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Transcriber's note: Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
The sequence [c] represents an inverted letter c, used in the text for a
consonant dz sound in the Maya language.
* * * * *
[Illustration]
Sacred Mysteries
AMONG
THE MAYAS AND THE QUICHES,
11,500 YEARS AGO.
THEIR RELATION TO THE SACRED MYSTERIES
OF EGYPT, GREECE, CHALDEA AND INDIA.
FREE MASONRY
In Times Anterior to the Temple of Solomon.
_ILLUSTRATED._
BY
AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON,
Author of "A Sketch of the Ancient Inhabitants of Peru, and their
Civilization;" "Vestiges of the Mayas;" "Essay on Vestiges of Antiquity;"
"Essay on the Causes of Earthquakes;" "Religion of Jesus compared with the
Teachings of the Church;" "The Monuments of Mayax and their Historical
Teachings."
----
NEW YORK:
ROBERT MACOY, 4 BARCLAY STREET.
1886.
Entered according to Act of Congress, March 15, 1886, by
AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON,
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington.
----
_All Rights Reserved._
[Illustration: F.A. RINGLER & CO. ELECTROTYPERS NEW YORK.]
To
MR. PIERRE LORILLARD,
THIS SMALL HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE SACRED MYSTERIES PRACTICED
IN REMOTE AGES BY THE MAYAS AND QUICHES
Is Respectfully Dedicated,
AS A FEEBLE TESTIMONIAL OF MY APPRECIATION OF HIS EFFORTS TO
HELP IN REMOVING THE VEIL THAT HAS SO LONG HUNG OVER
THE HISTORY, CUSTOMS AND CIVILIZATION OF THE ANCIENT
INHABITANTS OF THIS WESTERN CONTINENT.
AUGUSTUS LE PLONGEON.
NEW YORK, MAY 20TH, 1886.
PREFACE.
----
The forests of Yucatan and Central America are to-day, for the majority of
the people of the United States, even those who call themselves scientific
and well informed, as much a _terra incognita_, as America was to the
inhabitants of Europe before its discovery by Cristobal Colon in 1498, when
for the first time he came in sight of the northern coast of South America,
and navigated along it from the mouth of the river Orinoco to _Porto
Cabello_ in the _Golfo Triste_.
A few, having perused the books of J. L. Stephens, Norman, and other
tourists who have hurriedly visited the ruins of the ancient cities that
lie hidden in the depths of those forests, have a vague idea that there
exist the remains of stone houses built some time or other before the
discovery, aver authoritatively that "their builders were but little
removed from the state of savagism, and that none of their handwork is
worth the attention of the students of our age. Their civilization, they
confidently say, was at best very crude. They were ignorant of the art of
writing; and the scanty records of their history chronicled on deer-skins,
in pictorial representations, are well nigh unintelligible. They had no
sciences, no mental culture or intellectual development. They were in fact
a race whose intelligence was for the most part of lower order. From what
they did nothing is to be learned that has any direct bearing on the
progress of civilization." In no wise can they be compared with the
Egyptians or the Chaldees, much less with the Greeks or Romans; it is not,
therefore, worth our while to spend time and money in researches among the
ruins of their cities. It is to Greece, it is to Egypt, to Chaldea, that
Americans must go in order to make new discoveries. In those countries must
be established schools for study of Greek, or Egyptian, or Chaldean
archæology: and American schools have been established at Athens and
Alexandria, and expeditions sent to Syria, to the shores of the Euphrates.
But the European scientists, who for many years past have explored those
old fields in order to obtain relics to fill the shelves of the museums of
their capitals and turned up the soil of the Orient in search of
archæological treasures, now look to the Western continent in quest of the
origin of those ancient civilizations which they have been unable to find
in the countries where they once flourished; and they look with that
reverence which true learning begets, on those ancient American temples and
palaces that are objects of contempt for some modern American scientists.
Thus we see established in Paris the "_Société des Américanistes_" whose
sole object is the study of all things pertaining to ancient American
civilization. That Society, composed of students, spares no efforts to
obtain knowledge respecting the architecture, the sciences, the arts, the
language, and the civilization of the people who inhabited, in remote ages,
the various countries of this Western continent. A premium of 25,000 francs
has been offered for the discovery of an alphabet or key to the
inscriptions carved on the walls of the monuments in Yucatan and Central
America. M. Désiré Charnay has been sent to obtain molds of the sculptures
and other precious relics that lie hidden and lost in the recesses of the
Central American forests. Casts have been made from such squeezes as he
obtained. These casts adorn the Trocadero Museum at Paris, duplicates of
the same having been presented to the Smithsonian Institute at Washington
by Mr. Pierre Lorillard of New York. This gentleman is the only American
who has ever contributed with his wealth and influence (he has spent 25,000
dollars) in expeditions for the recovery of facts and objects that may
throw light on the ancient history of America.
Then again we have in Europe the international "Congrès des Américanistes"
that convenes every four years in one of the capitals of Europe for the
purpose of collecting all new data, obtained in the interval, concerning
ancient American civilization.
