CLIPSAS, 45 YEARS (Interesting Read)

GLADA – Grand Lodge Architects of Aquarius

Sao Paulo – Brazil



CLIPSAS, 45 YEARS.



The foundation of The United Grand of England can be considered the most important Masonic event of the 18th century, gathering lodges under a central administration, standardizing Rites, proceedings, rules and so on. The union of lodges around a central administration was succeeded after some time by the union of small kingdoms, duchies and European princedoms, giving us the countries we know today. We can recognize a trend of our time in getting together because of ideals, needs, common politics, activities, business and powers. All of that contributed to the coming of Globalization and helped forming the big political and economical powers of today.

However, also with the uniformization of philosophical principles, the foundation of the UGLOE, brought the preconceptions, prejudice and dogmatism of that time and place of birth. Landmarks, which were odd to the Old and Universal Masonic Customs, were inserted in the Anderson Compilation.

It is natural that Masonry embodies external characteristics of its time, but that does not mean it has to embody any local dogma or prejudice, once the purpose of this sublime Institution is to struggle against the dogmas.

Besides, the UGLOE established some “regularity” criteria that can be considered unacceptable, arrogating powers that we do not know today. These “regularity” criteria do not reveal any concern with the purity of the Masonic principles, actually they reveal remains of Colonialism.

Therefore, the foundation of CLIPSAS was an authentic historical need, and sealed a new moment in the evolution of Masonry. This one can be considered the most important Masonic Event of the 20th Century. Since then the undogmatical and laic content of the Order, has been restored. These sublime principles are timeless and are beyond local and personal beliefs.

We are imprinting a new way of fraternal companionship these days, adapting ourselves to the modern habits, communicating via satellite, and embracing ourselves through Internet. We simplified our Rites, compared to the old customs, but more importantly, we kept the essence of them.

CLIPSAS has achieved its mission in the past 45 years, uniting Masonry around Laicism and Free Thinking, so that we are following a stream of our time, when Religion and The State have to be separated.

Great results have been obtained; bringing us the EU (European Union) and the European Parliament, besides the new economical groups that helped restore the political balance of the world, threatened by the weakening of the Ex Soviet Union. These are conquests to be ascribed to Masons in general and to the CLIPSAS operations, specially ascribed to the main European Masonic Obediences --- liberal, laic and undogmatical --- that are leading such movement.

Nowadays, people and countries endangered of having their rights violated can fall back upon the European Parliament, a kind of jurisdiction certainly more active than any other UN jurisdiction. These are important steps towards Democracy, World Peace and Justice. As we see it, CLIPSAS role has not been concluded yet. It is not about gathering and welcoming Obediences by considering them rightful and consistent with Laicism anymore. It is necessary to go further, preparing proposals to the governments, to the International Organizations, Non-Governmental Organizations, to all kinds of Institutions, suggesting some useful planning to keep peace, generate prosperity, reduce poverty and political arrests, reestablish diplomatic relations, improve educational systems, extinguish social and economical problems, and help in the decision making of effective environmental protection.

It is fundamental to show we Masons are taking part in the development of the world. If it is necessary to protest so let’s do it, if it is necessary to change the system so let’s do it, if it is necessary to free minds, and to support Non-Governmental Organizations so be it. We have to be effective and make Humanity awakes to the Love of Truth and to pursuit this Truth wherever it is. We have to show Humanity that Power, Profit and Privilege are not the only way.

In the course of History, there were always great Mason thinkers who idealized and inspired the key-ideas that promoted the big changes. There is a Torch in History, like the one Athletes carry in the Olympic Games throughout the countries, towards a Great Event that gathers the ones who are more capable and the best in each modality. A torch that is being taken by the free thinkers, taking to people, generation after generation, teachings of all kinds obtained by the previous civilizations, telling about the good and painful experiences they went through, sharing with us the wisdom they reached through their mistakes and lucky hits.

We propose that our great free thinkers of CLIPSAS, today in enough number to make a difference, start to put into practice in their countries and communities more effectively than ever our Masonic ideals, no only as a moral teaching or as a way of thinking, but as constant and important activities and as a duty in a daily basis.

We can feel the urgency of this action by giving a look at the shocking state some regions of our Planet are. It is like a cry for help to whom we cannot say No, once the constituted powers do not seem to be caring or simply do not want to get involved and promote the necessary changes.

Masonry should express itself in a keener way, through the media or through any open channel that society provides us. We must claim for justice, for transparency, for more integrity of the ones who rule people, more energy to fight corruption, crime and misery. We should stand against the addictions and the political interests that harm people and jeopardizes the balance of the world.

All the knowledge brings us a moral duty; Initiation imposes us a commitment before Humanity. Not fulfilling it is to feel guilty before the most important and elemental commitment accepted by us at the very day we became Masons.

Let’s remember and evoke all the Masons that came before us and who died for Humanity. Let’s be worthy of their inheritance. Let’s honor them. Dreaming and idealizing is not enough. We have to put our thoughts into action, everywhere and every time to be part of a better world for real.



Vera Facciollo – Grand Master

ADDRESS TO THE 2002 CALIFORNIA MASONIC SYMPOSIUM

By Alain Bauer, Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France
Sacramento, California, July 27th, 2002:



"We respect your independence because we were a part of it and because you were, twice in our history, the forceful weapon and working tool of our own freedom. Allies forever, do we really care about the English Masonic bureaucracy? It may be time for a Masonic Tea Party"




















It is a great honor to be your guest at this 2002 California Masonic Symposium. I want, first of all, to thank the Most Worshipful C. Ray Whitaker, Grand Master of Masons in California, for his very fraternal invitation.
In prior communications the leadership of the Grand Lodge of California asked me to speak about "The Great Divide: The Grand Orient of France and Dogmatic Freemasonry." Let me say here to you that this was a very great... surprise! After all, we do not think that such freemasonry exists. James Anderson was very clear about this at the beginning. We respect and welcome in the Lodges of the Grand Orient of France those who believe or do not believe. Neither Atheist, nor extremist, there is nothing in the Grand Orient that gives us as Masons the right to determine a definitive approach to advancement, or a specific stream, that leads to our individual accomplishments and personal growth through the Craft.
First, I want to acknowledge that critical parts of my speech have been prepared in collaboration with my very close friend and brother, Grand Commander of the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of France, Alain de Keghel.
The time now has come to engage fraternally in a deep and sustained analysis of the Masonic landscape, as it is, not as we imagine it to be. All Brethren of good will are now looking toward a more open-minded, more tolerant, and more Masonic approach to our Brotherhood.
To that end, increasing numbers of Masons from around the world are making the necessary efforts to build a bridge of Light which does not end at national borders or within the limits of individual Masonic bodies. It is time to open eyes, minds, and hearts, to the inherited legacies of our diverse and rich traditions.
It is indeed a great privilege to have the opportunity to open more widely the doors of understanding. So let us attempt in our time together to overcome the friction of difference that far too often marks the realities of the profane world, and tarnishes our Masonic world.
The Masonic Order has endured through the vicissitudes of time, culture, civilizations and society. However, it has survived through the centuries not by following passively the movements of society, but rather it often has been at the forefront of important change within society. In those moments of leadership it has been at its strongest.
As one important illustration, simply being here in the United States of America, brings to mind the major role American Masons, and some of their French Brethren, played in establishing modern democratic society.
We can all give our deepest thanks to George Washington, Benjamin Franklin (Who I can tell you with great pride was the Worshipful Master of a Grand Orient of France Lodge in Paris.), to the Marquis de Lafayette, and to many others who worked so strenuously for freedom that time will not permit us to list all of their names today.
In point of fact, there have been important and fruitful moments of deep contact between French and American Masons going back even before the time of the American Revolution. Nevertheless, we know from history and personal experience, that there are different traditions in America and France. Because French Masons realize fairly well how difficult it is for some of our Brethren on this side of the Atlantic to understand how it came to pass in France that there is such a great variety of Masonic bodies and Masonic streams, or traditions, it would be of value to discuss France to some degree.
With your permission, let us consider together some historical facts but also some issues that may be regarded as premature in the emerging transatlantic dialogue, or even hazardous. In order to do this to full mutual benefit, it is obvious that we first need to know each other much better than we do.
To be direct and to the point, I will first offer a few words concerning the Grand Orient of France: It has not relinquished the dedication to The Great Architect of the Universe and it has never initiated women. It is the oldest traditional Masonic body in France. This fact was just confirmed a few weeks ago by the United Grand Lodge of England to the Minnesota Grand Lodge here in America. And as I briefly mentioned earlier, the fact that there was a very strong commitment by the Grand Orient of France to the establishment of Freemasonry in the early years of the United States of America is well documented.
The Grand Orient of France is a federation of Lodges using different workings where every single Lodge has the freedom to choose a Ritual belonging either to the French Rite (a legacy of the old English Rite), the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite, the Rectified Scottish Rite, as well as the Royal Arch, Mark Masonry, Memphis-Misraim, and the Emulation Working. Our lodges, which are free to choose their working are also free to work to the G.A.O.T.U.
The Grand Orient with more than 44,000 Brethren is the largest French Masonic organization in a country which counts a total of roughly 130,000 members working in a Lodge. This is a number which may sound ridiculous by comparison with some 2 million Freemasons in America, but you must consider the size of the French nation which totals sixty-million people (compared to 288 million Americans).
Of course this number is approaching less than a half of the amount of Freemasons in the United Kingdom. However, like the USA (of course, we do not ignore the dark times of the Morgan affair in your country), Great Britain is the only country in Europe where Freemasons were never persecuted and where our Masonic Order had a chance to develop without the negative interference of the churches, and politics. This situation, by the way, is changing in the U.K. with a Catholic Prime Minister strongly challenging the role of Freemasonry in British society.
This history explains why continental Europe does not total today much more than some 250,000 Freemasons. Out of this number, nearly half are French. To be more complete in this presentation, it should be added that France has benefited from an additional important feminine Masonic and mixed-gender Masonry development since the early 20th Century.
It can be noted with interest that the first recorded Masonic Lodge was created in France in 1688. The first Masonic Order in 1728 was named "Grande Loge" before changing its name into the "Grand Orient de France" in 1771-1773. That same year a new "Grande Loge de France" was created by dissident members, who then in 1799 joined yet once again the "Grand Orient de France." Finally, a new "Grande Loge de France," our friend and sister obedience, was created in 1894. The Grande Lodge de France still exists today with more than 20,000 members and is an outgrowth of the same Masonic roots.
In overall percentages, French Lodges can be broken down into the following numbers: 69% male, 20% belong to mixed-gender masonry and 11% are for women only. One may consider also that 75% of French Masons are men, but that over the last 30 years, the relative percentage of women has more than doubled rising from 10% to nearly 25%.
As many of you will know, a great turmoil began in 1877 as the Delegates of the Lodges of the Grand Orient of France while attending the annual General Assembly, and after fierce debate, made a decision and voted to lift the mandatory obligation to refer to T.G.A.O.T.U. in Lodge rituals. It is interesting to note that the motion to introduce this dramatic change was introduced by a Protestant Minister and Brother, Frederic Desmons. One must today realize that this happened in the context of French post-revolutionary society which had fought successfully for a separation of the State from the Catholic Church. I can bear witness today to the liberty given earlier by the French Lodges for those non Roman Catholics that were persecuted in subsequent years and decades after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.Lodges of the Grand Orient were the places of refuge of free thought and liberty against the great darkness of this period.
In earlier times under the Kingdom there was no desire to accept any level of ecumenism by established religion. There simply was no tolerance of different beliefs in established religion. After the French Revolution of 1789, the Catholic Church as an institution which tried desperately to regain the temporal power it had lost. It was in this context that the signature of the Concordat of 1801 had as its first consequence for French Freemasons their effective excommunication. This occurred as a result of the Encyclical "In Eminenti Apostolatus Speculae." The immediate effect of this was to produce a radicalization of the relationships between the conservative Catholic Church and the Grand Orient. Remember that the Grand Orient was at this time deist in its majority but still supportive of the gains of the Revolution: Freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, were, and still are, our motto. We also wanted to become free from English Masonic colonization. Does this not ring a bell?
The Masons in 1877 believed their decision expressed in a democratic vote was a way to return to the original and very liberal spirit of the Constitution of James Anderson. That was the heart of the matter. That is what was in their thinking. The focus was on Anderson's Constitution as it had been written in 1723, before the changes made in 1738. In fact, Masons before 1717 were officially "Catholics," they became "Christians" and then "Noachites." The Grand Orient of France merely climbed an additional step, asking them to refer to the "Universal Moral Law," as specified by the 1723 Constitutions.
This would mean, as well, a focus on Anderson's Constitution well before the extensive changes undertaken in 1813, and before the 1929 modifications with the so-called "eight fundamental obligations." These are the later obligations necessary in order to attain recognition from the United Grand Lodge of England.
It is not the purpose here to place too much emphasis on this most sensitive and controversial issue, which all too easily pollute Masonic relations and discussion. Unfortunately, there is not much substantive reasoning at all on the topic today.For example, there is very little examination of the historical facts as a necessary background to the discussion.
The matter has sadly poisoned the relations between different Masonic streams. It has produced a Masonic reaction which many Masons around the world still do not understand: a kind of Masonic equivalent to the Pope has emerged with established rules of excommunication and a kind of "new grand Inquisitor."
In France, most Brethren simply did not care about this break in the Masonic family. They regarded this evolution in the breakdown of relations with regret and sadness, nevertheless, they lived their lives as Free Masons and they went their own way. This is how it was in the past, and it is still so today.
However, in the course of affairs, one Masonic body did decide in 1913 to work the "regular" way. This was the origin of the Grand Loge Nationale Française (GLNF), which today claims more than 20,000 members.
You must realize that despite differences this Grand Lodge often shares the same Temples with other Masons outside of Paris. This occurs even though Brethren belonging to other streams do not work together with the GLNF in closed tiled Lodges. Nevertheless, substantive relations do exist. In very recent times, the respective Grand Masters of GLNF and GODF have worked to establish a new kind of relationship and signed agreements on the recognized quality of the initiation process, on disciplinary issues and on diplomatic relations.
We meet regularly, we accept transfers from one Body to another, we respect our mutual differences. This offers some hope for a brighter Masonic future, at least in France.
One has to realize that Freemasonry developed in a different way in France as well as in several other continental European, Latin American and African countries. It is something we have to deal with. It is an issue we would be wise to address and not ignore. There is no need to lock ourselves into unnecessary compartments and singular ways of thinking. We need to be concerned about the weakness that results from unnecessary divisions. We would be much wiser to prefer a universal perspective.
After all, our way of thinking is in part a legacy of the great philosophers and writers of the time of the Enlightenment: Voltaire, Rousseau, Montesquieu, Diderot, and so many others.
Part of the task at the moment is to now pass on the rich heritage of our humanist and Enlightenment values to future generations. In the cause of freedom, and more, this tradition was fought and died for in France and America in the Eighteenth-Century. This must not be lost.
The essential point is that our Masonic message is still of considerable value. The great, generous and original ideal of Freemasonry to "unite people who otherwise would have remained at perpetual distance" is also a modern and vital message to our contemporary society endangered by egoism, ethnocentrism and crude materialism. At this time, everyone is speaking of globalization. But where are we as Freemasons in the contemporary world? Are we not at risk in our current situation? Is it not possible that the world will pass us by in the new millennium if we do not actively engage with humanity once again and give the message that is expected from us?
Of course, in your great country, in the U.S.A, you have been fortunate in having a series of prestigious heads of state as members of our Brotherhood. But even here does this not belong to the past?
Do we not have to stop and ask ourselves why the winding down is developing in this fashion? What can we do to return to a greater effectiveness, relevance, and visibility in our respective societies? Social meetings and charities are good, but they cannot be our main and only goal. In a modern society where every person is solicited for something, we have to become more attractive to those people having something to contribute to society. We all agree that Lodges do not have to interfere in politics. But does it mean that we, as Brethren, as individuals, need to stay silent as mere spectators in the profane world?
Always working in reference to our ethical values as Masons, we should be more sensitive to the important issues confronting modern society: education, discrimination, the preservation of individual rights in a computerized society, rules of ethics in biotechnology, the proper and careful management of genetic modified organisms and of modern medicine, problems of environment, as well as of aging people, youth violence, challenges like drugs, tobacco and alcohol abuses. Young people will expect this from each one of us before they join our Lodges. They will not join if we neglect the vital issues of our respective nations, or of the world as a whole.
If Freemasons do not engage the world in front of them, they will, without doubt, lose the best and brightest of our youth. Fraternal relations as you and I have practiced them are not enough. The youth of our respective societies have many opportunities for socializing elsewhere more in keeping with the social and cultural interests of modern times and their own expectations. Nevertheless, how can there be Freemasonry without the most talented of our youth petitioning to join with us in service?
Furthermore, is it really necessary, because of revisiting the very fluid idea of Landmarks in this century, to destroy relations between each other, between the different Masonic traditions?
Are we to act like churches, which knowingly defend dogmas, who represent both temporal and spiritual powers, and thus could be imagined to be less tolerant as a result? On this matter, we are not performing very well at all as Masons. The churches, in fact, are much more successful in the practice of basic human tolerance as they work to improve their inter-confessional relations.
Let us take the example of the Roman Catholic Church, which today extends the metaphorical hands of the Pope all around the world even to non-Christian churches and communities. Each day the Roman Catholic Church reaches out to other denominations, including Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism. How does it come to pass that Freemasons remain at the turn of this century unable to conduct, or even begin, some kind of similar Masonic dialogue on a large scale? This would by no means necessarily require of any Mason that they change anything about their Masonry. It simply means they could speak respectfully to each other about Masonry, about the joys of being alive, and about the serious issues of modern times.
It could mean they sit and discuss how best to get rid of self-imposed rules of recognition, exclusive jurisdiction, regularity, and so forth, none of which are in the slightest bit relevant anymore.
It is precisely these Rules and Regulations, which make a universal dialogue among all Freemasons virtually impossible. Is it not a kind of a paradox that today the Roman Catholic Church has almost lifted the excommunication of Freemasons that I spoke about earlier but that Freemasons of different disciplines in fact excommunicate each other? Is it a sane and normal situation where Masonic representatives may, in most cases, meet easier with a clergyman than with a fellow Mason belonging to a so-called "irregular" Grand Lodge?
In the United States, Grand Lodges did not, in fact, break relations with the Grand Orient de France in 1877, which is the popular but historically unfounded myth. Most of them did continue relations for a long time after 1877. During the 1st World War, for example, we received in our lodges numerous American Masons. And we did the same after our Liberation by the Allies, mostly by courageous American soldiers, in World War II. U.S. Grand Lodges that Recognised or Approved Intervisitations with the Grande Loge of France and/or the Grand Orient de France during the 1900's were :


