Londons occult symbolism & freemasonry secret geometry
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The name Hiram Abiff is not found in Scripture. Yet, the Masonic account of Hiram is often said to be based upon the Holy Bible. In the Master Mason degree, in that portion of the ritual known as the Legend of the Third Degree, there are three central characters. The story line is set around the building of Solomon’s temple. The characters, King Solomon, Hiram - the King of Tyre and Hiram Abiff are all taken from the Scriptural account of the temple building. King Solomon and Hiram King of Tyre are mentioned many times in the Scriptures, such as in 1 Kings 5. About the closest the Scriptures come to Hiram Abiff is Huram-Abi which is found in 2 Chronicles 2:13 in the NAS and NIV translations. Huram is a variant of Hiram. In the KJV translation of the verse, the name Hiram is found. The KJV uses both Huram (2 Chron 2:3) and Hiram (1 Kings 5) to identify Hiram the King of Tyre. The KJV translation of 2 Chron 2:13 does not contain -abi, but rather "Huram my father’s." The Hebrew word from which the KJV "father’s" was translated is "‘ab," according to the Hebrew Dictionary found in Strong’s Concordance. Strong’s entry for the word ‘ab (H1) indicates that it can also mean father-less, as the son of a widow would be. The entry for H1 also mentions "Abi-." Studying the various translations along with a Hebrew dictionary allows us to see how Freemasonry may have settled on the name Hiram Abi-ff, also sometimes spelled Abif.
Hiram King of Tyre wrote a letter to King Solomon, advising him that he was sending Huram-Abi to work on the temple. That letter is documented in 2 Chron 2:11-14. The fact that Hiram-Abi was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali is confirmed in Scripture:
King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him.
1 Kings 7:13-14
Although the most important element of Masonic symbolism deals with the death, burial and resurrection of Hiram Abiff, there is nothing in Scripture to support it. Masonic Grand Lodges have stated that the account is not based upon fact, but rather is an allegory, used to teach.
Hiram Abiff in Masonic Ritual
During the Legend of the Third Degree, the candidate portrays Hiram Abiff in the ritual. He is blindfolded and led through the ritual by a conductor. In Masonic ritual, Hiram Abiff is not a worker of brass as in Scripture, but rather the Grand Master at the building of Solomon’s temple. Each day, he lays out the work for the workmen to complete. There are Fellowcrafts who work on the temple who are to be given the secrets of a Master Mason as compensation - when the temple is completed. Once they have the secrets of a Master Mason they will earn the wages of a Master. A group of fifteen Fellowcrafts decide that they do not want to wait until the work is completed. They form a plot which only three of them carry through. The three "ruffians" sequentially accost Hiram at the East gate, the South gate and the West gate. A similar dialog occurs at each temple entrance. The ruffian demands the secrets of a Master Mason. Hiram explains that this is neither the time, nor the place; the secrets can only be revealed in the presence of three, King Solomon, Hiram the King of Tyre and myself. The ruffian demands, "Your life, or the secrets." Hiram responds, "My life you can have, my integrity - never." When they fail to get what they want, they strike Hiram with one of the working tools and he staggers to the next gate and the next encounter. The third ruffian is also unable to extract the secrets from Hiram Abiff. He strikes Hiram on the head with a setting maul and kills him. Hiram willingly laid down his life rather than betray his trust.
The ruffians have not achieved their goal and they have a body to dispose of. They bury the body in temple rubble and plan to return at midnight to give the body a more decent burial. At midnight, they return and carry the body to a hill west of Mt. Moriah, where Hiram Abiff is reburied. The next day, Hiram is nowhere to be found. A search is conducted. The Fellowcrafts who did not go through with the conspiracy confess the plot. A grave is found; the body of Hiram is found within it. Hiram Abiff has been in the grave for 15 days. King Solomon gives the order for the body to be raised using the grips of the Entered Apprentice and then the Fellowcraft. Those efforts are unsuccessful. King Solomon states that he fears that with the death of Hiram Abiff the word of a Master Mason has been lost. Therefore, the first word spoken after Hiram is raised from the grave will be the substitute until the lost word can be recovered. At that point, King Solomon raises Hiram Abiff from "a dead level to a living perpendicular" using the real grip of a Master Mason, also known as the Lion’s Paw. He embraces Hiram on the five points of fellowship, standing foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back and mouth to ear. King Solomon, played by the Worshipful Master, then whispers the substitute for the lost word in Hiram’s ear. That word is Ma-Ha-Bone. Following the Master Mason Lecture, the following words are spoken:
Then, finally my brethren, let us imitate our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, in his virtuous conduct, his unfeigned piety to God, and his inflexible fidelity to his trust; that, like him, we may welcome the grim tyrant, Death, and receive him as a kind messenger sent by our Supreme Grand Master, to translate us from this imperfect to that all-perfect, glorious, and celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.