In England, at Cambridge, there is in the University a large building
especially dedicated to Central American archæology. There are to be seen,
as I am informed by General Sir Henry Lefroy, the casts and photographs
obtained by Mr. Maudslay, a wealthy gentleman who has devoted his time and
wealth to the work of obtaining _fac-similes_ in plaster and photographs of
the ancient monuments of Honduras and Guatemala.
But what have we in New York, in the United States, in fact, to offer to
students of American archæology?
True, Mr. George Peabody, among his many benefactions, left a sum of money
for the foundation of a museum to be specially dedicated to the collection
of objects pertaining to American archæology. Such museum exists at the
University of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It bears his name. Does it contain
anything that may throw light on the history of the ancient inhabitants of
this Western Continent? I once wrote to an influential gentlemen connected
with the University asking him to propose to the trustees the purchase of a
copy of my collections of casts and mural paintings. His answer dated July
23d, 1885, was: "I will send your letter to one of the trustees, enjoining
him to accept its offer, but I fear they will treat that proposal as they
have so many others and say _no_! The collection of tracings they ought to
secure. The time has come when such things should be got at any cost. We
shall soon be as they are in India, hunting everywhere for things which
were easily to be had a few years ago."
My correspondent has visited the ruined cities of Yucatan; he knows the
value of my collections.
I have done all in my power to call the attention of American scientists,
of the men of leisure and money, to the fact that in New York perfect
fac-similes of the palaces and temples of the Mayas could be erected in
Central Park, both as ornament to the place, and object of study for the
lovers of American archæology who may not have the means, nor the time, nor
the desire, to run the risk of submitting to the privations and hardships
that those who wish to visit the ruined cities, must inevitably encounter.
But alas! all in vain.
Three years ago I had casts made from some of the stereotyped moulds made
by me of the sculptures at Uxmal and offered them for exhibition in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park. They have been placed in the
cellar, out of the way, "for want of space against the wall." The public
has never seen them. I once remonstrated with one of the trustees, and
proposed to sell to the museum a copy of the collection of fresco paintings
from Chichen Itza, last remnants of ancient American art. The answer of the
gentleman was "No! those things are not appreciated, they are looked upon
as of no value." Nevertheless, some of the illustrations in this book are
photographs of the same despised casts and mural paintings.
During the last lecturing season I offered to several literary, scientific
and historical societies, to give lectures illustrated with views made by
us of the monuments, and enlarged with the stereopticon. In every instance
I received the same answer. "Our people are not interested in such a
subject." What! Americans not interested in American antiquities! in
ancient American history! in ancient American civilization!
Desiring to make the subject known before the lecture season was over, _en
desespoir de cause_, I asked Dr. John Stoughton Newbury, of the School of
Mines at Columbia College, if he could give me a chance to present the
subject before the members of the New York Academy of Science. I had no
hope of a favorable answer; but to my great surprise Professor Newbury
received my offer enthusiastically. Mrs. Le Plongeon lectured on the
monuments of Yucatan on the 2nd of March last, at Columbia College. Let the
ladies and gentlemen who were present say if the facts and views presented
to them were of sufficient interest to command their attention. A lady,
Mrs. Francis B. Arnold, residing at 21 West 12th Street, New York, was so
pleased that she asked Mrs. Le Plongeon to lecture at her own house to a
select party of friends. Let again the ladies and gentlemen who were
present at Mrs. Arnold's house, say if there is nothing worth seeing and
studying in the remains of ancient American civilization.
Let Mrs. Arnold and Dr. Newbury accept our heartfelt-thanks for affording
us an opportunity of presenting ancient America to a few appreciative
minds, if no more.
Mrs. Le Plongeon and I have written two works on Yucatan. One is:
"Monuments of Mayax, and their historical teachings." The other: "Yucatan,
its ancient palaces and modern cities; life and customs of the Aborigines."
We have offered them to several publishing houses, but the same answer has
been given by all. "There is no money in the publication of such books;
American readers do not care for this subject."
Notwithstanding such rebuffs, I made up my mind to present to American
readers some of the historical facts that have been brought to light by
deciphering the bas-reliefs and mural inscriptions, by means of the ancient
hieratic Maya alphabet discovered by me. I offer them in this small volume
that I take pleasure in dedicating to Mr. Pierre Lorillard, as the most
worthy of it among the Americans, for his generous help to students of
American archæology.
[Illustration: Ancient Maya Hieratic alphabet according to mural
inscriptions.]
[Illustration: Egyptian Hieratic alphabet according to Messrs. Champollion
le Jeune and Bunsen.]
If the perusal of this book fails to awaken in this country an interest in
ancient American civilization and history, then I will follow the advice
said to have been given by Jesus of Nazareth to his disciples when sending
them on their mission of spreading the gospel among the nations: "And
whomsoever shall not receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence,
shake off the dust under your feet...." St. Mark, chap. vi., verse 11--for
I shall consider it useless to spend more time, labor, and money on the
subject in the United States, remembering the fate of Professor Morse, when
he asked Congress for permission to introduce his electric telegraph in
this country.
In this small book (which two of the most prominent firms in New York have
positively refused to publish believing it to be a bad speculation), I
present only such facts as can be proved by the works of well-known writers
ancient and modern, and by the inscriptions carved on stone by the Maya
learned men and historians. It is for you, Reader, to judge if they are
worthy your consideration.
