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

the name _Jehovah_; but he refused it by saying that he did not
dare."--_Horae Solitariae_, vol. i. p. 3.--"A Brahmin will not
pronounce
the name of the Almighty, without drawing down his sleeve and placing
it
on his mouth with fear and trembling."--MURRAY, _Truth of Revelation_,
p.
321.
[126] The same scrupulous avoidance of a strict translation has been
pursued in other versions. For Jehovah, the Septuagint substitutes
"[Greek: Ky/rios]," the Vulgate "Dominus," and the German "der Herr,"
all
equivalent to "the Lord." The French version uses the title
"l'Eternel."
But, with a better comprehension of the value of the word, Lowth in his
"Isaiah," the Swedenborgian version of the Psalms, and some other
recent
versions, have restored the original name.
[127] In the Talmudical treatise, _Majan Hachochima_, quoted by
Stephelin
(Rabbinical Literature, i. p. 131), we are informed that rightly to
understand the shem hamphorash is a key to the unlocking of all
mysteries.
"There," says the treatise, "shalt thou understand the words of men,
the
words of cattle, the singing of birds, the language of beasts, the
barking
of dogs, the language of devils, the language of ministering angels,
the
language of date-trees, the motion of the sea, the unity of hearts, and
the murmuring of the tongue--nay, even the thoughts of the reins."
[128] The gamma, [Greek: G], or Greek letter G, is said to have been
sacred among the Pythagoreans as the initial of [Greek: Geomeiri/a] or
Geometry.
[129] Vide Oliver, _Hist. Init._ p. 68, note.
[130] Jamblichus says that Pythagoras passed over from Miletus to
Sidon,
thinking that he could thence go more easily into Egypt, and that while
there he caused himself to be initiated into all the mysteries of
Byblos
and Tyre, and those which were practised in many parts of Syria, not
because he was under the influence of any superstitious motives, but
from
the fear that if he were not to avail himself of these opportunities,
he
might neglect to acquire some knowledge in those rites which was worthy
of
observation. But as these mysteries were originally received by the
Phoenicians from Egypt, he passed over into that country, where he
remained twenty-two years, occupying himself in the study of geometry,
astronomy, and all the initiations of the gods ([Greek: pa/sas theo~n
teleta/s]), until he was carried a captive into Babylon by the soldiers