Action
Date

Alabama
recognized GLDF and GODF
Dec. 4, 1918.

Arkansas
recognized GLDF and GODF
Nov. 19, 1919

California
recognized GLDF
Oct. 9, 1918

Colorado
intervisitations GLDF & GODF
May 1, 1918

Dist. Col.
recognized GLDF
Dec. 19, 1917

Florida
intervisitations with GLDF
Jan. 15, 1918

Georgia
intervisitations with GLDF
May 1, 1918

Indiana
intervisitations with GLDF
May 29, 1918

Iowa
recognized GLDF and GODF
June 12, 1918

Kentucky
intervisitations GLDF & GODF
Oct. 17, 1917

Louisiana
recognized GLDF and GODF
Feb. 5, 1918

Minnesota
recognized GLDF
Jan. 21-22, 1919

Nevada
recognized GLDF and GODF
June 12, 1918 & 1919

New Jersey
recognized GLDF and GODF
Apr. 17, 1918

New York
intervisitations GLDF & GODF
Sep. 10, 1917

N. Dakota
recognized GLDF and GODF
June 17, 1919

Oregon
recognized GLDF
June 14, 1918

Rhode Isl.
recognized GLDF and GODF
May 20, 1918

S. Dakota
recognized GLDF
June 11, 1918

Texas
recognized GLDF
Dec. 4, 1917

Utah
recognized GLDF
Jan. 22, 1919

Wisconsin
recognized GLDF
June 9, 1958

Wyoming
intervisitations GLDF & GODF
Sep. 11, 1918


I quote an American Mason and scholar Paul Bessel on the general topic. He has written, quote: "It will probably surprise most American masons to find out that during the 1900s the Grande Loge of France was recognized, or mutual visitations by members were approved, by twenty-three -- almost half -- of all United States grand lodges. Since the Grand Orient of France is said to be totally outside the pale of freemasonry and "flagrantly irregular" since the 1870's, it is even more surprising to find that twelve -- more than a quarter -- of United States grand lodges recognized or approved mutual visitations by members with the Grand Orient of France during the twentieth century.
Both the Grande Loge of France and the Grand Orient of France were fully recognized by eight grand lodges starting at the time of World War I. This could have been the result of the War and the desire to support strong allies in the war, as that is mentioned in a July 20, 1917, letter from four Grande Loge of France officials to United States grand lodges. In that letter it states the purpose of writing was "to extend to your Grand Lodge an invitation to enter into official relations with us and to cement those relations by an exchange of representatives." However, many American grand lodges considered and rejected recognition, and many that granted recognition did so only after detailed study and careful consideration. It is clear that grand lodges in the United States made thoughtful and serious decisions on this subject.
Appropriately, in the early twentieth-century, Louisiana led American grand lodges in recognizing the Grande Loge of France and re-recognizing the Grand Orient of France. Louisiana had caused the other American grand lodges to break their ties with the Grand Orient of France fifty years earlier.
In brief, Grand lodges in the United States began to withdraw their recognitions of the Grand Orient after 1868, when the Grand Orient recognized a Masonic group called the "Supreme Council of the Accepted and Ancient Scottish Rite of the State of Louisiana," which was not recognized by the Grand Lodge of Louisiana. The Louisiana Grand Master called this act a "strange perversion" by the Grand Orient. The Grand Lodge of Louisiana considered this an invasion of its territory, withdrew its recognition of the Grand Orient, and called on other grand lodges in America to do the same. It is very significant, when we remember the historical period in which this action took place (And, I have to add, considering the very special relations between France and Lousiana).
The Grand Orient decree and report, as printed in the Louisiana Proceedings, states that one of the reasons the Grand Orient recognised this "Supreme Council of Louisiana" is because that group allowed the initiation of men "without regard to nationality, race, or colour."
The Grand Orient report mentioned the significance of "civil and political equality … between the white and coloured races," opposition to slavery, and the necessity of its abolition. The split of French Masonry with that of America actually came in 1869 when the Grand Orient passed a resolution that "neither colour, race, nor religion should disqualify a man for initiation."
Since Louisiana had caused other United States grand lodges to sever their relations with the Grand Orient of France in 1868, it was especially significant that the Grand Lodge of Louisiana enthusiastically recognized the GLDF and re-recognised the GODF on February 5, 1918.
The adoption of the resolutions restoring fraternal relations with the Grand Orient of France and recognizing the Grand Lodge of France was followed by an outburst of applause, the national colours of the United States and France being displayed, one on each side of the station of the Grand Master, and national airs of each of the countries pealed forth from the Cathedral organ. End quote
Nevertheless, it must be clear here today that the Grand Orient of France is not seeking recognition by the rules of the United Grand Lodge of England. We had good relations with the United States Grand Lodges before 1877 and after 1877. We can all remember with interest the breaking between Grand Orient of France and English Masonic Bodies in 1776, just 10 years after a 1766 agreement among Masons. You see, as a matter of historical fact, one of the reasons for the real "Great Divide" between Masonry in France and England was our support of the American Revolution and the financing of it by French Freemasons, like Brother La Fayette. This is an important part of the real history of Freemasonry. It is an important part of what actually happened.
We respect your independence because we were a part of it and because you were, twice in our history, the forceful weapon and working tool of our own freedom. Allies forever, do we really care about the English Masonic bureaucracy? It may be time for a Masonic Tea Party.
Being supportive of constructive change, I notice in this regard that some significant changes are beginning to occur. Even in London, pragmatism and common sense seems to be slowly gaining ground. We see a greater reaching out than in the past to Masons from different traditions. Step by step, we shall make progress. We are patient. Let's hope that society may be as patient as us. Clearly, Freemasonry is not yet Mister Rodger's neighborhood.
Of course, none of us today has a miraculous "ready-made" solution to suggest. We can only work to find a solution step by step. That is how we can all be pragmatic and helpful. The first step is simply to take into consideration the simple truth that there are different Masonic streams. This is the way we might want to work, freely, and very respectful of living traditions. If you are for sure the mainstream, let us hope that we are the gulf stream.
Your American Constitution says; "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press." Let us all hear the stunning, eloquent, and clear voice from the founding fathers. Since then you have gone on to construct the most powerful Nation in the world, and you have always relied on these earlier foundational values in doing so. These are the same values we share in my own country, in France.
There are a little more than 3.2 million freemasons in the world, at this time. The world we all share is dangerous, complex, and often savage. It needs the values and principles that we share together as Masons to protect and develop real democracy and genuine freedom.
Let us quote an anonymous writer at this time: "Listen to the words of the ritual. The true secret of Freemasonry is that its ideas are revolutionary, radical, and dangerous to those who would deny human dignity and promote injustice. As an institution we are non-political, and rightly so. But as individuals, we can take action to apply the ideas of Freemasonry in everyday life, Listen to the words of the ritual and go forth and resolve practice them everyday. Only then can we each improve ourselves in Freemasonry, and in so doing improve the world". Welcome to the Grand Orient, Joel Springer, Philalethes Society President.
As Freemasons of different lineages, why could we not act together? It is time indeed. Don't you think it is time, again, as it was in 1776, for independence?


