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

suggestive of the doctrine that labor is a masonic duty.
Y
YGGDRASIL. The sacred ash tree in the Scandinavian Mysteries. Dr.
Oliver
propounds the theory that it is the analogue of the theological ladder
in
the Masonic Mysteries. But it is doubtful whether this theory is
tenable.
YOD. A Hebrew letter and about equivalent to the English I or Y. It is
the
initial letter of the tetragrammaton, and is often used, especially
enclosed within a triangle, as a substitute for, or an abridgement of,
that sacred word.
It is a symbol of the life-giving and sustaining power of God.
YONI. Among the nations and religions of India the yoni was the
representation of the female organ of generation, and was the symbol of
the prolific power of nature. It is the same as the _cteis_ among the
Occidental nations.
Z
ZENNAAR. The sacred girdle of the Hindoos. It is supposed to be the
analogue of the masonic apron.
ZOROASTER. A distinguished philosopher and reformer, whose doctrines
were
professed by the ancient Persians. The religion of Zoroaster was a
dualism, in which the two antagonizing principles were Ormuzd and
Abriman,
symbols of Light and Darkness. It was a modification and purification
of
the old fire-worship, in which the fire became a symbol of the sun, so
that it was really a species of sun-worship. Mithras, representing the
sun, becomes the mediator between Ormuzd, or the principle of Darkness,
and the world.
Footnotes
[1] "The doctrine of the immortality of the soul, if it is a real
advantage, follows unavoidably from the idea of God. The _best_ Being,
he