ILLUSTRATIONS.[1]
----
PAGE.
Symbolical stone found in the Mausoleum of high
pontiff Cay at Chichen. 19
View of the pyramid called "House of the Dwarf,"
at Uxmal, 34
Ground plan of the Sanctuary, 35
Ground plan of the Temple of Mysteries, 36
Part of cornice surrounding the Sanctuary, 39
Cross bones and skeletons carved on the cornice of the
Sanctuary, 39
Part of a statue with apron on which is sculptured the
image of an extended hand. (From Uxmal.) 40
Symbolical slab with title of the high pontiff, 45
Symbols from the turret dedicated to the high pontiff
Cay in the palace of King Can, at Uxmal, 65
Tableau of the creation, from the east façade of the
palace at Chichen-Itza, 72
Prince Coh in battle (from mural paintings at Chichen-Itza), 78
Prince Coh's body laid out for cremation (from mural
paintings at Chichen-Itza), 80
Slab from Prince Coh's Mausoleum, at Chichen, leopard
eating the heart of his enemies, 85
Dying leopard with human head, from Prince Coh's
Mausoleum at Chichen-Itza, 86
Priest of Osiris making an offering (from the tombs of
Thebes), 86
Statue of Prince Coh, found in his Mausoleum at
Chichen-Itza, now in the National Museum in the
City of Mexico, 87
Slab from Prince Coh's Mausoleum at Chichen, representing
Queen Moo, under the figure of a macaw,
eating the heart of her enemies, 88
Tableau of the Mastodon worship, at Chichen, 93
Small terra cotta heads from British Honduras, 104
Sculptures on monolith gate at Tiahuanuco (Peru),
from a model in the museum of the Long Island
Historical Society in Brooklyn, 104
Bas-reliefs from small room at the foot of Prince Coh's
monument at Chichen-Itza, 115, 118
Symbols of lower Egypt (from Sir Gardner Wilkinson's
works on Egypt), 115
Plate XVII, part II. of Troano M.S., 116
Plate XXV. part II. of Troano M.S., head dress of
mother Earth, 118
Maps of the Maya Empire, 120
Yaxche, sacred tree of the Mayas, 124
Plate VI., part II. of Troano M.S., 126
Worship of sacred tree (Papaya) from a Mexican M.S.,
in the library of the British Museum, 134
Plate XXIV., part I., Troano M.S., 137
Sons of King Can, represented under the symbol of
deer-heads, totem of the country, plate XVI, part
II. of Troano M.S., 139
SACRED MYSTERIES
AMONG
THE MAYAS AND THE QUICHES.
There are authors who attribute the origin of modern Free Masonry to the
followers of Pythagoras, because some of the speculations of that
Philosopher concerning the meaning of the numbers are to be found in the
esoteric doctrines taught in the masonic lodges. Others, on account of the
Christian symbols that have been incorporated in the decoration of things
pertaining to Masonry, following the Swedish system, say that the Essenes
and first Christians founded it. Others, again, make it originate in the
building of Solomon's temple, many Jewish names, emblems and legends, taken
from the Bible, having found their way into the rites of initiation to
several degrees. Others, still, make it go back to Adam. Ask them why--they
do not know. While not a few, and I among them, earnestly believe that
Masonry existed before Adam was created. I believe it, because I am
convinced that this pretended ancestor of man is a myth--and has never
existed. Thomas Payne and those of his school say that the Druids were the
fathers of the craft; they being worshipers of the sun, moon and stars: and
these jewels of the firmament being represented on the ceilings of the M.·.
lodges. Dance of Villoison speaks of Herculaneum as its birth place,
because of the many similarities that existed between the collegia of the
Romans and the lodges of the operative Masons of the middle ages. Michael
Andrew Ramsay, a Scotch gentleman, in a discourse delivered in Paris in
1740, suggested the possibility of the fraternity having its origin, in the
time of the crusades, among the Knight Templars, and he explains it in this
way:--
The Pope, Clement V., and Phillippe-le-bel, King of France, fearing the
power of the Templars and coveting their immense wealth, resolved to
destroy the Order. When, in 1308, Jacques de Molay, then Grand Master of
the Order, was preparing an expedition to avenge the wrongs and disasters
suffered by the Christians in the East, the Pope, who was the only power to
which, in the spiritual, the Templars owed allegiance, enticed him to
France.
On his arrival he was received with every mark of friendship: but, soon
after, the King caused him to be arrested together with some of the other
dignitaries, accusing them of the most heinous crimes, imputing to them the
secret rites of their initiation. By order of the Archbishop of Sens and
his provincial council, Jacques de Molay, Guy of Auvergne and several other
officers of the Order were burned alive on March 18, 1314.
The Pope, by a bull dated on the 2d of April, and published on the 2d of
May, 1312, that he issued on his own responsibility, the Council of Vienne,
in Dauphiné, being adverse to hasty measures, declared the Order abolished
throughout the world. The execution of the Grand Master and his companions
gave the _coup de grace_ to the Order. Some of the Knights who had escaped
to Portugal continued the Order. They assumed the title of Knights of
Christ, which it bears to this day; but it never recovered its former
prestige and power.