A few notes are in order about this address.

Alain Bauer is the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France. The Grand Orient of France is a Masonic group in France that is not recognized by any of the U.S. mainstream Grand Lodges, any of the Prince Hall Grand Lodges nor any of the other major Grand Lodges of the world.
The main objection to the Grand Orient is that they do NOT require a belief in a “Supreme Being” and they do not require that a “Volume of Sacred Law” is to be on the Alter. They do allow individual lodges to have those requirements, but that is left up to the local lodge. Their reasoning and explanation of this of course is covered in Brother Bauer’s talk.
The California Masonic Symposium is an annual meeting sponsored by the Grand Lodge of California for the purpose of Masonic Research. The 2003 meeting will be at UCLA this summer and the are planning on having speakers on a wide range of Masonic subjects, including Prince Hall recognition and feminine Masonry. The subject is discussed extensively on the Philelethes Research Society e:mail discussion list.

The Way The Masonic Wheel Turns

ASK AND YE SHALL RECIEVE
KNOCK AND THE DOOR WILL BE OPENED
The other night, my brothers and I were at the Pub we attend after our stated meeting. Myself and couple other brothers were standing outside while some had cigarettes, I noticed a pick up truck turn onto the street with what I "thought" was a Shriner symbol on the liscences plate. A young man about our age got out abd entered the pub from a different door. I mentioned to the others that I think that guy is a shriner, so I went to make contact with him. I approached him at the bar like I was approaching a fellow brother, I mentioned I saw his plates and asked what Lodge he heled from, he mentioned a southern ohio town, and I escorted him over to our table were we were sitting, most of us in our black suits, white shirts and black neck ties. I introduced him to some of the brothers and mentioned some are also shriners, he seemed taken aback.

Well, a couple of my brothers went to check his plates and saw it was a Buck on his plate. In the dark,I mistook the antlers as a scimitar.....duh.....
so when I realised he was not mason, and he thought I was talking about a hunting lodge, I apologized and explained that I thought he was a shriner and hence, a brother mason. When I mentioned we were all masons, his eyes lit up! He mentioned he had been thinking of joining for 9 months now, he drove by a specific temple on a regular basis and had thought about stopping in to ask about joining. He asked if it was a problem that he was raised a catholic, I said no, most of us in our lodge were raised catholic. A friend of his said we were a cult, I laughed and said no. we are men who believe in god and are trying to improve ourselves and build fraternal bonds. He felt he needed something spiritual in his world and apparently religion was not doing it for him.
I mentioned did he notice how I and the others were ready to accept him as a brother? That is what freemasonry is about: a universal brotherhood.
He is an attorney who is extremely excited about the prospect of joining. He gave me his card and asked that I follow up with him. I will and we are starting a longer process for an individual to even get a petition. So he is going to have to come around, meet the guys, so the guys who sign his petition KNOW him.

It was a good feeling to be a part of forces that we do not control and bring people into contact with other's randomly. This was a man searching, by chance he ran into a bunch of peers, who are already travelling on the path he is desirous of embarking on.

He also asked if it would be a problem that his girlfriend was black? I said ofcourse not, plus we are one of the few lodges that have black members.

It will be nice to add another attorney to our group and keep bringing in anxiuos young professionals. Men with no prior knowledge of the old boys way of masonic operations. Clean slates.
God bless fate.

THE LODGE_ITS COURSE OF INSTRUCTION

THE LODGE_ITS COURSE OF INSTRUCTION


A different environment than that of the outer world is needed for the true work of masonry, hence, at the threshold of the Lodge, collateral with the Triple Renunciation, comes the Quintuple Declaration.

In the old lectures these forms of Renunciation and Preparation were quaintly and neatly expressed by the words "off" and "on". The latter is complete when, in the person of the initiate, Ignorance and Obedience, Sincerity, Fidelity and Humility are conspicuously and symbolically declared. He is taught to put "off" the Rank, Power, and Wealth of the outer world and put "on" the symbols of his true condition- his Ignorance and Obedience, Sincerity, Fidelity, and Humility. These are the essential characteristics of good material for building.

He makes no pretense to knowledge (IGNORANCE) and he is obedient (OBEDIENCE) that he may learn. SINCERITY is the purity of the material, unblemished and unweakened by admixture with worthless and vile matter. FIDELITY is the trueness of the reed, giving it soundness and adaptability for being worked into a suitable shape and form. HUMILITY is the closeness of the grain, the molecules clinging together and making it strong and durable.

Confucius said, truly, "I do not see how a man without sincerity can be good for anything" The same may also be said of one without fidelity and humility, for the man without fidelity will not carry out his undertakings, and the man without humility will never learn much that is worth knowing. FIDELITY, like a strong Right Arm, carries out the purposes and desires of the Sincere Heart, and both are base on the HUMILITY that bends the Knee to obtain strength from that higher Power, without Whose aid all our efforts are in vain.

Putting off the bondage of the outer world and putting on the emblems of the inner world, the initiate becomes a seeker of the Light. His Entrance is a New Birth. In ingnorance and helplessness, yet in obedience, he pursues the path that leads to Light. Here Faith is demanded. Knowledge or Experience is not the beginning, but is the end of Faith. Groping in the dark mysteries of life and seeking for light, man feels his need of a greater power to overcome human weakness, and a higher light to enlighten his understanding.
Thus Faith precedes Knowledge, and Knowledge justifies Faith.

But, the Light that reveals the path also reveals its Dangers. From the first moment of Life, Death is ever present. On either hand, at every step, it threatens him. In the terrible, irresistible powers of nature that environ him, it ever bids him give OBEDIENCE to the laws of life. In the moral world, also, Dangers surround him and Conscience constantly calls him to faithful OBEDIENCE. Knowledge ever brings responsibility and the law, knowingly broken, revenges itself.
If the Cord of Conscience controls not our steps,
The Sword of Law will inevitably pierce our hearts.

The Lodge, or the Preparation of the Material

I have been considering what should be the aspects of "The Lodge".....
From multiple readings and discussions, I have tried to put together an outline of what "The Lodge" Should be..........
1) The Nature of Its Work
2) Its Relation to Religion
3) Its Relation to the Outer World
4) Its Ideal Plan
5) Its Course of Instruction
6) Its Chief End

Over time I will post on each of these "aspects" and relate how I might try to morph some of this into our Lodge and see how the Brethen respond.

1) The Nature of its Work
In the Lodge there are two significant terms in common use. Money matters, election of officers, laws and bye-laws and such like are all called "Business". The ceremonies of the degrees,etc., are named "Work". The Work, or main function, of the Lodge, consists of certain ceremonies symbolical in character and mainly, but not exclusively, based on the work of operative masonry.
Operative and speculative masonry are related somewhat in the same way as the inanimate and the animate kingdoms in the natural world. In both the substance is the same, and the one furnishes food for th eother. So operative masonry furnishes food for the speculative. The one rises out of the other. the one is dead, the other is living. The one is practically constant, the "other progressively changes".
In ancient operative masonry the material for a building, after being selected in the quarries, was taken to the lodge, or workshop. There, according to the plan, it was shaped and carved and made fit for a place in the building. In speculative masonry, the lodge exists for a purpose analogous to that. But there is this important difference-in the operative, the material was something outside the craftsman; in the speculative, it is something inside of him. He is both material and worker, and the lodge is the workshop in which he is to shape and square his thoughts to the plan of life laid down on the Divine Trestleboard.

2) Its Relation to Religion
At first sight it might be supposed that masonry claims to fill the function of religion and that it is, therefore, antagonistic to it. But it makes no such claim. It formulates no dogma, the acceptance or rejection of which ensures eternal salvation, or the opposite. It simply demands three general principles of Faith, common to all religions. These are:-
First.- That there exists an almighty creative power, infinite, eternal and beneficent, that rules all things and whom it deisgnates-"The Great Architect," "The Grand Geometrician," and "The Most High."
Second.- That this Divine Architect, by Inspiration and Creation, has laid down His Plan of Life for our government and guidance.
Third.- That the Human Soul is immortal.
These three central truths of masonry are the foundation of all its teachings. That the Creator of All has revealed a plan of life is acknowledged by all religions. Masonry says each man must read that plan according to his conscience. He must choose his own religion. Then, and not till then, begins the work of masonry. The lodge exists as a place wherein masons of varied creeds and different religions may work in peace and harmony to the plan of life, but it does not pretend to declare, or to reveal, that plan. The Conscience of each man must determine that. It only determines and teaches the method and way of working to "the plan that may be accepted".

3) Its Relation to the Outer World
As rudimentary organs in the early development of various animals indicate their future function in the world, so in the old Operative Lodges we perceive the rudiments of the present and future speculative system of masonry. The central motor-idea in the old Operative Lodge was "the building of a sacred structure". Round that all its organisation was formed, and to that end its work was directed. In the same way, but symbolically, the motor-idea of the Speculative Lodge is the building of a sacred structure in accordance with the plan of life laid down by the Great Architect. Round this, as a centre, all ceremonies and symbols of the lodge have been evolved. It is as the sun in the solar system. Without it, all is darkness and chaos. In the lodge the mason is taught how to work at the building, and the preparation necessary for this course of instruction begins with "The Triple Renunciation".
The symbols of the Outer World- the insignia of "Rank", the sword of "Power", and the purse of "Wealth", are laid aside. This does not imply a retreat from the ordinary cares an dduties of life. "In" the world but not "of" it, is the masonic idea. It means that rank, power, and wealth are no ;onger to have the first place in the desires of the heart, nor in the shaping of the life. Why is this Triple Renunciation demanded? Because it is impoosible to carry on the true work of the lodge if the rank, power and wealth of the Outer World are acknowledged within it. on this point let there be no misunderstanding. Men of title, position, and wealth, if "born" into the lodge "of their own free will and accord" and if "under the tongue of good report", should be ever welcome, but not "because" of their position or wealth. Their acceptance must be based on "alone" on their moral qualities as "men". Their social position can only be viewed as giving them a better opportunity of being more useful and of doing more good. Rank, power, and wealth have essentially no affinity with the work of true Masonry. They belong to the material: it is of th emoral world.
With a knowledge of the present condition of many lodges in their minds, some may, perhaps, smile sarcastically at these remarks. But th eideal is never attained in any instituion. Lodges, like chrurches, are often th eopposite of what they should be, and many masons, like many christians, are so only in name.



Part 4,5 & 6 Later......
I want to credit Brother A.S. Macbride,Past Master of Lodge Progress # 873, Glasgow, Scotland, for this material..........

