generally adopted the more
usual derivation of _Cain_, from a word signifying _possession_; and
Oliver descants on Tubal Cain as a symbol of worldly possessions. As to
the identity of Vulcan with Tubal Cain, we may learn something from the
definition of the offices of the former, as given by Diodorus Siculus:
"Vulcan was the first founder of works in iron, brass, gold, silver,
and
all fusible metals; and he taught the uses to which fire can be applied
in
the arts." See Genesis: "Tubal Cain, an instructor of every artificer
in
brass and iron."
TWENTY-FOUR INCH GAUGE. A two-foot rule. One of the working-tools of an
Entered Apprentice, and a symbol of time well employed.
TYPHON. The brother and slayer of Osiris in the Egyptian mythology. As
Osiris was a type or symbol of the sun, Typhon was the symbol of
winter,
when the vigor, heat, and, as it were, life of the sun are destroyed,
and
of darkness as opposed to light.
TYRE. A city of Phoenicia, the residence of King Hiram, the friend and
ally of Solomon, whom he supplied with men and materials for the
construction of the temple.
TYRIAN FREEMASONS. These were the members of the Society of Dionysiac
Artificers, who at the time of the building of Solomon's temple
flourished
at Tyre. Many of them were sent to Jerusalem by Hiram, King of Tyre, to
assist King Solomon in the construction of his temple. There, uniting
with
the Jews, who had only a knowledge of the speculative principles of
Freemasonry, which had been transmitted to them from Noah, through the
patriarchs, the Tyrian Freemasons organized that combined system of
Operative and Speculative Masonry which continued for many centuries,
until the beginning of the eighteenth, to characterize the institution.
See _Dionysiac Artificers_.
U
UNION. The union of the operative with the speculative element of
Freemasonry took place at the building of King Solomon's temple.
UNITY OF GOD. This, as distinguished from the pagan doctrine of
polytheism, or a multitude of gods, is one of the two religious truths
taught in Speculative Masonry, the other being the immortality of the
soul.
W