Jacques de Molay, before dying had appointed Johan Marcus Larmenio as his
successor to the office of Grand Master. The Knights who, fleeing from the
persecution, had taken refuge in Scotland at the Court of King Robert
Bruce, refused to recognize his authority; and pretending to reëstablish
the Order of the Temple, under the allegory and title of Architects,
protected by the King, laid the foundation of the Order of Free and
Accepted Masons of the Scottish Rite in 1314.
This new society soon forgot the meaning of the execratory oath that the
members were obliged to take at their initiation; the death of Clement V.,
of Phillippe-le-bel, of the accusers and enemies of Jacques de Molay and
the other Knights who had been executed, having removed the object of their
vengeance. Still they continued to decorate their lodges with tokens
commemorative of the death of the Grand Master, to impose on all new
members the obligation of avenging it, which they signified by striking
with an unsheathed dagger at unseen beings, his supposed murderers,
although all their efforts were now directed to the restoration of the
honor of their association. This allegory is well-known to the Knights of
Kadosh. A century had scarcely elapsed when this idea also was abandoned,
the founders and their disciples having passed away. Their successors saw
only allegories in the symbols of the Order, and the extensive use of words
and texts from the Bible was then introduced. Of their work but little is
positively known until the reign of Charles I. of England, when their
mysterious initiations began to attract attention.
The enemies of Cromwell and of the Republic, having in view the
reëstablishment of the monarchy, created the degree of Grand Master to
prepare the minds of the Masons for that event. King William III. was
initiated. Masonry, says Preston, was very much neglected as early as the
reign of James II., and even after this period it made but slow progress
until 1714, when King George I. ascended the throne.
Three years later, in February, 1717, the first Grand Lodge was established
in London. A committee from the four lodges then existing in that city met
at the tavern of the "Apple Tree" and nominated Anthony Sayer, who was
elected Grand Master on the 24th of the following June, day of St. John the
Baptist, that for this reason was selected as patron of the Order.
This origin of the craft is credited by many of the best authorities on the
subject. They found their opinion on the fact that many of the ceremonies
practiced by the _Architects_ are still observed among the Masons; and that
the Grand Lodge preserved, with the spirit of the ancient brotherhood, its
fundamental laws. There are others, however, who likewise claim to be well
informed, that pretend it did not originate in any order of chivalry, but
in the building fraternities of the Middle Ages.
Be the origin what it may, the fact is that after the establishment of the
Grand Lodge at "Apple Tree Tavern," Masonry spread over Europe at a rapid
rate, notwithstanding the bitter opposition of the Church of Rome that
fulminated against it its most terrible anathemas as early as 1738 at the
instigation of the Inquisition. Pope Clement XII., on the 28th of April of
that year, caused a prohibitory bull to be issued against Free Masonry,
entitled _In Eminenti_, in which he excommunicated all Masons; and the
Cardinal Vicar of Rome, by edict in the name of the High Priest of the God
of Peace and Mercy, decreed the penalty of death against them in 1739; and
on May 18, 1751, Pope Benoit XIV. renewed the bull of Clement XII. by
another beginning with these words: _Providas Romanorum Pontificum_.
The Order was introduced in France in 1725, and on the 14th of September,
1732, all Masonic Associations were prohibited by a decree of the Chamber
of Police of the Chatelet of Paris.
In 1727, Lord Coleraine founded a lodge in Gibraltar, and in the succeeding
year in Madrid, the capital of Spain, the strong-hold of the Inquisition.
But in 1740, in consequence of the bull of Clement XII., King Philip V., of
Spain, promulgated an ordinance against the Masons in his kingdom, many of
whom were arrested and sent to the galleys. The Inquisitors took advantage
of the opportunity to persecute the members of a lodge they discovered in
Madrid. They caused them to be loaded with chains, to be obliged to row in
the galleys without other retribution than scanty rations of victuals of
the poorest quality, but an abundant supply of bastinade. Fernando VI.
renewed the ordinance on July 2, 1751, making Masonry high treason.
The brotherhood made its appearance in Ireland in 1730. It is not
positively known if it existed in the country before that time.
In 1732 it crossed the Atlantic and was imported in America. In that year a
lodge was held in "Tun tavern" in Philadelphia, the B.·. having previously
met in Boston, which may be regarded as the birthplace of American Free
Masonry. Henry Price was the first provincial Grand Master appointed by the
Grand Lodge of England on April 30th, 1733.
The same year witnessed its establishment in various cities of Italy. In
1735, the Grand Duke Francis of Lorraine was initiated. He protected the
Masons, and the craft flourished in Italy until 1737, when Juan Gaston of
Medicis, Grand Duke of Tuscany, issued a decree of prohibition against it.
Soon after his death, which occurred the same year, the lodges which had
been closed were reopened. It was not long, however, before they were
denounced to the Pope Clement XII., who issued his bull of 28th of April
1738, and sent an inquisitor to Florence who caused various members of the
society to be cast into dungeons. They were set at liberty as soon as
Francis of Lorraine became Grand Duke of Tuscany. He not only protected the
Masons, but founded lodges in Florence and other places in his estates.