A Great Masonic Weekend

I am still trying to recover from an exhausting Masonic weekend. Starting on Thursday, I was stationed in the east gate, and did a number on a PM's son. After the raising, I met up with 3 PM's, our SD/Treasurer, a FC and an EA to watch our sitting WM's band play a set at a Tavern around the corner from our Temple. We had fellowship until 2:00am! Friday entailed me and the other 3 PM’s working on the temple, watching movies and preparing for our guests to arrive. They arrived around 11:00pm and we proceeded to comb the temple and have Masonic fellowship until 1:30am. Saturday started with a donation to the Prince Halls Female Youth Organization, breakfast with the 3 PM’s and our guests, then back to the temple for setup and fellowship. Brother Peace gave an exceptional speech that was not only informative, but captivating. He has a skill of holding onto ones concentration without boring you. He gave an account of Freemasonry that has not been supported by mainstream media or the supposed Masonic authorities. It was refreshing to hear this, because it made logical sense. New information about the early GL’s and how they operated during the 1700's has been recently released from confiscation, and shed some interesting light on our history.
Fellowship followed again until 1:30am. A PM prepared, cooked and served an incredible pasta dinner for all that was enjoyed by brothers and guests. It was 3 days of late night fellowship, only one small part of it took place within a tiled lodge, my short east gate performance, the rest of the great Masonic experience emanated from a non tiled forum! The fellowship and brotherhood that was exemplified this weekend will have an eternal impact on many lives. The masonry/brotherhood we all experienced cannot be regulated; it cannot be chartered; it cannot be dispensated;
And it cannot be forced. The love and tolerance that was exchanged between brothers (whether recognized or not), unconditionally is what masonry is supposed to be about. Men meeting on the level. There were no aprons brought out to potentially show some inequality in rank, there were no appendant bodies trying to get recognition. It was men only interested in the world of Blue Lodge Masonry. Were ALL men meet on the level.

The knowledge that Brother Peace has on Masonry, the zeal and passion for the fraternity is second to none. I am quite content in the side of the story I have on Brother Jeff Peace being expunged from the records of the GL o Ga without a Masonic trial (which I thought we were all afforded?). Once a mason always a mason. All I know is that any group of masons would benefit from having Brother Peace around, teaching and enlightening the members. Whoever Brother Peace meets with at the present time must be blessed men to be privileged to be exposed to a man with this knowledge and love of the craft. Another humble servant of the craft. Brother Jeff Peace is a mason through and through and no man has the authority to say otherwise.

Exodus 20:25
"And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone(Rough Ashlar): for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it(Perfect Ashlar)."

Matthew 7:1
"Judge not, that ye be not judged."

Ephesians 4:2
"With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;"


One thing most intelligent, non lemming young men notice right away is hypocrisy and egomaniacs. We come in with humility, and see that the more men climb the Masonic ladder, not Jacobs, ego inflate as well.

Elders of the craft, if you care at all about the future of masonry, smote your ego, and get back to being servants, not tyrants!

Philippians 2:3
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves"

A Masonic Event Planned! Open to the Public!

 
    HALCYON CHARITIES PRESENTS:

BROTHER JEFF PEACE, RENOWNED MASONIC HISTORIAN, WILL BE GIVING A LECTURE ON FREEMASONRY AND THE HISTORY OF SECRET SOCIETIES!

BROTHER PEACE IS A FOURTH GENERATION FREEMASON FROM ATLANTA GEORGIA WHO HAS WRITTEN MANY PAPERS AND ESSAY'S DEALING WITH THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF FREEMASONRY. BROTHER PEACE HAS RELATIONS WITH MANY  FREEMASONS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, AND HAS BEEN ABLE TO ACCUMULATE A WEALTH OF MASONIC LITERATURE DEALING WITH TOPICS AND INFORMATION THAT MOST FREEMASONS THEMSELVES HAVE NEVER BEEN PRIVY TO.

THIS LECTURE WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND ALL FREEMASONS, WHETHER RECOGNISED OR NOT BY ANY MAINSTREAM GRAND LODGE SYSTEM , AND HOPEFULLY WILL DISPELL ANY MYTHS IN REGARDS TO THE NEW INTEREST IN SECRET SOCIETIES THAT THE DAVINCI CODE OR HISTORY CHANNEL MAY HAVE SPURNED AND BE ABLE TO BRING FRREMASONS OF ALL SYSTEMS TOGETHER, UNITED WITH EACH OTHER. BROTHER PEACE MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR SOME QUESTIONS DURING THE EVENING. CHECK BACK FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

SOME ANSWERS FOR PONDERING TO BRING TO THE LECTURE WITH YOU:

Freemasonry is a peculiar (unique) system of morality veiled in allegory and illustrated by symbols

It is a Natural Philosophy (as opposed to occult)

It is based on a Progressive Science (specifically mechanics and physics)

It is dedicated to the purpose of creating a universal brotherhood of all mankind under the All-Seeing Eye of Deity

Freemasonry is not a religion but a science

The Past And Future Of The Masonic Order

The first recorded reception of a nonoperative Mason to an operative Lodge occurred at Edinburgh in 1600. The Operative Lodges were then becoming obsolete and defunct and by 1620. Operative Masonry had become entirely superseded in London by Speculative, the members of the former working no longer in guilds but striving still to keep alive their old form of fellowship. The first traceable initiation, on English soil, of a non operative Mason occurred at Newcastle in 1641 and the second that of Elias Ashmole, already a student of arcane science at Warrington in 1646. Accretions to the ranks of the Craft proceeded to be made, but were at first few and gradual, owing to disturbed political conditions. The Charter of the Royal Society, dated 1663, as drawn up by Dr. (afterwards Sir) Christopher Wren, seems to have been prepared with a view to giving official sanction not to science as at present secularly understood and pursued, but to science of a more occult character such as Masonry as before defined deals with, for the preamble of that document refers to private meetings of certain men devoted to the investigation of the "hidden causes of things" in the public interest.

In 1717 four old London Lodges combined to constitute a new nucleus . From them the first Grand Lodge was formed and thus Modem Masonry was born, at an inn, the Apple Tree Tavern, in Lincoln's Inn Fields.

In 1721 Dr. Anderson was entrusted with the drawing up of the Constitutions of the new community. The conditions of the Craft in that year may be deduced from a statement of the eminent antiquary Dr. Stukeley, who writes, "I was the first person made a Freemason for many years. We had great difficulty to find members enough to perform the ceremony. Immediately after that it took a run and ran itself out of breath through the folly of its members".

Abuses supervened from the admission of all and sundry without due qualifications. In 1724, a Brother protested in a public journal that, "the late prostitution of our Order is in some measure the betraying of it. The weak heads of vintners, drawers, wigmakers, weavers, etc., admitted into our Freemasonry, have not only brought contempt upon the Institution, but do very much endanger it". In the same year was established "for poor brethren" the first benevolent fund, which since has developed into the great Charity organisations now connected with the Craft.

In the course of the next fifty years the numbers of the Craft so increased that central headquarters were found advisable and on May day of 1775, the foundation stone of the present Freemasons' Hall in London was laid with great ceremony. Despite the fact that men were being admitted to the Order who were little qualified to appreciate the science of Masonry and that consequently the understanding of that science was becoming increasingly debased, elements of the original intention still remained and echoes of it can be caught in some of the recorded incidents of the occasion. In the Foundation stone itself was inserted a plate perpetuating the event and the names of the then Grand Master, his deputy and the Grand Wardens and stating that Masonry was of heavenly origin, "descendit e ccelo" and concluding with the maxim of Solon in Greek characters, "Know thyself." At the religious service performed upon the occasion was sung an anthem of praise to the Great Architect,

"Who deign'd the human soul to raise
By mystic secrets sprung from heaven "

whilst a specially composed ode affirmed of the new Aula Latomorum that,

"Religion, untainted, here dwells,

Here the morals of Athens are taught,
Great Hiram's tradition here tells

How the world out of chaos was brought"

From these extracts it is clear that, at least to its leading minds, Masonry was a secret science of soul building and that the great central legend and mythos expressed in the Traditional History in the Craft's Third Degree referred to no events in earthly time or history, but to Cosmic events of a metaphysical and mystical character. Further, from the preface to the Constitutions of 1784, it is made clear that the practical builder's art is to be considered only as the substratum of Speculative Masonry, that the history of the Operative side is negligible, for when Speculative Masons became a separate body of men the science had no further concern with practical building and that the Speculative work is a personal mystical one, rising like a pyramid "tending regularly up to a summit of attainments, ever concealed by intervening clouds from the promiscuous multitudes of common observers below"

Freemasons' Hall being completed, it was, on 23rd May 1776, triply dedicated, again with great ceremony firstly to Masonry, a second time to Virtue, and a third time to Universal Charity and Benevolence. The last named of the three purposes came in course of time to dominate completely at least the first of them. The Craft became a great money raising institution for relieving its own needy members and their relatives, and as a charitable society does excellent work which commands the devoted interest of many good Brethren who know nothing and seek to know nothing, of Masonry itself in its only proper and primary aspect of spiritual science and who regard it merely as a luxurious item of social life and maintain their connection with it solely from philanthropic motives.

From the facts thus roughly outlined it is clear that the pre 1717 Brethren were men of a very different calibre and held a vastly higher conception of Masonry, from those who subsequently came to constitute the Craft and have expanded it to its present great dimensions. Of the latter class, whatever their merits, virtues and good works in other respects, they cannot be said to have been either theoretic or practical 'mystics or to have cultivated the knowledge of Masonry as that science must be primarily understood. They cannot say of themselves as their predecessors truly could and did, “We have the Mason Word and second sight”, for growth in the life of the spirit and the enhanced faculty and inward vision that come therewith have not been within the ambit of their desire. As one of the most deeply learned and understanding writers upon the subject affirms, (the authoress of A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery) "The outward form (or present practice) of Masonry is too absurd to be perpetuated were it not for a certain secret response of common sense to the original mystery. The Initiated moved one another on by words of power. The Masons ape this but have lost the magic key to open the door into the Hermetic garden. They want the words, which are only to be found by seeking them in the subjective fundamental life, from which they are as far out as the tools they use. The true tools also may be found on the way in, they will be given one after another as they are wanted ." Another learned author, who had every motive to speak well of the Craft the late Brother John Yarker was constrained to write in 1872, in his able and most instructive Notes on the Scientific and Religious Mysteries that, "As the Masonic fraternity is now governed, the Craft is fast becoming the paradise of the bon vivant, of the charitable hypocrite, who forgets the version of St . Paul and adorns his breast with the ‘charity jewel' (having by this judicious expenditure obtained the purple, he metes out judgment to other brethren of greater ability and morality but less means), the manufacturer of paltry masonic tinsel, etc. No other institution is so intrinsically valuable as Craft Masonry, or capable of such superhuman things. As now governed, few societies perform less. None profess such great objects, few accomplish so very little real and substantial good. May reformation be speedy and effective "

Such facts are not pleasant to contemplate, nor would they be proclaimed here without good purpose and a constructive motive. But it is well to face them before proceeding further, since what remains to be said will not only deal with a happier aspect of the subject, but is based upon the premise that the otherwise deplorable perversion and materialisation of the true Masonic intention has been both an inevitable and a necessary prelude to a spiritual efflorescence which in due course will manifest itself and of which the beginnings are already perceptible.