When this conclusion to the ritual is reread carefully, breaking it down phrase by phrase, it is easy to see that what it actually says is that, "Masonic brethren should imitate Hiram Abif to get into heaven." Notice that Freemasonry does not urge Freemasons to have faith in Hiram Abiff. When the words from the ritual are analyzed carefully, it is clear that Freemasonry is substituting imitation for faith and Hiram for Jesus - as the means to gaining entry into heaven, following death.
Certainly a Christian who is fluent in English and understands what salvation is will interpret these words as a plan of salvation. Many, many Masons who claim to be Christians take issue with this interpretation and flatly deny that Freemasonry has a plan of salvation. What do the Grand Lodges say? Consider these words from the monitor distributed to Master Masons by the Grand Lodge of South Carolina:
It was the single object of all the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness. . .to teach the immortality of the soul. This is still the great design of the third degree of Masonry. This is the scope and aim of its ritual. The Master Mason represents man, when youth, manhood, old age, and life itself have passed away as fleeting shadows, yet raised from the grave of iniquity, and quickened into another and better existence. By its legend and all its ritual, it is implied that we have been redeemed from the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollution. . . .and the conclusion we arrive at is, that youth, properly directed, leads us to honorable and virtuous maturity, and that the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, and justice, will be rewarded at its closing hour by the prospect of eternal bliss. . . The important design of the degree is to symbolize the great doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul; and hence it has been remarked by a learned writer of our Order, that the Master Mason represents a man saved from the grave of iniquity, and raised to the faith of salvation.
http://www.ephesians5-11.org/hiram.htm
Hiram King of Tyre wrote a letter to King Solomon, advising him that he was sending Huram-Abi to work on the temple. That letter is documented in 2 Chron 2:11-14. The fact that Hiram-Abi was the son of a widow of the tribe of Naphtali is confirmed in Scripture:
King Solomon sent to Tyre and brought Huram, whose mother was a widow from the tribe of Naphtali and whose father was a man of Tyre and a craftsman in bronze. Huram was highly skilled and experienced in all kinds of bronze work. He came to King Solomon and did all the work assigned to him.
1 Kings 7:13-14
Although the most important element of Masonic symbolism deals with the death, burial and resurrection of Hiram Abiff, there is nothing in Scripture to support it. Masonic Grand Lodges have stated that the account is not based upon fact, but rather is an allegory, used to teach.
Hiram Abiff in Masonic Ritual
During the Legend of the Third Degree, the candidate portrays Hiram Abiff in the ritual. He is blindfolded and led through the ritual by a conductor. In Masonic ritual, Hiram Abiff is not a worker of brass as in Scripture, but rather the Grand Master at the building of Solomon’s temple. Each day, he lays out the work for the workmen to complete. There are Fellowcrafts who work on the temple who are to be given the secrets of a Master Mason as compensation - when the temple is completed. Once they have the secrets of a Master Mason they will earn the wages of a Master. A group of fifteen Fellowcrafts decide that they do not want to wait until the work is completed. They form a plot which only three of them carry through. The three "ruffians" sequentially accost Hiram at the East gate, the South gate and the West gate. A similar dialog occurs at each temple entrance. The ruffian demands the secrets of a Master Mason. Hiram explains that this is neither the time, nor the place; the secrets can only be revealed in the presence of three, King Solomon, Hiram the King of Tyre and myself. The ruffian demands, "Your life, or the secrets." Hiram responds, "My life you can have, my integrity - never." When they fail to get what they want, they strike Hiram with one of the working tools and he staggers to the next gate and the next encounter. The third ruffian is also unable to extract the secrets from Hiram Abiff. He strikes Hiram on the head with a setting maul and kills him. Hiram willingly laid down his life rather than betray his trust.