In 1735 a lodge was established in Lisbon the capital of Portugal. It will
be remembered that some of the Knight Templars, under the title of "Knights
of Christ," had kept alive the ancient order in that country in defiance of
the Pope's thunderbolts.
Among the Masons initiated in England were a great many Germans as early as
1730. These seem to have met occasionally in traveling in Germany, or to
have corresponded with each other; but no lodge is known to have existed
previous to the year 1737, when one without name was established in
Hamburg, although Grand Master Lord Strathmore had authorized in 1733,
eleven gentlemen and Brothers to open one.
In 1740, B. Puttman, of the Hamburg lodge, received a patent of Provincial
Grand Master from England, and the lodge assumed the title of Absalom.
King Frederick II., denominated the Great, whilst still Crown Prince, had
been initiated; and from the time of his initiation took great interest in
the welfare of the brotherhood. Crowned King of Prussia, he continued to
give it his support, assuming the title of "_Great master universal, and
Conservator of the most ancient and most respectable association of ancient
free masons or architects of Scotland_." Masonry enjoyed under his reign
such consideration, that many German princes, following his example, were
initiated; and so many of the nobility joined the society, that to belong
to it came to be regarded as a mark of nobility and high breeding.
Notwithstanding his multifarious State duties, and the many wars that took
place during his reign, which demanded his constant attention, he found
time to frame a constitution to cement together again the Order, that at
one time, owing to external persecutions on the one hand, to internal
dissensions, suscitated by the incorporation to it of the Rosicrucians and
still more that of the _Illuminati_ on the other, seemed on the eve of
falling asunder. That constitution, signed by him in his palace at Berlin,
on the 1st of May, 1786, saved Free Masonry from annihilation in Germany,
for many regarding it with suspicion, attacked and persecuted it: the
Catholics because it came from Protestant England; the Protestant clergy
looked upon it as hostile to Christianity, because of the teachings and
symbols altogether Catholic of the 18th degree, those of Rosa Cruz, whose
motto "we have the happiness of being in the pacific unity of the sacred
numbers," and "in the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity," bespeaks
its Jesuit origin. The people believed in the accusation of witchcraft and
sorcery, made against it by its enemies, because of the vail of secrecy
thrown over their meetings.
Authors have endeavored to show that modern free-masonry is not derived
from the mysteries of the ancients. J. G. Findel, an advocate of this
opinion, says: "Seeing that the ancient symbolical marks and ceremonials in
the lodges bear a very striking resemblance to those of the mysteries of
the ancients some have allowed themselves to be deceived, and led others
astray imagining they can trace back the history of the craft into the
cloudy mists of antiquity. Instead of endeavoring to ascertain how and when
these ceremonies were introduced into our present system, they have taken
it for granted that they were derived from the religious mysteries of the
ancients."
Now, if we merely consider the tokens of recognition, the pass words and
secret words, the decorations of the lodges, according to the degrees into
which modern Masonry is divided, tokens, words and decorations nearly all
taken from the Bible and symbolical of events, real or imaginary, some of
which are said to have taken place in comparatively modern times, after the
decline and final discontinuance of the ancient mysteries in consequence of
the spread of Christianity; others having occurred in the early days of the
Christian era; others at the time of the building of Solomon's Temple, all
of which had certainly nothing to do with the religious mysteries of Egypt,
Chaldea, Greece, Etruria, etc., that were instituted ages before the
pretended occurrence of those events, then we may positively affirm that it
is not derived from these. But if, on the other hand, we observe, and it is
difficult to overlook it, that these symbols are precisely the same that we
find in the temples of Egypt, Chaldea, India, and Central America, whatever
may have been the esoteric meaning given to them by the initiated of those
countries, we are bound to admit that a link exists between the ancient
mysteries and Free Masonry. It is for us to try to discover when that link
was riveted and by whom.
If the theory of Chevalier Ramsay be true, that is, if modern Masonry had
its beginning in the Society of Architects founded in Scotland under the
protection of King Robert Bruce, and the title of "Ancient and Accepted
Masons of the Scottish rite," seems to favor that opinion, then we may
trace its origin to the order of Knight Templars; and through them to the
ancient mysteries practiced in the East from times immemorial. It is well
known that one of the charges made against Jacques de Molay and his
associates by their accusers was that they used secret rites in their
initiations. Their four oaths were well known; but not their rites of
initiation. What were they?
We are told that the aim of the Society of Architects was to perpetuate the
ancient Order of the Temple. It is therefore to be presumed that they
continued to observe the rites and ceremonies practiced in the chapters of
the Templars, to use them at the initiations of members into the new
Society, to whom they communicated the intimate meaning of their symbols.
Were these rites analogous to those observed in the initiations to the
symbolical degrees? These degrees were, it must be remembered, the only
ones originally recognized by the brotherhood; as there are but three in
the Society of Jesus; the Neophites--the Coadjutors--and the Profess; as
there were anciently among the priests of the temples of Egypt, who indeed
considered it a great honor to be judged worthy of admission to the third
degree; that is, to participation in the greater mysteries. Was their
explanation of the symbols similar to that taught in M.·. lodges? The
Templars were accused, as Masons are to day, by the Romish Church, since it
has lost its hold and influence on the association, of the crime of heresy,
and many Masons have suffered death by being burnt alive as heretics.