In no censorious or reproachful spirit, therefore, are such observations as the foregoing recorded. They might indeed be extensively amplified, if to do so would serve any useful purpose, but no one with intimate experience of the Craft will fail to recognise either their truth or the cogency of their reproach. It is undeniable that, through ignorance of the true principles of Masonry, the Craft has suffered itself to become debased and overrun with members lacking alike the intellectuality, the temperament, and the desire, to appreciate those principles . To day's newspaper, for example, contains the advertisement of a turf bookmaker who proclaims himself to be "on the square," and on the strength of that qualification seeks to engage the services of a betting tout. It is well known that commercial houses to day find it advantageous, for business purposes, to insist upon their more important employees being members of the Order. In the Order itself advancement is notoriously connected with social position and the extent of a member's contributions to the Charities. Honours, and even medals, are bestowed for money payments to this or that subscription list. Any man with a title, from a mayor to a prince, needs only to be a Mason a matter of months to find himself elevated to some figurehead position in the Craft, without the least merit of a purely Masonic kind or any understanding of the science itself. The central ideas and teachings of the Craft are left unexplained, ceremonies are discharged quite perfunctorily and with the majority are of entirely subservient importance to the indissociable feasting and wearisome rounds of speechmaking that follow and the general ignorance of Masonic truth provides ample scope for the self assertion of men, whose ideas of moral grandeur and Masonic virtue are evidenced by an ambition to attain office in the Craft and to adorn their persons with as much purple and jewellery as they can acquire. It is all woefully wrong and misconceived. Of course worthier traits exist. The heart of English Masonry is sound, if its head be obtuse and muddled and the work of its hands not of the character it might and ought to be.

When the worst has been said that can be charged against the methods of modern Masonry, it amounts merely to an exhibition of venial human weakness, vanity and sycophancy, the growth of which, whilst obscuring and falsifying Masonic principles, has been due to failure to grasp what those principles imply and entail. Many tares have sprung up among the corn, but good corn has not failed to grow and that the two can grow together in the same field is a tribute to the richness of the soil from which both spring and the nourishing power of the Masonic intention, which, like sunlight, shines impartially upon both and quickens whatever seed is sown within its field, whether tares or wheat .

There are few received into the Craft to whom Masonry does not bring, if but dimly and momentarily, some measure of new vision, some impulse towards its ideals, few who do not feel it to contain something far greater than they know or than appears upon its surface presentation. Moreover, in the deep heart of every man exists a responsiveness to ultimate truth and a fondness, amounting sometimes to a passion, for it when expressed in ceremonial grandeur and impressiveness, a sub conscious reminiscence, as Plato would explain, of truth and glories it has once known and must one day know again, and which Masonic ritual does something to revive, as was of course the intention of all the Initiation systems of the past and is still the intention of our present Order. And how often one finds minds which are denied, or which would repudiate, the use of symbolic ritual in their Church, leap to it with admiration and affection in their Lodge, as though the Protestant rejection, in the religious sphere, of the rich symbolism and sacramentalism wisely once devised for instructing eye, ear and mind and exalting the imagination towards spiritual verities, had starved them of their rightful nourishment. It is not surprising that to many such minds Masonry becomes, as they themselves say, a religion, or at all events a precious fact to which their souls respond however inarticulately, and that for them the door of the Lodge is, as was once said of the Altar rails, "the thin barrier dividing the world of sense from the world of spirit".

W.Bro.Walter Lelie Wilmshurst

NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO REFUSE TO SEE

NONE SO BLIND AS THOSE WHO REFUSE TO SEE



If Masonic Laws - real knowledge of the nature of the Soul and of the destiny both physical and Spiritual of man - had never existed, our present status would indeed, be pitiable in the extreme. But when we demonstrate that this knowledge has existed for ages uncounted, at times only in the secret archives of the Secret Schools, but always at the command of those who sincerely sought, then, there is no longer any excuse for any man to be other than at his best, despite circumstances and environments which tend to enslave and hold in bondage the weak and inert.



Two conditions at the present moment stand squarely in the way of the advancement of all but the few who have seen the Light. First, anarchy and confusion, a defiance of law, a disbelief in God or in the Divine Law and order, the result of selfishness in social relations among all classes. This plight can be overcome in but one way, viz., the recognition of the unqualified equal rights - NOT their equality as they are, but may BECOME - of all men to seek knowledge and Wisdom in their own way, not as a theory, a religious duty or a mere matter of sentiment, but as a necessity in nature, a universal and Divine command. The penalty for the refusal is precisely the conditions under which humanity now struggles and suffers.



The second condition, which gives rise to the "confusion among the workmen" in the building of the social structure and the individual habitation of man, is brought about by the false ideals, inefficient methods of education and a non-classification of the laborers, making of men cogs in a huge machine with the destruction of incentive. Add to this the almost total ignorance concerning the finer forces, potentialities and innate Wisdom possessed by man, and the absence of all efforts to bring these latent forces into manifestation until these Divine inheritances are well-nigh starved to death, and only the physical and intellectual part of man survives. What must be the result? Barely one individual in a million has the hardihood to call his Soul his own, to possess an opinion different from the mass, or the desire and willingness to make the effort to seize opportunity toward real advancement in the evolution of the higher forces and powers innately possessed, and become the man Nature and the Divine Law intended him to be.



Once the struggle for bare existence involved the need for the greater part of the energy, time and opportunity at man's command; but this is no longer true. The struggle is more bitter than ever, but this is due in part to class friction and partly to misunderstanding and the desire for luxuries which in themselves have little or no intrinsic value, and are mostly nonbeneficial, but often detrimental and leave the combatant weaker but not wiser.



As long as man is thus blind to his own interests, he will never discover the real meaning of life nor the actual purpose of human existence; much less does he realize the power he might have manifested of the good he might have accomplished, and thereby he misses the happiness he might have obtained. This much may be discerned from physical evolution alone and from the study of the human brain, wherein there is a continually increasing portion of gray substance set free from the functions incidental to the preservation of the physical structure, primarily designed to be appropriated to a separate and higher purpose. Mere intellectual activities alone, connected with the physical plane, with the maintenance and enjoyment of life, will not explain the slow but certain cerebral development in awakening man.



It is only when man divides his time properly - giving a part to necessary labor; another part to rest and recreation, pleasant and beneficial; and devoting the third part to self-improvement and the awakening of his Higher Self and his latent forces in accordance with the Divine Law - that he may become the balanced being the Creator intended him to be, no longer the pawn in the hands of egomaniacs or the forces of fate. This is the rational and natural philosophy taught by the Initiates and Master Teachers of the Secret Schools.



 

The Forty-Seventh Problem of Euclid

The Forty-Seventh Problem of
Euclid
—One of the most important symbols of Masonry is the Forty-Seventh Problem of
Euclid. The principles illustrated by it form the foundation of numbers, geometry,
and mathematical symbolism. It represents perfectly the Tetragrammaton and the
operation of divine law. It is the problem of the right angle triangle. The three sides
represent the divine trinity, and the trine as a whole represents the unity of God. The
perpendicular line forming one side of the triangle is the Masonic Plumb,
corresponding kabalistically to the masculine letter Jod, also to Osiris of Egypt, and
to God the Father.
Now nature manifests herself in every septenary by means of three active principles,
and four passive forms. The vertical side is consequently divided into three parts
representing the three active principles. The number three expresses action, and
these three divisions correspond to the three strongest positions of the sun; on the
Ascendant, on the Mid-heaven, and on the Descendant. It also corresponds in
astrology to the three qualities and the three degrees of emanation, into which the
zodiacal signs are divided. Likewise it corresponds to the three active portions of the
human constitution; the ego, the divine soul, and the animal soul.
The horizontal side of the triangle is the Masonic Level, corresponding kabalistically
to the feminine letter He, also to Isis of Egypt, and to the Virgin Mary of later times. It
is divided into four sections to designate the four forms by which the three active
principles always manifest. All material things have four relative states—three
dimensions and position—and express the active qualities of attraction, repulsion,
and motion. The attractive power is represented by gravitation. The repulsive power
is illustrated by the cohesion which enables it by repelling other substances to keep
its own identity without yielding to their gravitational attraction and fusing with
them into a homogeneous mass. Motion is denoted by the change of relative position
of every object in the universe.
The number four expresses realization, and corresponds astrologically to the four
quadrants of the heavens, and to the four triplicities into which the zodiac is divided.
In man it corresponds to the four forms of his constitution; spiritual body, astral body,
etheric body, and physical form.
The union of 3 with 4, of a plumb with a level, gives us aMasonic Square of 7, which,
properly interpreted reveals the Lost Word of the Master. To become that word,
however, it must relinquish the square aspect, and be transformed into two interlaced
trines having as a common center the 7th point. As the triangle is presented, however,
the third factor of the figure is the meeting point of the 3 and 4, of Sun and Moon, of
active and passive, of Jod and He. This right angle is the key to the solution of
Euclid’s problem, even as it is the symbol of the solution of man’s. Astrologically it
is the meeting point of planetary energies on the earth, corresponding to the Vau of
the word, to the Overshadowing Intelligence of Egypt, to the Holy Ghost of
Christianity, to vibration in the natural world, and in human life to union.
Mathematical evolution means the multiplication of a number by itself. The
evolution of man is accomplished through the union of the 3 principles with the 4
elements. Their multiplication gives the number of the signs of the zodiac through
which the impersonal soul must successively pass, and their union produces 7, the
number of component parts of man’s constitution.
Evolve the side 3, and the side 4—that is, multiply each by itself—and the sum of
these two is equal to the evolution of the third side. This third side, the evolution of
which results from the evolution of principles and elements, has the number 5, the
symbol of man. This demonstrates, according to the Ancient Hermetic System of
Numbers, the evolution of man.
This hypotenuse is the fourth factor of the figure, the product of the union of
masculine and feminine forces. It represents, therefore, the climax of evolution on
the physical plane. The area of the figure is 6, signifying temptation. This leads to the
union of 3 and 4 to evolve man, symbolized by 5, who possesses a 7-fold constitution.
The hypotenuse corresponds to the life resulting from the union of solar and lunar
rays upon the earth. It also corresponds in man to intellect, kabalistically to the final
He of the divine word, to the Egyptian Horus, and in modern religion to the Son of
God.
The figure of the 47th problem of Euclid (see illustration at front of chapter)
therefore, by its three sides, representing man’s principles, and his forms, expresses
the cycle of life. This cycle indicates the struggle by the area, 6, which must express
through the sides, the sum of which is 12, the number of the zodiacal signs under the
influence of which all evolution expresses. By adding together the evolved
sides—each side multiplied by itself—we have the number 50, typifying the number
of steps that lead man to adeptship, that evolve man into superman. It is said that
Moses was able successfully to take 49 of these steps, but failing in the last he was
denied entrance into the promised land. He could see this land of plenty, he had the
wisdom to see this final step, but was unable to take it. This, perhaps, was not so much
the fault of Moses as that of the times in which he lived.


By CC Zain

MERRY CHRISTMAS

While coloring with my daughter, I got a little goofy with the help of photoshop.

Merry Christmas All!

The Testament of Solomon

The Testament of Solomon
(translated from the codex of the Paris Library, after the edition of Fleck, Wissensch. Reise, bd. ii. abth. 3)

Greek title:--
1. Testament of Solomon, son of David, who was king in Jerusalem, and mastered and controlled all spirits of the air, on the earth, and under the earth. By means of them also he wrought all the transcendent works of the Temple. Telling also of the authorities they wield against men, and by what angels these demons are brought to naught.

Of the sage Solomon.

