posted on Nov, 24 2002 @ 01:55 PM
with Lucifer being symbolized by Venus. That, however does not exclude it from being 'Satan'. I quote Morals and Dogma again with regards to the
Mysteries, Sun worship (ie Phallic worship) etc.
pg 366 "Our lodges are said to be due East and West, because the Master represents the rising Sun..." back to pg 12 "The three lesser, of the
Sublime, Lights...are the Sun, the Moon, and the Master of the Lodge. But the Sun and Moon do in no sense light the Lodge, unless it be symbolically,
and then the lights are not they, but those things of which they are symbols." pg 13 " The Sun (capitalized) is the ancient symbol of the
life-giving and GENERATIVE POWER of the Deity." pg 15 "...Osiris, himself symbolized by the Sun..." pg 697 "Long known as...Adonai; ...the
Rival of Bal and Osiris..." (here he denotes Adonai, the God of the bible as being rival of Osiris, represented by the Sun, a symbol of the Master of
the Lodge) and more significantly pg 776 " The Sun is the hieroglyphical sign of Truth, because it is the source of Light;" back to pg 77
"...thousands of years ago, men worshipped the Sun...Originally they looked beyond the orb to the invisible God." and forward to pg 593 " The
worship of the Sun became the basis for all of the religions of antiquity." pg 477 "The Sun...his is the All-Seeing Eye in our Lodges." forward to
pg 506 "...the Blazing Star has been regarded as an emblem of Omniscience, or the All-Seeing Eye, which, to the ancients was the Sun." To bring the
subject into the realm of religion itself; pg 213 "Every Masonic Lodge is a temple of religion; and its teachings are instructions in religion."
furthermore pg 7 "Every Lodge is a Temple..." pg 352 "Among most of the Ancient Nations, there was, in addition to their public worship, a private
one styled the Mysteries; to which those only were admitted who had been prepared by certain ceremonies called initiations." forward to pg 483
"...and our lodges (which as shown are temples) are full of ancient symbols." and forward to pg 624 "...Masonry is identical with the Ancient
Mysteries..." compare the above with pg 205 "The ancient symbols and allegories always had more than one interpretation. They always had more than
one interpretation."
To take us out of Morals and Dogma and quote some of his other works and that of Manley P. Hall I will lead with a last quote from Morals and Dogma pg
330 (Masonry)"...hatches no PREMATURE revolutions." Manley P. Hall writes on pg 451 of Lectures on Ancient Philosophy in regards to Masonry (It
is)"...the most powerful organization in the land." In another of his works (The Lost Keys of Freemasonry) pg 100 "Masonry is an ordainer of
Kings. Its hand has shaped the destinies of worlds." In yet another of Halls works (What the Ancient Wisdom Expects of its Disciples) pg 58. "We
(the Masons) are the invisible powers behind the thrones of earth, and men are but marionettes, dancing while the invisible ones pull the strings. We
see the dancer, but the master mind that does the work remains concealed by the cloak of silence." Back to Morals and Dogma pg 817 "The world will
soon come to us for its Sovereigns and Pontiffs. We shall constitute the equilibrium of the Universe, and be rulers over Masters of the World." Last
but not least Pike identifies the difference between Lucifer and Satan, and as I have suggested, which Freemason picked up on, the aspect of
Gnosticism...pg 102 "...Satan...this is not a Person, but a force, created for good (remember good = Light), but which may serve as evil. It is the
instrument of Liberty or Free Will." In other words Satan is the voice of reason, which Pike alludes to being the true freedom for man, which is, The
Light, thusly the Light of Reason. GNOSTICISM.
I would prefer not to use the Bible as the sole determiner of what is good and what is evil. That in itself is a completely different issue. Suffice
it to say, it seems as though Pike and like authors did, which is unfortunate, as it contains many of the difficulties and fallacies of which you
spoke of in your previous post. Lucifer is Latin for Light bringer. In the Aramaic Hebrew, the word used was 'Ahtar' which is Chaldean Ishtar, or
Astarte, once more represented by the personification of Venus, Semiramis, the morning star. It is also translated from the Greek words 'fenex',
which, in newer transliterations became 'venus', meaning 'shining one' and 'Xiuv' meaning 'force of light' or 'wisdom of light', which,
translated into the Latin Vulgate by Jerome, was standardized to 'Lucifer' the Light-Bringer or Bearer. Further more 'fenex' was also the ancient
Greek spelling for Phoenix, which was worshipped as the bright and morning star. The morning star was, to the Egyptians, the nocturnal representation
of the hidden Sun-God, Osiris, who as we see from Pike, represents the All-Seeing Eye of the Lodges, the Master, the Light. I would like to wrap up by
mentioning an excerpt from the end of the 'physical Lecture' for the 28th Degree Knights Adept of the Eagle, or the Sun. "Q: What represents the
Sun? A: It is an emblem of Divinity, which we ought to regard as the image of God. This immense body represents the infinity of God's wonderful will,
as the only source of Light and good. The heat of the Sun produces the rule of the seasons, recruits nature, takes darkness from the winter, in order
that the deliciousness of spring might occur." To continue the General Lecture, 7th question "Q: And do you desire to rise from this darkness? A:
My desire is to come to the celestial truth, and to travel by the Light of the Sun." next "Q: What represents that body? A: It is the figure of
the only God to whom we ought to pay our adoration. The Sun being the emblem of God, we ought to regard it as the image of the Divinity." next "Q:
What does the triangle, with the Sun in the centre represent? A: It represents the immensity of the Supreme." and the Gnostic question, "Q: What
signifies the three S.S.S.? A: Sanctitas, Scientia, and Syrentia, which signify the science accompanied with wisdom, and make men holy." more, "Q:
What signifies the three candlesticks? A: ---------. Q: Has it any other meaning? A: Yes, the Triple Light that shines among us in order to take men
out of darkness and ignorance into which they are plunged, and to bring them to virtue, truth and happiness, a symbol of OUR PERFECTION." further on,
"Q: What signifies Lux ex tenebris? A: A man made clear by the Light of reason."
Those were taken from the documents that Albert Pike used to re-configure the rituals of the degrees, so, admittedly, they may have changed, but not
to a very great degree (pun intended).
Who fell into who's trap?
[Edited on 24-11-2002 by Ma-Ha-Bone]
[Edited on 24-11-2002 by Ma-Ha-Bone]
[Edited on 25-11-2002 by Ma-Ha-Bone]
[Edited on 26-11-2002 by Ma-Ha-Bone]