From whom did the Templars receive those symbols, and their esoteric
meaning, in which we plainly trace the doctrine of Pythagoras? No doubt
from the Christians who, like the Emperor Julian, the Bishop Synnesius,
Clement of Alexandria and many other pagan philosophers, who had been
initiated to the mysteries by the priests of Egypt, before being converted
to Christianity. In that case the connection of modern Masonry with the
ancient religious mysteries of Egypt, consequently with those of Greece and
Samothracia is easily traced; and the resemblance of the symbolical marks
and ceremonials of M.·. lodges with those of the mysteries naturally
accounted for. Thus it is that many masonic authors may have been led to
trace the origin of the craft to followers of Pythagoras; and others to the
Essenes and first Christians.
Krause, in his work, has endeavored to prove that Masonry originated in the
associations of operative masons that in the Middle Ages travelled through
Europe, and by whom the cathedrals, monasteries, and castles were built;
whose fundamental laws, traditions, customs and tools are now used in the
lodges in a figurative sense.
These associations may have sprung from the building corporations of the
Romans: if so, we have a connecting link between the lodges of the Middle
Ages and the mysteries of the ancients. The initiates of the architectural
collegia of the Romans did not call themselves Brothers; this is a title
that came into use only when the Christian Masonic fraternities adopted it.
They styled themselves _Collega_ or _Incorporatus_.
They worked in buildings apart or in secluded rooms; and the constitution
of M.·. lodges, so far as the officers, their titles and duties, and the
symbols are concerned, is so similar to theirs that one might be inclined
to believe that the early Masons imitated the Roman collegia.
This theory is not without semblance of plausibility. Rome, during several
centuries, held sway over Gaul and Britain. Roman colonists settled in
various parts of those countries. With their language and customs they
imported many of their institutions and associations. That of the builders
or collegia, as is manifest from the remains still existing of the
magnificent roads and edifices of various kinds constructed by them. The
Collegæ held their lodges wherever they established themselves; no doubt
initiated new members. In the course of time, when those countries freed
themselves from the yoke of Rome, these societies of builders became the
associations of the itinerant operative masons which inherited the symbols,
tokens and pass words of the Collegæ. These, in all probability, had
received them, either from the Chaldean magicians, who flocked to Rome at
the beginning of the Christian era, when the progress of philosophical
incredulity had shaken the confidence in legal divination; or from some of
the priests of inferior order, all initiated to part of the lesser
mysteries, that, when the sacerdotal class having lost in majesty, power
and wealth, in order to preserve whole its numerous hierarchy, repaired to
the Capital of the world to escape misery by levying contributions on the
credulity and superstition of the people.
The Christian Church, on the one hand, the Roman emperors on the other,
fearing the influence of those magicians and priests, persecuted them even
to death. These learned and wise men formed secret societies to preserve
and transmit their knowledge. These societies lasted during the Middle
Ages--the Rosicrucians, the Theurgists, among them. Leibnitz, one of the
greatest men of science that ever lived, who died in Hanover, in 1716, at
the age of seventy years, became a member of one of these societies; and
there received an instruction he had vainly sought elsewhere.
Were their mysterious meetings remnants of the ancient learned initiations?
Everything tends to make us suspect it. The trials and examinations to
which those who applied for initiation were obliged to submit; the nature
of the secrets they possessed; the manner in which they were preserved. In
these again may be found an explanation of why so many of the Pythagorean
doctrines made their way into Masonry.
Of the ceremonies performed at the initiation into the mysteries of Egypt
we know but little at present, for the initiated were very careful to
conceal these sacred rites. Herodotus tells that if any person divulged any
part of them, he was thought to have called down Divine judgment upon his
head, and it was accounted unsafe to abide in the same house with him. He
was even apprehended as a public offender and put to death.
Still, on reading the visions in the book of Henoch, and comparing them
with what we know of the trials to which were subjected the applicants for
initiation into the greater mysteries of Eleusis and Egypt, and those of
Xibalba, one can scarcely refrain from believing that, under the title of
Visions, the author relates his experience at the initiation, and what he
learned in the mysteries before being converted to Christianity. That book
is believed to have been written at the beginning of the Christian era,
when, under the yoke of the Roman emperors, the customs and religion of the
Egyptians fell into decadency; and the Christian bishops of Alexandria,
such as George, Theophilus, Cyril, the murderer of the beautiful, learned
and noble Hypathia, daughter of the mathematician Theon, persecuted the
worshipers of Isis and Osiris, and converted their temples into Christian
churches, after defacing and whitewashing the ancient sculptures that
covered their walls, on which they painted rough images of saints. It may
be that its author, although having embraced Christianity, still retained
in his heart of hearts a strong love for the ancient institutions that were
fast disappearing in the midst of the political and religious dissensions
that were raging at the time. Fearing lest the learning of the priests of
old and the knowledge he had acquired by his initiation into the mysteries
should become lost, the dread of death being removed by the new order of
things, he put, for greater safety, in the mouth of Henoch, as instructing
his son, what he had seen and learned in the secrecy of the temples.