Blessed art thou, O Lord God, who didst give Solomon such authority. Glory to thee and might unto the ages. Amen.
2. And behold, when the Temple of the city of Jerusalem was being built, and the artificers were working thereat, Ornias the demon came among them toward sunset; and he took away half of the pay of the chief-deviser's little boy, as well as half his food. He also continued to suck the thumb of his right hand every day. And the child grew thin, although he was very much loved by the king.
3. So King Solomon called the boy one day, and questioned him, saying: "Do I not love thee more than all the artisans who are working in the Temple of God? Do I not give thee double wages and a double supply of food? How is it that day by day and hour by hour thou growest thinner?"
4. But the child said to the king: "I pray thee, O king. Listen to what has befallen all that thy child hath. After we are all released from our work on the Temple of God, after sunset, when I lie down to rest, one of the evil demons comes and takes away from me one half of my pay and one half of my food. Then he also takes hold of my right hand and sucks my thumb. And lo, my soul is oppressed, and so my body waxes thinner every day."
5. Now when I Solomon heard this, I entered the Temple of God, and prayed with all my soul, night and day, that the demon might be delivered into my hands, and that I might gain authority over him. And it came about through my prayer that grace was given to me from the Lord Sabaoth by Michael his archangel. [He brought me] a little ring, having a seal consisting of an engraved stone, and said to me: "Take, O Solomon, king, son of David, the gift which the Lord God has sent thee, the highest Sabaoth. With it thou shalt lock up all demons of the earth, male and female; and with their help thou shalt build up Jerusalem. [But] thou [must] wear this seal of God. And this engraving of the seal of the ring sent thee is a Pentalpha."
6. And I Solomon was overjoyed, and praised and glorified the God of heaven and earth. And on the morrow I called the boy, and gave him the ring, and said to him: "take this, and at the hour in which the demon shall come unto thee, throw this ring at the chest of the demon, and say to him: 'In the name of God, King Solomon calls thee hither.3' And then do thou come running to me, without having any misgivings or fear in respect of aught thou mayest hear on the part of the demon."
7. So the child took the ring, and went off; and behold, at the customary hour Ornias, the fierce demon, came like a burning fire to take the pay from the child. But the child according to the instructions received from the king, threw the ring at the chest of the demon, and said: "King Solomon calls thee hither." And then he went off at a run to the king. But the demon cried out aloud, saying: "Child, why hast thou done this to me? Take the ring off me, and I will render to thee the gold of the earth. Only take this off me, and forbear to lead me away to Solomon."
8. But the child said to the demon: "As the Lord God of Israel liveth, I will not brook thee. So come hither." And the child came at a run, rejoicing, to the king, and said: "I have brought the demon, O king, as thou didst command me, O my master. And behold, he stands before the gates of the court of thy palace, crying out, and supplicating with a loud voice; offering me the silver and gold of the earth if I will only bring him unto thee."
9. And when Solomon heard this, he rose up from his throne, and went outside into the vestibule of the court of his palace; and there he saw the demon, shuddering and trembling. And he said to him: "Who art thou?" And the demon answered: "I am called Ornias."
10. And Solomon said to him: "Tell me, O demon, to what zodiacal sign thou art subject." And he answered: "To the Water-pourer. And those who are consumed with desire for the noble virgins upon earth . . . . . [there appears to be a lacuna here], these I strangle. But in case there is no disposition to sleep, I am changed into three forms. Whenever men come to be enamoured of women, I metamorphose myself into a comely female; and I take hold of the men in their sleep, and play with them. And after a while I again take to my wings, and hie me to the heavenly regions. I also appear as a lion, and I am commanded by all the demons. I am offspring of the archangel Uriel, the power of God."
11. I Solomon, having heard the name of the archangel, prayed and glorified God, the Lord of heaven and earth. And I sealed the demon and set him to work at stone-cutting, so that he might cut the stones in the Temple, which, lying along the shore, had been brought by the Sea of Arabia. But he, fearful of the iron, continued and said to me: "I pray thee, King Solomon, let me go free; and I will bring you all the demons." And as he was not willing to be subject to me, I prayed the archangel Uriel to come and succour me; and I forthwith beheld the archangel Uriel coming down to me from the heavens.
12. And the angel bade the whales of the sea come out of the abyss. And he cast his destiny upon the ground, and that [destiny] made subject [to him] the great demon11. And he commanded the great demon and bold Ornias, to cut stones at the Temple. And accordingly I Solomon glorified the God of heaven and Maker of the earth. And he bade Ornias come with his destiny, and gave him the seal, saying: "Away with thee, and bring me hither the prince of all the demons."
13. So Ornias took the finger-ring, and went off to Beelzeboul, who has kingship over the demons. He said to him: "Hither! Solomon calls thee." But Beelzeboul, having heard, said to him: "Tell me, who is this Solomon of whom thou speakest to me?" Then Ornias threw the ring at the chest of Beelzeboul, saying: "Solomon the king calls thee." But Beelzeboul cried aloud with a mighty voice, and shot out a great burning flame of fire; and he arose, and followed Ornias, and came to Solomon.
14. And when I saw the prince of demons, I glorified the Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, and I said: "Blessed art thou, Lord God Almighty, who hast given to Solomon thy servant wisdom, the assessor of the wise, and hast subjected unto me all the power of he devil."
15. And I questioned him, and said: "Who art thou?" The demon replied: "I am Beelzebub, the exarch of the demons. And all the demons have their chief seats close to me. And I it is who make manifest the apparition of each demon." And he promised to bring to me in bonds all the unclean spirits. And I again glorified the God of heaven and earth, as I do always give thanks to him.
16. I then asked of the demon if there were females among them. And when he told me that there were, I said that I desired to see them. So Beelzeboul went off at high speed, and brought unto me Onoskelis, that had a very pretty shape, and the skin of a fair-hued woman; and she tossed her head. And when she was come, I said to her: "Tell me who art thou?" But she said to me: "I am called Onoskelis, a spirit wrought ...[?shabtai/Saturn?], lurking upon the earth. There is a golden cave where I lie. But I have a place that ever shifts. At one time I strangle men with a noose; at another, I creep up from the nature to the arms [in marg: "worms"]
17. But my most frequent dwelling-places are the precipices, caves, ravines. Oftentimes, however, do I consort with men in the semblance of a woman, and above all with those of a dark skin. For they share my star with me; since they it is who privily or openly worship my star, without knowing that they harm themselves, and but whet my appetite for further mischief. For they wish to provide money by means of memory (commemoration?), but I supply a little to those who worship me fairly."
18. And I Solomon questioned her about her birth, and she replied: "I was born of a voice untimely, the so-called echo of a man's ordure20 dropped in a wood."
19. And I said to her: "Under what star dost thou pass?" And she answered me: "Under the star of the full moon, for the reason that the moon travels over most things." Then I said to her: "And what angel is it that frustrates thee?" And she said to me: "He that in thee [or "through thee"] is reigning." And I thought that she mocked me, and bade a soldier strike her. But she cried aloud, and said: "I am [subjected] to thee, O king, by the wisdom of God given to thee, and by the angel Joel."
20. So I commanded her to spin the hemp for the ropes used in the building of the house of God; and accordingly, when I had sealed and bound her, she was so overcome and brought to naught as to stand night and day spinning the hemp.
21. And I at once bade another demon to be led unto me; and instantly there approached me the demon Asmodeus, bound, and I asked him: "Who art thou?" But he shot on me a glance of anger and rage, and said: "And who art thou?" And I said to him: "Thus punished as thou art, answerest thou me?" But he, with rage, said to me: "But how shall I answer thee, for thou art a son of man; whereas I was born an angel's seed by a daughter of man, so that no word of our heavenly kind addressed to the earth-born can be overweening. Wherefore also my star is bright in heaven, and men call it, some the Wain, and some the dragon's child. I keep near unto this star. So ask me not many things; for thy kingdom also after a little time is to be disrupted, and thy glory is but for a season. And short will be thy tyranny over us; and then we shall again have free range over mankind, so as that they shall revere us as if we were gods, not knowing, men that they are, the names of the angels set over us."
22. And I Solomon, on hearing this, bound him more carefully, and ordered him to be flogged with thongs of ox-hide, and to tell me humbly what was his name and what his business. And he answered me thus: "I am called Asmodeus among mortals, and my business is to plot against the newly wedded, so that they may not know one another. And I sever them utterly by many calamities, and I waste away the beauty of virgin women, and estrange their hearts."
23. And I said to him: "Is this thy only business?" And he answered me: "I transport men into fits of madness and desire, when they have wives of their own, so that they leave them, and go off by night and day to others that belong to other men; with the result that they commit sin, and fall into murderous deeds."
24. And I adjured him by the name of the Lord Sabaôth, saying: "Fear God, Asmodeus, and tell me by what angel thou art frustrated." But he said: "By Raphael, the archangel that stands before the throne of God. But the liver and gall of a fish put me to flight, when smoked over ashes of the tamarisk." I again asked him, and said: "Hide not aught from me. For I am Solomon, son of David, King of Israel. Tell me the name of the fish which thou reverest." And he answered: "It is the Glanos by name, and is found in the rivers of Assyria; wherefore it is that I roam about in those parts."
25. And I said to him: "Hast thou nothing else about thee, Asmodeus?" And he answered: "The power of God knoweth, which hath bound me with the indissoluble bonds of yonder one's seal, that whatever I have told thee is true. I pray thee, King Solomon, condemn me not to [go into] water." But I smiled, and said to him: "As the Lord God of my fathers liveth, I will lay iron on thee to wear. But thou shalt also make the clay for the entire construction of the Temple, treading it down with thy feet." And I ordered them to give him ten water-jars to carry water in. And the demon groaned terribly, and did the work I ordered him to do. And this I did, because that fierce demon Asmodeus knew even the future. And I Solomon glorified God, who gave wisdom to me Solomon his servant. And the liver of the fish and its gall I hung on the spike of a reed, and burned it over Asmodeus because of his being so strong, and his unbearable malice was thus frustrated.
26. And I summoned again to stand before me Beelzeboul, the prince of demons, and I sat him down on a raised seat of honour, and said to him: "Why art thou alone, prince of the demons?" And he said to me: "Because I alone am left of the angels of heaven that came down. For I was first angel in the first heaven being entitled Beelzeboul. And now I control all those who are bound in Tartarus. But I too have a child, and he haunts the Red Sea. And on any suitable occasion he comes up to me again, being subject to me; and reveals to me what he has done, and I support him.
27. I Solomon said unto him: "Beelzeboul, what is thy employment?" And he answered me: "I destroy kings. I ally myself with foreign tyrants. And my own demons I set on to men, in order that the latter may believe in them and be lost. And the chosen servants of God, priests and faithful men, I excite unto desires for wicked sins, and evil heresies, and lawless deeds; and they obey me, and I bear them on to destruction. And I inspire men with envy, and [desire for] murder, and for wars and sodomy, and other evil things. And I will destroy the world."
28. So I said to him: "Bring to me thy child, who is, as thou sayest, in the Red Sea." But he said to me: "I will not bring him to thee. But there shall come to me another demon called Ephippas38. Him will I bind, and he will bring him up from the deep unto me." And I said to him: "How comes thy son to be in the depth of the sea, and what is his name? "And he answered me: "Ask me not, for thou canst not learn from me. However, he will come to thee by any command, and will tell thee openly."
29. I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "By the holy and precious name of the Almighty God, called by the Hebrews by a row of numbers, of which the sum is 644, and among the Greeks it is Emmanuel. And if one of the Romans adjure me by the great name of the power Eleéth, I disappear at once."
30. I Solomon was astounded when I heard this; and I ordered him to saw up Theban marbles. And when he began to saw the marbles, the other demons cried out with a loud voice, howling because of their king Beelzeboul.
31. But I Solomon questioned him, saying: "If thou wouldst gain a respite, discourse to me about the things in heaven." And Beelzeboul said: "Hear, O king, if thou burn gum, and incense, and bulb of the sea1, with nard and saffron, and light seven lamps in an earthquake, thou wilt firmly fix thy house. And if, being pure, thou light them at dawn in the sun alight, then wilt thou see the heavenly dragons, how they wind themselves along and drag the chariot of the sun."
