Chapter M (3)

[174] Dr. Beard, in the art. "Golgotha," in Kitto's Encyc. of Bib. Lit., reasons in a similar method as to the place of the crucifixion, and supposing that the soldiers, from the fear of a popular tumult, would hurry Jesus to the most convenient spot for execution, says, "Then the road to Joppa or Damascus would be most convenient, and no spot in the vicinity would probably be so suitable as the slight rounded elevation which bore the name of Calvary."

[175] Some have supposed that it was so called because it was the place of public execution. _Gulgoleth_ in Hebrew, or _gogultho_ in Syriac, means _a skull_.

[176] Quoted in Oliver, _Landmarks_, vol. i. p. 587, note.

[177] Oliver's idea (_Landmarks_, ii. 149) that _cassia_ has, since the year 1730, been corrupted into _acacia_, is contrary to all etymological experience. Words are corrupted, not by lengthening, but by abbreviating them. The uneducated and the careless are always prone to cut off a syllable, not to add a new one.

[178] And yet I have been surprised by seeing, once or twice, the word "Cassia" adopted as the name of a lodge. "Cinnamon" or "sandal wood" would have been as appropriate, for any masonic meaning or symbolism.

[179] Eclog. ii. 49.

"Pallentes violas et summa papavera carpens,
Narcissum et florem jungit benè olentis anethi:
Tum casia, atque aliis intexens suavibus herbis,
Mollia luteola pingit vaccinia, caltha."

[180] Exod. xxx. 24, Ezek. xxvii. 9, and Ps. xlv. 8.

[181] Oliver, it is true, says, that "there is not the smallest trace of any tree of the kind growing so far north as Jerusalem" (_Landm._ ii. 136); but this statement is refuted by the authority of Lieutenant Lynch, who saw it growing in great abundance at Jericho, and still farther north.--_Exped. to the Dead Sea_, p. 262.--The Rabbi Joseph Schwarz, who is excellent authority, says, "The Acacia (Shittim) Tree, Al Sunt, is found in Palestine of different varieties; it looks like the Mulberry tree, attains a great height, and has a hard wood. The gum which is obtained from it is the gum Arabic."--_Descriptive Geography and Historical Sketch of Palestine_, p. 308, Leeser's translation. Phila., 1850.--Schwarz was for sixteen years a resident of Palestine, and wrote from personal observation. The testimony of Lynch and Schwarz should, therefore, forever settle the question of the existence of the acacia in Palestine.

[182] Calmet, Parkhurst, Gesenius, Clarke, Shaw, and all the best authorities, concur in saying that the _otzi shittim_, or shittim wood of Exodus, was the common acacia or mimosa nilotica of Linnæus.

[183] "This custom among the Hebrews arose from this circumstance. Agreeably to their laws, no dead bodies were allowed to be interred within the walls of the city; and as the Cohens, or priests, were prohibited from crossing a grave, it was necessary to place marks thereon, that they might avoid them. For this purpose the acacia was used."--DALCHO, _Oration_, p. 27, note.--I object to the reason assigned by Dalcho; but of the existence of the custom there can be no question, notwithstanding the denial or doubt of Dr. Oliver. Blount (_Travels in the Levant_, p. 197) says, speaking of the Jewish burial customs, "those who bestow a marble stone over any [grave] have a hole a yard long and a foot broad, in which _they plant an evergreen_, which seems to grow from the body, and is carefully watched." Hasselquist (_Travels_, p. 28) confirms his testimony. I borrow the citations from Brown (_Antiquities of the Jews_, vol. ii. p. 356), but have verified the reference to Hasselquist. The work of Blount I have not been enabled to consult.

[184] Antiquities of Greece, p. 569.

[185] Dr. Crucefix, MS., quoted by Oliver, _Landmarks_, ii. 2.

[186] Spirit of Masonry, lect. ix. p. 99.

[187] The Temple of Solomon, ch. ix. p. 233.

[188] It is probable that the quince derived this symbolism, like the acacia, from its name; for there seems to be some connection between the Greek word ϗυδώνιος, which means _a quince_, and the participle ϗυδίων, which signifies _rejoicing, exulting_. But this must have been an afterthought, for the name is derived from Cydon, in Crete, of which island the quince is a native.

[189] Desprez, speaking of the palm as an emblem of victory, says (_Comment. in Horat. Od._ I. i. 5), "Palma verò signum victoriae passim apud omnes statuitur, ex Plutarcho, propterea quod ea est ejus natura ligni, ut urgentibus opprimentibusque minimè cedat. Unde est illud Alciati epigramma,--

'Nititur in pondus palma, et consurgit in altum:
Quoque magis premitur, hoc magè 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 superincumbent 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 victor'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 (_Illustrations of Shakspeare_, i. 345) gives the following old song in reference to this subject:--

"Rosemarie is for remembrance
Betweene us daie and night,
Wishing that I might always have
You present in my sight."

[191] Ste. Croix (_Recherches sur les Mystères_, 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. lxxxvi. 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, ἐρίϗω, 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 Æneid." 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 αὐτάρϗειαν, does not need it, forms no part of the community, but is either a wild beast or a god."

[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 Interprétatif des Initiations Anciennes et Modernes, p. 99.

[207] Ibid., p. 176.

[208] Histoire Générale de la Franc-maçonnerie, p. 52.

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

[210] Vorlesung über das Symbol des Tempels, in the "Jarbüchern 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. xxxi.

[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] הייתש ךבא See the Gemara and Buxtorf Lex. Talm., p. 2541.

[219] Job xxxviii. 4-7.

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

[221] In voc. הייתש, 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 Arnobius supplies us with a fund of information on the symbolism of the classic 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."

End of Project Gutenberg's The Symbolism of Freemasonry, by Albert G. Mackey