The ruffians have not achieved their goal and they have a body to dispose of. They bury the body in temple rubble and plan to return at midnight to give the body a more decent burial. At midnight, they return and carry the body to a hill west of Mt. Moriah, where Hiram Abiff is reburied. The next day, Hiram is nowhere to be found. A search is conducted. The Fellowcrafts who did not go through with the conspiracy confess the plot. A grave is found; the body of Hiram is found within it. Hiram Abiff has been in the grave for 15 days. King Solomon gives the order for the body to be raised using the grips of the Entered Apprentice and then the Fellowcraft. Those efforts are unsuccessful. King Solomon states that he fears that with the death of Hiram Abiff the word of a Master Mason has been lost. Therefore, the first word spoken after Hiram is raised from the grave will be the substitute until the lost word can be recovered. At that point, King Solomon raises Hiram Abiff from "a dead level to a living perpendicular" using the real grip of a Master Mason, also known as the Lion’s Paw. He embraces Hiram on the five points of fellowship, standing foot to foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand to back and mouth to ear. King Solomon, played by the Worshipful Master, then whispers the substitute for the lost word in Hiram’s ear. That word is Ma-Ha-Bone. Following the Master Mason Lecture, the following words are spoken:
Then, finally my brethren, let us imitate our Grand Master, Hiram Abiff, in his virtuous conduct, his unfeigned piety to God, and his inflexible fidelity to his trust; that, like him, we may welcome the grim tyrant, Death, and receive him as a kind messenger sent by our Supreme Grand Master, to translate us from this imperfect to that all-perfect, glorious, and celestial Lodge above, where the Supreme Architect of the Universe presides.
When this conclusion to the ritual is reread carefully, breaking it down phrase by phrase, it is easy to see that what it actually says is that, "Masonic brethren should imitate Hiram Abif to get into heaven." Notice that Freemasonry does not urge Freemasons to have faith in Hiram Abiff. When the words from the ritual are analyzed carefully, it is clear that Freemasonry is substituting imitation for faith and Hiram for Jesus - as the means to gaining entry into heaven, following death.
Certainly a Christian who is fluent in English and understands what salvation is will interpret these words as a plan of salvation. Many, many Masons who claim to be Christians take issue with this interpretation and flatly deny that Freemasonry has a plan of salvation. What do the Grand Lodges say? Consider these words from the monitor distributed to Master Masons by the Grand Lodge of South Carolina:
It was the single object of all the ancient rites and mysteries practiced in the very bosom of pagan darkness. . .to teach the immortality of the soul. This is still the great design of the third degree of Masonry. This is the scope and aim of its ritual. The Master Mason represents man, when youth, manhood, old age, and life itself have passed away as fleeting shadows, yet raised from the grave of iniquity, and quickened into another and better existence. By its legend and all its ritual, it is implied that we have been redeemed from the death of sin and the sepulchre of pollution. . . .and the conclusion we arrive at is, that youth, properly directed, leads us to honorable and virtuous maturity, and that the life of man, regulated by morality, faith, and justice, will be rewarded at its closing hour by the prospect of eternal bliss. . . The important design of the degree is to symbolize the great doctrines of the resurrection of the body and the immortality of the soul; and hence it has been remarked by a learned writer of our Order, that the Master Mason represents a man saved from the grave of iniquity, and raised to the faith of salvation.
http://www.ephesians5-11.org/hiram.htm
Here's a good link if you want to get some understanding of freemasonry.
http://www.ugle.org.uk/what-is-freemasonry/history-of-freemasonry
http://www.ugle.org.uk/what-is-freemasonry/history-of-freemasonry
Rosicrucianism, like Hermetism (or Hermeticism) and Gnosticism, is something that means different things, depending on whom you ask and about when you are speaking. Thus it is important to determine which Rosicrucianism. For original literary Rosicrucianism, there is the Fraternity of the Rose Cross described in the source materials, then following that there is the Rosicrucianism spoken about by others. Even later there is the Rosicrucianism, and Rosicrucian Orders, of the Victorian and Edwardian periods, and all those that they influenced, including Freemasonry's Rose Croix degree, Societas Rosicruciana in Anglia (SRIA), Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO), A∴A∴, Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis (AMORC), and so forth.
At the core, the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross described in the source material is simply a group of eight people, who are avowed virgins, bonded together by a brief code of only six points, to be of service to humanity, and preserve certain esoteric knowledge until such time as people in the West were ready to accept it. This band of brothers were to travel various lands as healers, and to do so gratis. Each brother was to select a successor to replace them in the brotherhood if they were to die, so the ranks would neither increase nor decline. Each brother had particular areas of esoteric expertise and they created books of that knowledge, collected into a philosophical library, which was kept sacred. These brothers were to be hidden from the world for the span of 100 years.