32. And I Solomon, having heard this, rebuked him, and said: "Silence for this present, and continue to saw the marbles as I commanded thee." And I Solomon praised God, and commanded another demon to present himself to me. And one came before me who carried his face high up in the air, but the rest of the spirit curled away like a snail. And it broke through the few soldiers, and raised also a terrible dust on the ground, and carried it upwards; and then again hurled it back to frighten us, and asked what questions I could ask as a rule. And I stood up, and spat on the ground in that spot, and sealed with the ring of God. And forthwith the dust-wind stopped. Then I asked him, saying: "Who art thou, O wind?" Then he once more shook up a dust, and answered me: "What wouldst thou have, King Solomon?" I answered him: "Tell me what thou art called, and I would fain ask thee a question. But so far I give thanks to God who has made me wise to answer their evil plots."
33. But [the demon] answered me: "I am the spirit of the ashes (Tephras)." And I said to him: "What is thy pursuit?" And he said: "I bring darkness on men, and set fire to fields; and I bring homesteads to naught. But most busy am I in summer. However, when I get an opportunity, I creep into corners of the wall, by night and day. For I am offspring of the great one, and nothing less." Accordingly I said to him: "Under what star dost thou lie?" And he answered: "In the very tip of the moon's horn, when it is found in the south. There is my star. For I have been bidden to restrain the convulsions of the hemitertian fever; and this is why many men pray to the hemitertian fever, using these three names: Bultala, Thallal, Melchal. And I heal them." And I said to him: "I am Solomon; when therefore thou wouldst do harm, by whose aid dost thou do it?" But he said to me: "By the angel's, by whom also the third day's fever is lulled to rest." So I questioned him, and said: "And by what name?" And he answered: "That of the archangel Azael." And I summoned the archangel Azael, and set a seal on the demon, and commanded him to seize great stones, and toss them up to the workmen on the higher parts of the Temple. And, being compelled, the demon began to do what he was bidden to do.
34. And I glorified God afresh who gave me this authority, and ordered another demon to come before me. And there came seven spirits, females, bound and woven together, fair in appearance and comely. And I Solomon, seeing them, questioned them and said: "Who are ye?" But they, with one accord, said with one voice: "We are of the thirty-three elements of the cosmic ruler of the darkness." And the first said: "I am Deception." The second said: "I am Strife." The third: "I am Klothod, which is battle." The fourth: "I am Jealousy." The fifth: "I am Power." The sixth: "I am Error." The seventh: "I am the worst of all, and our stars are in heaven. Seven stars humble in sheen, and all together. And we are called as it were goddesses. We change our place all and together, and together we live, sometimes in Lydia, sometimes in Olympus, sometimes in a great mountain."
35. So I Solomon questioned them one by one, beginning with the first, and going down to the seventh. The first said: "I am Deception, I deceive and weave snares here and there. I whet and excite heresies. But I have an angel who frustrates me, Lamechalal."
36. Likewise also the second said: "I am Strife, strife of strifes. I bring timbers, stones, hangers, my weapons on the spot. But I have an angel who frustrates me, Baruchiachel."
37. Likewise also the third said: "I am called Klothod, which is Battle, and I cause the well-behaved to scatter and fall foul one of the other. And why do I say so much? I have an angel that frustrates me: "Marmarath."
38. Likewise also the fourth said: "I cause men to forget their sobriety and moderation. I part them and split them into parties; for Strife follows me hand in hand. I rend the husband from the sharer of his bed, and children from parents, and brothers from sisters. But why tell so much to my despite? I have an angel that frustrates me, the great Balthial."
39. Likewise also the fifth said: "I am Power. By power I raise up tyrants and tear down kings. To all rebels I furnish power. I have an angel that frustrates me, Asteraôth."
40. Likewise also the sixth said: "I am Error1, O King Solomon. And I will make thee to err, as I have before made thee to err, when I caused thee to slay thy own brother. I will lead you into error, so as to pry into graves3; and 1 teach them that dig, and I lead errant souls away from all piety, and many other evil traits are mine. But I have an angel that frustrates me, Uriel."
41. Likewise also the seventh said: "I am the worst, and I make thee worse off than thou wast; because I will impose the bonds of Artemis. But the locust will set me free, for by means thereof is it fated that thou shalt achieve my desire . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . For if one were wise, he would not turn his steps toward me."
42. So I Solomon, having heard and wondered, sealed them with my ring; and since they were so considerable, I bade them dig the foundations of the Temple of God. For the length of it was 250 cubits. And I bade them be industrious, and with one murmur of joint protest they began to perform the tasks enjoined.
43. But I Solomon glorified the Lord, and bade another demon come before me. And there was brought to me a demon having all the limbs of a man, but without a head. And I, seeing him, said to him: "Tell me, who art thou?'' And he answered: "I am a demon." So I said to him: "Which?" And he answered me: "I am called Envy. For I delight to devour heads, being desirous to secure for myself a head; but I do not eat enough, but am anxious to have such a head as thou hast."
44. I Solomon, on hearing this, sealed him, stretching out my hand against his chest. Whereon the demon leapt up, and threw himself down, and gave a groan, saying: "Woe is me! where am I come to? O traitor Ornias, I cannot see!" So I said to him: "I am Solomon. Tell me then how thou dost manage to see." And he answered me: "By means of my feelings." I then, Solomon, having heard his voice come up to me, asked him how he managed to speak. And he answered me: "I, O King Solomon, am wholly voice, for I have inherited the voices of many men. For in the case of all men who are called dumb, I it is who smashed their heads, when they were children and had reached their eighth day. Then when a child is crying in the night, I become a spirit, and glide by means of his voice. . . . In the crossways also I have many services to render, and my encounter is fraught with harm. For I grasp in all instant a man's head, and with my hands, as with a sword, I cut it off, and put it on to myself. And in this way, by means of the fire which is in me, through my neck it is swallowed up. I it is that sends grave mutilations and incurable on men's feet, and inflict sores."
45. And I Solomon, on hearing this, said to him: "Tell me how thou dost discharge forth the fire? Out of what sources dost thou emit it?" And the spirit said to me: "From the Day-star. For here hath not yet been found that Elburion, to whom men offer prayers and kindle lights. And his name is invoked by the seven demons before me. And he cherishes them."
46. But I said to him: "Tell me his name." But he answered: "I cannot tell thee. For if I tell his name, I render myself incurable. But he will come in response to his name." And on hearing this, I Solomon said to him: "Tell me then, by what angel thou art frustrated?" And he answered: "By the fiery flash of lightning." And I bowed myself before the Lord God of Israel, and bade him remain in the keeping of Beelzeboul until Iax should come.
47. Then I ordered another demon to come before me, and there came into my presence a hound, having a very large shape, and it spoke with a loud voice, and said, "Hail, Lord, King Solomon!" And I Solomon was astounded. I said to it: Who art thou, O hound?" And it answered: "I do indeed seem to thee to be a hound, but before thou wast, O King Solomon, I was a man that wrought many unholy deeds on earth. I was surpassingly learned in letters, and was so mighty that I could hold the stars of heaven back. And many divine works did I prepare. For I do harm to men who follow after our star, and turn them to . . . . And I seize the frenzied men by the larynx, and so destroy them."
48. And I Solomon said to him: "What is thy name?" And he answered: ''Staff" (Rabdos). And I said to him: "What is thine employment? And what results canst thou achieve?" And he replied: ''Give me thy man, and I will lead him away into a mountainous spot, and will show him a green stone tossed to and fro, with which thou mayest adorn the temple of the Lord God."
49. And I Solomon, on hearing this, ordered my servant to set off with him, and to take the finger-ring bearing the seal of God with him. And I said to him: "Whoever shall show thee the green stone, seal him with this finger-ring. And mark the spot with care, and bring me the demon hither. And the demon showed him the green stone, and he sealed it, and brought the demon to me. And I Solomon decided to confine with my seal on my right hand the two, the headless demon, likewise the hound, that was so huge; he should be bound as well. And I bade the hound keep safe the fiery spirit so that lamps as it were might by day and night cast their light through its maw on the artisans at work.
50. And I Solomon took from the mine of that stone 200 shekels for the supports of the table of incense, which was similar in appearance. And I Solomon glorified the Lord God, and then closed round the treasure of that stone. And I ordered afresh the demons to cut marble for the construction of the house of God. And I Solomon prayed to the Lord, and asked the hound, saying: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" And the demon replied: "By the great Brieus."
51. And I praised the Lord God of heaven and earth, and bade another demon come forward to me; and there came before me one in the form of a lion roaring. And he stood and answered me saying: "O king, in the form which I have, I am a spirit quite incapable of being perceived. Upon all men who lie prostrate with sickness I leap, coming stealthily along; and I render the man weak, so that his habit of body is enfeebled. But I have also another glory, O king. I cast out demons, and I have legions under my control. And I am capable of being received in my dwelling-places, along with all the demons belonging to the legions under me." But I Solomon, on hearing this, asked him: "What is thy name?" But he answered: "Lion-bearer, Rath in kind." And I said to him: "How art thou to be frustrated along with thy legions? What angel is it that frustrates thee?" And he answered: "If I tell thee my name, I bind not myself alone, but also the legions of demons under me."
52. So I said to him: "I adjure thee in the name of the God Sabaoth, to tell me by what name thou art frustrated along with thy host." And the spirit answered me: "The 'great among men,' who is to suffer many things at the hands of men, whose name is the figure 644, which is Emmanuel; he it is who has bound us, and who will then come and plunge us from the steep under water. He is noised abroad in the three letters which bring him down."
53. And I Solomon, on hearing this, glorified God, and condemned his legion to carry wood from the thicket. And I condemned the [29] lion-shaped one himself to saw up the wood small with his teeth, for burning in the unquenchable furnace for the Temple of God.
54. And I worshipped the Lord God of Israel, and bade another demon come forward. And there came before me a dragon, three-headed, of fearful hue. And I questioned him: "Who art thou?" And he answered me: "I am a caltrop-like spirit, whose activity in three lines. But I blind children in women's wombs, and twirl their ears round. And I make them deaf and mute. And I have again in my third head means of slipping in. And I smite men in the limbless part of the body, and cause them to fall down, and foam, and grind their teeth. But I have my own way of being frustrated, Jerusalem being signified in writing, unto the place called 'of the head." For there is fore-appointed the angel of the great counsel, and now he will openly dwell on the cross. He doth frustrate me, and to him am I subject."
55. "But in the place where thou sittest, O King Solomon, standeth a column in the air, of purple... The demon called Ephippas hath brought [it] up from the Red Sea, from inner Arabia. He it is that shall be shut up in a skin-bottle and brought before thee. But at the entrance of the Temple, which thou hast begun to build, O King Solomon, lies stored much gold, which dig thou up and carry off." And I Solomon sent my servant, and found it to be as the demon told me. And I sealed him with my ring, and praised the Lord God."
56. So I said to him: "What art thou called?" And the demon said: "I am the crest of dragons." And I bade him make bricks in the Temple. He had human hands.
57. And I adored the Lord God of Israel, and bade another demon present himself. And there came before me a spirit in woman's form, that had a head without any limbs, and her hair was dishevelled. And I said to her: "Who art thou?" But she answered: "Nay, who art thou? And why dost thou want to hear concerning me? But, as thou wouldst learn, here I stand bound before thy face. Go then into thy royal storehouses and wash thy hands. Then sit down afresh before thy tribunal, and ask me questions; and thou shalt learn, O king, who I am."
58. And I Solomon did as she enjoined me, and restrained myself because of the wisdom dwelling in me; in order that I might hear of her deeds, and reprehend them, and manifest them to men. And I sat down, and said to the demon: "What art thou?" And she said: "I am called among men Obizuth; and by night I sleep not, but go my rounds over all the world, and visit women in childbirth. And divining the hour I take my stand; and if I am lucky, I strangle the child. But if not, I retire to another place. For I cannot for a single night retire unsuccessful. For I am a fierce spirit, of myriad names and many shapes. And now hither, now thither I roam. And to westering parts I go my rounds. But as it now is, though thou hast sealed me round with the ring of God, thou hast done nothing. I am not standing before thee, and thou wilt not be able to command me. For I have no work other than the destruction of children, and the making their ears to be deaf, and the working of evil to their eyes, and the binding their mouths with a bond, and the ruin of their minds, and paining of their bodies."
59. When I Solomon heard this, I marvelled at her appearance, for I beheld all her body to be in darkness. But her glance was altogether bright and greeny, and her hair was tossed wildly like a dragon's; and the whole of her limbs were invisible. And her voice was very clear as it came to me. And I cunningly said: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated, O evil spirit?" By she answered me: "By the angel of God called Afarôt, which is interpreted Raphael, by whom I am frustrated now and for all time. His name, if any man know it, and write the same on a woman in childbirth, then I shall not be able to enter her. Of this name the number is 6401." And I Solomon having heard this, and having glorified the Lord, ordered her hair to be bound, and that she should be hung up in front of the Temple of God; that all the children of Israel, as they passed, might see it, and glorify the Lord God of Israel, who had given me this authority, with wisdom and power from God, by means of this signet.
