![]()
![]() Most of the great, cryptic minds whom we admire, reference and quote were initiates of the inner circles of these schools. In fact, these were the "orders of priesthood" into which our ancient friend and Brother, Pythagoras, was initiated. He was welcomed into the Egyptian, Babylonian and Brahmanic Mysteries, his name being preserved in the records of the latter as the "Ionian Teacher," according to Frank C. Higgins, 32°, in his Ancient Freemasonry. Upon his return to Greece to establish his own mystic school at Crotona, he was both satisfied and unsurprised to have found that they all taught the same moral and spiritual realities. This wise initiate, who exclaimed, "eureka," upon uncovering that which was lost, was not a Mason in the modern sense of the word, as Masonry in its modern form did not exist then. He is regarded as such, however, due to the fact that the various Mystery traditions into which he was initiated inculcated the same sublime truths and principles found in Freemasonry. A thorough study of the Ancient Mysteries, wherever they are to be found, will evidence most clearly and unquestionably their relation to modern Freemasonry. Manly P. Hall, 33°, notes that "the school of the Druids was divided into three distinct parts, and the secret teachings embodied therein are practically the same as the mysteries concealed under the allegories of Blue Lodge Masonry," (The Secret Teachings of All Ages). Intense examination of character and morals was required of candidates for the Mysteries, and they were obligated to secrecy once initiated, familiar penalties being the consequence for the violation thereof. Candidates were made to enact the local cultural myths and legends which were employed to instruct them in abstract matters concerning the dichotomies of spirit and matter, body and soul, morality and metaphysics, or the science of the invisible in its relation with the visible. A contextual symbol of importance here is the square and compass, and behind it lies a profound metaphysical implication. In the expositions which will follow in subsequent publications, we shall continue to explore the Masonic Mysteries as a perpetuation of an ancient yet ageless teaching. ![]() |