Let us hope that further discoveries in the ruins of the temples, or in the
tombs, may put into our possession some papyrus whose contents will throw
light on the subject, and reveal these secrets. The masonic objects found
under the base of the obelisk, known as Cleopatra's needle, now in Central
Park, New York, show that many of the symbols pertaining to the rites of
modern Free Masonry, were used in Egypt by building organizations and
architects at least 1900 years ago. And although I do not agree with all
the conclusions of Dr. Fanton, notwithstanding they are approved by some of
the high masons at Cairo and Alexandria, I am ready to recognize many of
the emblems, and admit that they belonged to the mysteries, if their
meaning anciently was not quite the same as we give them to-day.
The reluctance of the Egyptians to admit strangers to the holy secret of
their mysteries was for a very long time insuperable. However, they seem to
have relaxed at rare intervals, in favor of personages noted for their
wisdom and knowledge. So they admitted the great philosopher Thales, who
went to Egypt to learn geometry and astronomy, about 587 years before the
Christian era. Eumolpus, king of Eleusis, who, on returning to his country,
instituted the mysteries of that name in honor of the goddess Ceres, that
presided over the crops and other fruits of the earth. Orpheus, the
celebrated Greek poet, obtained likewise the honor of the initiation, and
established the Orphic ceremonies, which, according to Herodotus, were
observed alike by the Egyptians and the Pythagoreans. It must be remembered
that Pythagoras, after being submitted to extremely severe ordeals, to
cause him to desist from his desire of being initiated, was, on account of
his firmness, granted the privilege of initiation. Many of the rites and
ceremonies were therefore brought from Egypt to Greece. Speaking of the
Thesmophoria festivals in honor of Ceres, next in importance to the
mysteries of Eleusis, Herodotus says: "These rites were brought from Egypt
into Greece by the daughters of Danaus, who taught them to the Pelagic
women; but in the course of time they fell into disuse, except among the
Arcadians who continued to preserve them. The Pelasgians had also initiated
the inhabitants of Samothracia. They in turn taught the Athenians the
mysteries of the 'Cabiri.'"
From that it results that if we desire to obtain an insight of the Egyptian
mysteries, we must see what happened at the initiation into those of
Greece.
[Illustration]
No one could be admitted to the greater unless they had been purified at
the lesser, and one year at least had elapsed since they had become
_mystai_ or initiated.
The initiation to the greater mysteries when the _Mystai_ took the degree
of _Ephoroi_, that is Inspector, by being instructed in the secret rites,
except a few reserved for the priests alone, was as follows:
The candidate, being crowned with myrtle, which was used instead of the
acacia, was admitted by night into an immense building called the _Mystikos
Sêkos_, that is the "mystical enclosure." At their entrance they purified
themselves by washing their hands in holy water, being at the same time
admonished to present themselves with minds pure and undefiled, without
which external cleanliness of the body would by no means be accepted. After
this the holy mysteries were read to them from a book called _Petrôma_,
because the book consisted of two stones fitly cemented together. I have
discovered such stones, last year, in the mausoleum of high pontiff _Cay_,
in the city of Chichen-Itza, in Yucatan. The priest who conducted the
ceremonies was called _hierophantês_. He proposed certain questions, to
which answers were returned in a set form. Then, strange and amazing
objects presented themselves. Sometimes the place they were in seemed to
shake, as if an earthquake was occurring, or whirl round and round as if
carried away in a tornado. Sometimes it appeared bathed in bright and
resplendent light, and flames seemed to issue from the walls, threatening
to consume the temple; and all of a sudden they were extinguished by
invisible hands, and the most profound obscurity succeeded to the dazzling
radiance. Flashes of lightning, at intervals, broke forth with extreme
brilliancy, only to make the darkness more dark, when peal after peal of
thunder caused the building to shake to its very foundations. These were
succeeded by loud cries for help and laments of persons in great agony;
soon to be replaced by the most frightful noises and bellowings, and
terrible apparitions. The nerves of the applicants were tried to the
utmost, and required to be strung by the most indomitable will and moral as
well as physical courage, to enable them to withstand to the last such
awful trials.
All the faint hearted were invariably rejected and refused admission to the
next degree, the _Epopteia_, or Inspection. Powerful narcotic drugs were
administered to the timorous, that plunged them into a deathlike sleep,
from which they emerged with but confused recollections, if not entire
forgetfulness, of the terrible scenes they had witnessed, and which they
believed to be produced by some frightful dream or dreadful nightmare.
I will now quote from the book of Henoch. Chap. xiv. ver. 12.--"I saw a
spacious habitation built with stones of crystal. The roof had the
appearance of agitating stars and flashes of lightning. Flames burnt around
its walls, its portals blazed with fire. This dwelling was hot as
fire--cold as ice." Chap. xvii. ver. 1.--"They raised me up into a certain
place where there was the appearance of burning fire, and when they
pleased, they assumed the likeness of men,--(ver. 3)--and I beheld the
receptacles of light and of thunder at the extremities of the place. There
was a bow of fire and arrows in their quiver--a sword of fire and every
species of lightning."
Chap. xxi. vers. 4.--"Then I passed to another terrific place--(ver.
