The Symbolism Of Freemasonry Part 31

189. Desprez, speaking of the palm as an emblem of victory, says (Comment. in Horat. Od. I. i. 5), "Palma ver signum victoriae pa.s.sim apud omnes statuitur, ex Plutarcho, propterea quod ea est ejus natura ligni, ut urgentibus opprimentibusque minime cedat. Unde est illud Alciati epigramma,-

'Nit.i.tur in pondus palma, et consurgit in altum: Quoque magis premitur, hoc mage tollit onus.'"

It is in the eighth book of his Symposia that Plutarch states this peculiar property of the palm to resist the oppression of any superinc.u.mbent weight, and to rise up against it, whence it was adopted as the symbol of victory. Cowley also alludes to it in his Davideis.

"Well did he know how palms by oppression speed Victorious, and the vctor's sacred meed."

190. "Rosemary was anciently supposed to strengthen the memory, and was not only carried at funerals, but worn at weddings."-STEEVENS, Notes on Hamlet, a. iv. s. 5.-Douce (Ill.u.s.trations of Shakspeare, i. 345) gives the following old song in reference to this subject:-

"Rosemarie is for remembrance Betweene us daie and night, Wis.h.i.+ng that I might always have You present in my sight."

191. Ste. Croix (Recherches sur les Mysteres, i. 56) says that in the Samothracian Mysteries it was forbidden to put parsley on the table, because, according to the mystagogues, it had been produced by the blood of Cadmillus, slain by his brothers.

192. "The Hindoos," says Faber, "represent their mundane lotus, as having four large leaves and four small leaves placed alternately, while from the centre of the flower rises a protuberance. Now, the circular cup formed by the eight leaves they deem a symbol of the earth, floating on the surface of the ocean, and consisting of four large continents and four intermediate smaller islands; while the centrical protuberance is viewed by them as representing their sacred Mount Menu."-Communication to Gent. Mag. vol. lx.x.xvi. p. 408.

193. The erica arborea or tree heath.

194. Ragon thus alludes to this mystical event: "Isis found the body of Osiris in the neighborhood of Biblos, and near a tall plant called the erica. Oppressed with grief, she seated herself on the margin of a fountain, whose waters issued from a rock. This rock is the small hill mentioned in the ritual; the erica has been replaced by the acacia, and the grief of Isis has been changed for that of the fellow crafts."-Cours des Initiations, p. 151.

195. It is singular, and perhaps significant, that the word eriko, in Greek, ?????, whence erica is probably derived, means to break in pieces, to mangle.

196. Histoire Pittoresque des Religions, t. i. p. 217.

197. According to Toland (Works, i. 74), the festival of searching, cutting, and consecrating the mistletoe, took place on the 10th of March, or New Year's day. "This," he says, "is the ceremony to which Virgil alludes, by his golden branch, in the Sixth Book of the aeneid." No doubt of it; for all these sacred plants had a common origin in some ancient and general symbolic idea.

198. "Under this branch is figured the wreath of myrtle, with which the initiated were crowned at the celebration of the Mysteries."-WARBURTON, Divine Legation, vol. i. p. 299.

199. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." Gen. iii. 19. Bush interprets the decree to mean that "some species of toilsome occupation is the appointed lot of all men."

200. Aristotle says, "He that cannot contract society with others, or who, through his own self-sufficiency a?t???e?a?, does not need it, forms no part of the community, but is either a wild beast or a G.o.d."

201. "Der Arbeiter," says Lenning, "ist der symbolische Name eines Freimaurers"-the Workman is the symbolic name of a Freemason.-Encyclop. der Fraumererei.

202. John iii. 19-21.

203. I Corinth, iii. 9.

204. Orbis Miraculum, or the Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light, ch. ix. p. 192. London, 1659.

205. Swedenborg a Hermetic Philosopher, &c., p. 210. The object of the author is to show that the Swedish sage was an adept, and that his writings may be interpreted from the point of view of Hermetic philosophy.

206. Cours Philosophique et Interpretatif des Initiations Anciennes et Modernes, p. 99.

207. Ibid., p. 176.

208. Histoire Generale de la Franc-maconnerie, p. 52.

209. Histoire de la Magie, liv. v. ch. vii. p. 100.

210. Vorlesung uber das Symbol des Tempels, in the "Jarbuchern der Gross. Loge Roy. York zur Freundschaft," cited by Lenning, Encyc., voc. Tempel.

211. In an Essay on the Masonic Idea of Man's Destination, cited by Lenning, ut supra, from the Altenburg Zeitschift der Freimaurerei.

212. Cited by Lenning, ut sup.

213. Thus Dr. Oliver, while treating of the relation of the temple to the lodge, thus briefly alludes to this important symbol: "As our ancient brethren erected a material temple, without the use of axe, hammer, or metal tool, so is our moral temple constructed."-Historical Landmarks, lect. x.x.xi.

214. System of Speculative Masonry, ch. vi. p. 63.

215. On the Speculative Temple-an essay read in 1861 before the Grand Lodge of Alabama.

216. A portion of this essay, but in a very abridged form, was used by the author in his work on "Cryptic Masonry."

217. Hist. Landmarks, i. 459, note 52.

218. ??? ????? See the Gemara and Buxtorf Lex. Talm., p. 2541.

219. Job x.x.xviii. 4-7.

220. A New Translation of the Book of Job, notes, p. 196.

221. In voc. ?????, where some other curious extracts from the Talmud and Talmudic writers on the subject of the Stone of Foundation are given.

222. Sepher Toldoth Jeshu, p. 6. The abominably scurrilous character of this work aroused the indignation of the Christians, who, in the fifteenth century, were not distinguished for a spirit of tolerance, and the Jews, becoming alarmed, made every effort to suppress it. But, in 1681, it was republished by Wagenselius in his "Tela Ignea Satanae," with a Latin translation.

223. Comment, on Gen. xxviii. 18.

224. "Ni fallit fatum, Scoti quocunque locatum Invenient lapidem, regnare tenentur ibidem."

225. Old and New Testament connected, vol. i. p. 148.

226. The Temple of Solomon, pourtrayed by Scripture Light, ch. ix. p. 194. Of the Mysteries laid up in the Foundation of the Temple.

227. See Pausanias, lib. iv.

228. The "Disputationes adversus Gentes" of Arn.o.bius supplies us with a fund of information on the symbolism of the cla.s.sic mythology.

229. Naology, ch. iii. p. 119.

230. Cornut. de Nat. Deor. c. 16.

231. Essais sur les Fables, t. i. lett. 2. p. 9.

232. Bosworth (Aug. Sax. Dict.) defines treowth to signify "troth, truth, treaty, league, pledge, covenant."