The simple, necessary and sufficient code of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross is:
1. That none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis;
2. None of them should be constrained to wear one certain kind of habit, but therein to follow the custom of the country;
3. That every year on the day C. they should meet together in the house S. Spiritus, or write the cause of their absence;
4. Every brother should look about for a worthy person, who after his decease, might succeed him;
5. The word C.R. should be their seal, mark, and character; and
6. The Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years.
Subsequent manifestations, of all kinds, of Rosicrucianism are more or less independent developments inspired by the idea of this literary brotherhood. The publication of the Fama and Confessio inspired quite a number of people to develop far more elaborate constructions nominally Rosicrucian. Most existing Rosicrucian groups are inspired by or offshoots from Freemasonry's Rose Croix degree, and thus pseudo-masonic in character, or come from the Rosicrucianism of SRIA and the Golden Dawn, which are late Victorian developments, but the latter of these two is incredibly important in the history of modern Western esotericism. As such, all these developed inspirations generally exhibit an accretion of much more complexity in both structure and belief, including initiatory systems and complex essential metaphysical tenets, typical of and imported from the Western Esoteric Tradition and late Victorian fraternal societies, but none of which is sufficient nor necessary to original, or essential, literary Rosicrucianism, in and of itself.
The publication of the original Rosicrucian documents contributed to a rising fever in the West, that continues, to find Adepts who could be petitioned by those worthy few, by virtue primarily of finding an Adept to be petitioned, who otherwise had not necessarily studied esotericism seriously, to bestow by fiat any number of revelatory esoteric Secrets and Mysteries upon the seeker.
http://hermetic.com/rosicrucianism/
At the core, the Brotherhood of the Rose Cross described in the source material is simply a group of eight people, who are avowed virgins, bonded together by a brief code of only six points, to be of service to humanity, and preserve certain esoteric knowledge until such time as people in the West were ready to accept it. This band of brothers were to travel various lands as healers, and to do so gratis. Each brother was to select a successor to replace them in the brotherhood if they were to die, so the ranks would neither increase nor decline. Each brother had particular areas of esoteric expertise and they created books of that knowledge, collected into a philosophical library, which was kept sacred. These brothers were to be hidden from the world for the span of 100 years.
The simple, necessary and sufficient code of the Fraternity of the Rose Cross is:
1. That none of them should profess any other thing than to cure the sick, and that gratis;
2. None of them should be constrained to wear one certain kind of habit, but therein to follow the custom of the country;
3. That every year on the day C. they should meet together in the house S. Spiritus, or write the cause of their absence;
4. Every brother should look about for a worthy person, who after his decease, might succeed him;
5. The word C.R. should be their seal, mark, and character; and
6. The Fraternity should remain secret one hundred years.
Subsequent manifestations, of all kinds, of Rosicrucianism are more or less independent developments inspired by the idea of this literary brotherhood. The publication of the Fama and Confessio inspired quite a number of people to develop far more elaborate constructions nominally Rosicrucian. Most existing Rosicrucian groups are inspired by or offshoots from Freemasonry's Rose Croix degree, and thus pseudo-masonic in character, or come from the Rosicrucianism of SRIA and the Golden Dawn, which are late Victorian developments, but the latter of these two is incredibly important in the history of modern Western esotericism. As such, all these developed inspirations generally exhibit an accretion of much more complexity in both structure and belief, including initiatory systems and complex essential metaphysical tenets, typical of and imported from the Western Esoteric Tradition and late Victorian fraternal societies, but none of which is sufficient nor necessary to original, or essential, literary Rosicrucianism, in and of itself.
The publication of the original Rosicrucian documents contributed to a rising fever in the West, that continues, to find Adepts who could be petitioned by those worthy few, by virtue primarily of finding an Adept to be petitioned, who otherwise had not necessarily studied esotericism seriously, to bestow by fiat any number of revelatory esoteric Secrets and Mysteries upon the seeker.
http://hermetic.com/rosicrucianism/
Ephesians 6:12King James Version (KJV)
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
https://quran.com/2/102
And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah . And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
https://quran.com/2/102
And they followed [instead] what the devils had recited during the reign of Solomon. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but the devils disbelieved, teaching people magic and that which was revealed to the two angels at Babylon, Harut and Marut. But the two angels do not teach anyone unless they say, "We are a trial, so do not disbelieve [by practicing magic]." And [yet] they learn from them that by which they cause separation between a man and his wife. But they do not harm anyone through it except by permission of Allah . And the people learn what harms them and does not benefit them. But the Children of Israel certainly knew that whoever purchased the magic would not have in the Hereafter any share. And wretched is that for which they sold themselves, if they only knew.
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