5)--where I beheld the operation of a great fire blazing and glittering, in
the midst of which there was a division--columns of fire struggled together
to the end of the abyss and deep was their descent. (Ver 6.)--This was the
place of suffering."
Those who resisted to the last the trials of the _Autopsia_, as the
initiation was called, were then dismissed with these three words: _Kon-x
Om Pan-x_, which, strange to say, have no meaning in the Greek language.
Captain Wilford, in his Essay on Egypt, says they correspond to the words
_Cansha Om Pansha_, which the Brahmins pronounce every day to announce to
the devotees that the religious ceremonies are over. They have been
translated, "retire, O retire, profane!" Corresponding to the _ite missa
est_ of the Catholic Church.
These words are not Sanscrit, but Maya. "_Con-ex Omon Panex_," go,
stranger, scatter! are vocables, of the language of the ancient inhabitants
of Yucatan, still spoken by their descendants, the aborigines of that
country. They were probably used by the priests of the temples, whose
sumptuous and awe-inspiring ruins I have studied during fourteen years, to
dismiss the members of their mystic societies, among which we find the same
symbols that are seen even to-day in the temples of Egypt as in the M.·.
lodges.
I will endeavor to show you that the ancient sacred mysteries, the origin
of Free Masonry consequently, date back from a period far more remote than
the most sanguine students of its history ever imagined. I will try to
trace their origin, step by step, to this continent which we inhabit,--to
America--from where Maya colonists transported their ancient religious
rites and ceremonies, not only to the banks of the Nile, but to those of
the Euphrates, and the shores of the Indian Ocean, not less than 11,500
years ago.
But let us return to the mysteries of Eleusis. In the trials to which the
_Mystai_ were subjected to try their fitness to become _Ephoroi_, Masons no
doubt recognize several of the ceremonies that took place at their
initiation into the craft. If Free Masonry had not its origin in the
ancient Sacred Mysteries, how could these rites have found their way into
it?
The Ephoroi were now prepared for the third degree, the _Epopteia_--the
most sacred of all. In this the _Epoptai_ or "Inspectors of themselves"
were placed in presence of the gods, who were supposed to appear to the
initiated. Proclus, a philosopher, disciple of the divine Plato, in his
commentaries on the Republic of his master, says: "In all initiations and
mysteries, the gods exhibit themselves under many forms, and appear in a
variety of shapes. Sometimes their unfigured light is held forth to view.
Sometimes this light appears under a human form, and sometimes it assumes a
different shape." And again, in his commentaries on the first Alcibiades:
"In the most holy of the mysteries, before the god appears, the impulsions
of certain terrestrial demons become visible, alluring the initiated from
undefiled good to matter." Then all the seductions that human mind can
imagine to excite the passions were placed within the grasp of those who
aspired to become Epoptai. They were invited to freely give way to
voluptuousness, to the enjoyment of all kind of mundane pleasures, before
they renounced them forever. Nothing that could possibly entice applicants
to fall from their state of moral and physical purity was omitted; all that
could be done to induce them to yield to temptation was resorted to. If in
a moment of weakness they allowed their senses to obtain the mastery over
their reason, woe to them! for before they could realize their position,
before they had time to recall their scattered thoughts, the bright
surroundings disappeared as by magic; they were plunged in the most dense
obscurity; the ground gave way under their feet; and they were precipitated
into a deep abyss, from which if they escaped with their life, they never
did with their reason.
Theon of Smyrna, in his work Matematica, divides the mysteries into five
parts.
1. The purification.
2. The reception of sacred rites.
3. The Epopteia, or reception.
4. End and design of the revelation, the building of the head and fixing of
the crowns.
5. The friendship and interior communion with God, the last and most awful
of all the mysteries.
It is supposed the prophet Ezekiel alludes to these initiations, when he
speaks of the abominations committed by the idolatrous ancients of the
house of Israel in the dark, every man in the chambers of its imagery.
Here again, I will quote from the book of Henoch: Chap. xxii.--"From thence
I proceeded to another spot where I saw on the West a great and lofty
mountain, a strong rock and four delightful places."
Chap. xiv. ver. 14.--"Then I went to another habitation more spacious than
the former. Every entrance which was opened before me was erected in the
midst of a vibrating flame. Ver. 18.--Its floor was on fire, above were
lightning and agitated stars, whilst its roof exhibited a blazing fire.
Ver. 21.--One of great glory sat upon the orb of the brilliant sun. Ver.
24.--A fire of great extent continued to rise up before him."
It is said that the ordeal through which the candidates were obliged to
pass previous to admission into the Egyptian mysteries, were even more
severe, and that Pythagoras, wise philosopher as he was, had a narrow
escape from it.
The priests alone could arrive at a thorough understanding of the
mysteries. So sacred were their secrets held that many of the members of
the sacerdotal order, even, were not admitted to a participation of them;
but those alone who proved themselves deserving of the honor; since Clement
of Alexandria, tells us: "the Egyptians neither entrusted their mysteries
to every one, nor degraded the secrets of divine matters by disclosing them
to the profane, reserving them for the heir apparent to the throne, and for
such of the priests as excelled in virtue and wisdom."