60. And I again ordered another demon to come before me. And the came, rolling itself along, one in appearance like to a dragon, but having the face and hands of a man. And all its limbs, except the feet, were those of a dragon; and it had wings on its back. And when I beheld it, I was astonied, and said: "Who art thou, demon, and what art thou called? And whence hast thou come? Tell me."
61. And the spirit answered and said: "This is the first time I have stood before the, O King Solomon. I am a spirit made into a god among men, but now brought to naught by the ring and wisdom vouchsafed to thee by God. Now I am the so-called winged dragon, and I chamber not with many women, but only with a few that are of fair shape, which possess the name of xuli, of this star. And I pair with them in the guise of a spirit winged in form, coitum habens per nates4. And she on whom I have leapt goes heavy with child, and that which is born of her becomes eros. But since such offspring cannot be carried by men, the woman in question breaks wind. Such is my role. Supposed then only that I am satisfied, and all the other demons molested and disturbed by thee will speak the whole truth. But those composed of fire 5 will cause to be burned up by fire the material of the logs which is to be collected by them for the building in the Temple."
62. And as the demon said this, I saw the spirit going forth from his mouth, and it consumed the wood of the frankincense-tree, and burned up all the logs which we had placed in the Temple of God. And I Solomon saw what the spirit had done, and I marvelled.
63. And, having glorified God, I asked the dragon-shaped demon, and said: "Tell me, by what angel art thou frustrated?" And he answered: "By the great angel which has its seat in the second heaven, which is called in Hebrew Bazazeth. And I Solomon, having heard this, and having invoked his angel, condemned him to saw up marbles for the building of the Temple of God; and I praised God, and commanded another demon to come before me.
64. And there came before my face another spirit, as it were a woman in the form she had. But on her shoulders she had two other heads with hands. And I asked her, and said: "Tell me, who art thou?" And she said to me: "I am Enêpsigos, who also have a myriad names." And I said her: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" But she said to me: "What seekest, what askest thou? I undergo changes, like the goddess I am called. And I change again, and pass into possession of another shape. And be not desirous therefore to know all that concerns me. But since thou art before me for this much, hearken. I have my abode in the moon, and for that reason I possess three forms. At times I am magically invoked by the wise as Kronos. At other times, in connexion with those who bring me down, I come down and appear in another shape. The measure of the element is inexplicable and indefinable, and not to be frustrated. I then, changing into these three forms, come down and become such as thou seest me; but I am frustrated by the angel Rathanael, who sits in the third heaven. This then is why I speak to thee. Yonder temple cannot contain me."
65. I therefore Solomon prayed to my God, and I invoked the angel of whom Enépsigos spoke to me, and used my seal. And I sealed her with a triple chain, and (placed) beneath her the fastening of the chain. I used the seal of God, and the spirit prophesied to me, saying: "This is what thou, King Solomon, doest to us. But after a time thy kingdom shall be broken, and again in season this Temple shall be riven asunder; and all Jerusalem shall be undone by the King of the Persians and Medes and Chaldaeans. And the vessels of this Temple, which thou makest, shall be put to servile uses of the gods; and along with them all the jars, in which thou dost shut us up, shall be broken by the hands of men. And then we shall go forth in great power hither and thither, and be disseminated all over the world. And we shall lead astray the inhabited world for a long season, until the Son of God is stretched upon the cross. For never before doth arise a king like unto him, one frustrating us all, whose mother shall not have contact with man. Who else can receive such authority over spirits, except he, whom the first devil will seek to tempt, but will not prevail over? The number of his name is 6442, which is Emmanuel. Wherefore, O King Solomon, thy time is evil, and thy years short and evil, and to thy servant shall thy kingdom be given."
66. And I Solomon, having heard this, glorified God. And though I marvelled at the apology of the demons, I did not credit it until it came true. And I did not believe their words; but when they were realized, then I understood, and at my death I wrote this Testament to the children of Israel, and gave it to them, so that they might know the powers of the demons and their shapes, and the names of their angels, by which these angels are frustrated. And I glorified the Lord God of Israel, and commanded the spirits to be bound with bonds indissoluble.
67. And having praised God, I commanded another spirit to come before me; and there came before my face another demon, having in front the shape of a horse, but behind of a fish. And he had a mighty voice, and said to me: "O King Solomon, I am a fierce spirit of the sea, and I am greedy of gold and silver. I am such a spirit as rounds itself and comes over the expanses of the water of the sea, and I trip up the men who sail thereon. For I round myself into a wave, and transform myself, and then throw myself on ships and come right in on them. And that is my business, and my way of getting hold of money and men. For I take the men, and whirl them round with myself, and hurl the men out of the sea. For I am not covetous of men's bodies, but cast them up out of the sea so far. But since Beelzeboul, ruler of the spirits of air and of those under the earth, and lord of earthly ones, hath a joint kingship with us in respect of the deeds of each one of us, therefore I went up from the sea, to get a certain outlook in his company.
68. "But I also have another character and role. I metamorphose myself into waves, and come up from the sea. And I show myself to men, so that those on earth call me Kuno[s]paston, because I assume the human form. And my name is a true one. For by my passage up into men, I send forth a certain nausea. I came then to take counsel with the prince Beelzeboul; and he bound me and delivered me into thy hands. And I am here before thee because of this seal, and thou dost now torment me. Behold now, in two or three days the spirit that converseth with thee will fail, because I shall have no water."
69. And I said to him: "Tell me by what angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "By Iameth." And I glorified God. I commanded the spirit to be thrown into a phial along with ten jugs of sea-water of two measures each. And I sealed them round above the marbles and asphalt and pitch in the mouth of the vessel. And having sealed it with my ring, I ordered it to be deposited in the Temple of God. And I ordered another spirit to come before me.
70. And there came before my face another enslaved spirit, having obscurely the form of a man, with gleaming eyes, and bearing in his hand a blade. And I asked: "Who art thou? But he answered: "I am a lascivious spirit, engendered of a giant man who dies in the massacre in the time of the giants." I said to him: "Tell me what thou art employed on upon earth, and where thou hast thy dwelling."
71. And he said: "My dwelling is in fruitful places, but my procedure is this. I seat myself beside the men who pass along among the tombs, and in untimely season I assume the form of the dead; and if I catch any one, I at once destroy him with my sword. But if I cannot destroy him, I cause him to be possessed with a demon, and to devour his own flesh, and the hair to fall off his chin." But I said to him: "Do thou then be in fear of the God of heaven and of earth, and tell me by angel thou art frustrated." And he answered: "He destroys me who is to become Saviour, a man whose number, if any one shall write it on his forehead, he will defeat me, and in fear I shall quickly retreat. And, indeed, if any one write this sign on him, I shall be in fear." And I Solomon, on hearing this, and having glorified the Lord God, shut up this demon like the rest.
72. And I commanded another demon to come before me. And there came before my face thirty-six spirits, their heads shapeless like dogs, but in themselves they were human in form; with faces of asses, faces of oxen, and faces of birds. And I Solomon, on hearing and seeing them, wondered, and I asked them and said: "Who are you?" But they, of one accord with one voice, said: "We are the thirty-six elements, the world-rulers of this darkness. But, O King Solomon, thou wilt not wrong us nor imprison us, nor lay command on us; but since the Lord God has given thee authority over every spirit, in the air, and on the earth, and under the earth, therefore do we also present ourselves before thee like the other spirits, from ram and bull, from both twin and crab, lion and virgin, scales and scorpion, archer, goat-horned, water-pourer, and fish.
73. Then I Solomon invoked the name of the Lord Sabaoth, and questioned each in turn as to what was its character. And I bade each one come forward and tell of its actions. Then the first one came forward, and said: "I am the first decans of the zodiacal circle, and I am called the ram, and with me are these two." So I put to them the question: "Who are ye called?" The first said: "I, O Lord, am called Ruax, and I cause the heads of men to be idle, and I pillage their brows. But let me only hear the words, 'Michael, imprison Ruax,' and at once I retreat."
74. And the second said: "I am called Barsafael, and I cause those who are subject to my hour to feel the pain of migraine. If only I hear the words, 'Gabriel, imprison Barsafael,' at once I retreat."
75. The third said: "I am called Arôtosael. I do harm to eyes, and grievously injure them. Only let me hear the words, 'Uriel, imprison Aratosael' (sic), at once I retreat . . . . ."
76. The fifth said: "I am called Iudal, and I bring about a block in the ears and deafness of hearing. If I hear, 'Uruel Iudal,' I at once retreat."
77. The sixth said: "I am called Sphendonaêl. I cause tumours of the parotid gland, and inflammations of the tonsils, and tetanic recurvation. If I hear, 'Sabrael, imprison Sphendonaêl,' at once I retreat.''
78. And the Seventh said: "I am called Sphandôr, and I weaken the strength of the shoulders, and cause them to tremble; and I paralyze the nerves of the hands, and I break and bruise the bones of the neck. And I, I suck out the marrow. But if I hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison Sphandôr,' I at once retreat."
79. And the eight said: "I am called Belbel. I distort the hearts and minds of men. If I hear the words, 'Araêl, imprison Belbel,' I at once retreat."
80. And the ninth said: "I am called Kurtaêl. I send colics in the bowels. I induce pains. If I hear the words, 'Iaôth, imprison Kurtaêl,' I at once retreat."
81. The tenth said: "I am called Metathiax. I cause the reins to ache. If I hear the words, 'Adônaêl, imprison Metathiax,' I at once retreat."
82. The eleventh said: "I am called Katanikotaêl. I create strife [36] and wrongs in men's homes, and send on them hard temper. If any one would be at peace in his home, let him write on seven leaves of laurel the name of the angel that frustrates me, along with these names: Iae, Ieô, sons of Sabaôth, in the name of the great God let him shut up Katanikotaêl. Then let him wash the laurel-leaves in water, and sprinkle his house with the water, from within to the outside. And at once I retreat."
83. The twelfth said: "I am called Saphathoraél, and I inspire partisanship in men, and delight in causing them to stumble. If any one will write on paper these names of angels, Iacô, Iealô, Iôelet, Sabaôth, Ithoth, Bae, and having folded it up, wear it round his neck or against his ear, I at once retreat and dissipate the drunken fit."
84. The thirteenth said: "I am called Bobêl (sic), and I cause nervous illness by my assaults. If I hear the name of the great 'Adonaêl, imprison Bothothêl,' I at once retreat."
85. The fourteenth said: "I am called Kumeatêl, and I inflict shivering fits and torpor. If only I hear the words: 'Zôrôêl, imprison Kumentaêl,' I at once retreat."
86. The fifteenth said: "I am called Roêlêd. I cause cold and frost and pain in the stomach. Let me only hear the words: 'Iax, bide not, be not warmed, for Solomon is fairer than eleven fathers,' I at [once] retreat."
87. The sixteenth said: "I am called Atrax. I inflict upon men fevers, irremediable and harmful. If you would imprison me, chop up coriander and smear it on the lips, reciting the following charm: 'The fever which is from dirt. I exorcise thee by the throne of the most high God, retreat from dirt and retreat from the creature fashioned by God.' And at once I retreat."
88. The seventeenth said: "I am called Ieropaêl. On the stomach of men I sit, and cause convulsions in the bath and in the road; and wherever I be found, or find a man, I throw him down. But if any one will say to the afflicted into their ear these names, three times over, into the right ear: 'Iudarizê, Sabunê, Denôê,' I at once retreat."
89. The eighteenth said: "I am called Buldumêch. I separate wife from husband and bring about a grudge between them. If any one write down the names of thy sires, Solomon, on paper and place it in the ante-chamber of his house, I retreat thence. And the legend written shall be as follows: 'The God of Abram, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob commands thee -- retire from this house in peace.' And I at once retire."
90. The nineteenth said: "I am called Naôth, and I take my seat on the knees of men. If any one write on paper: 'Phnunoboêol, depart Nathath, and touch thou not the neck,' I at once retreat."
91. The twentieth said: "I am called Marderô. I send on men incurable fever. If any one write on the leaf of a book: 'Sphênêr, Rafael, retire, drag me not about, flay me not,' and tie it round his neck, I at once retreat."
92. The twenty-first said: "I am called Alath, and I cause coughing and hard-breathing in children. If any one write on paper: 'Rorêx, do thou pursue Alath,' and fasten it round his neck, I at once retire..."
93. The twenty-third said: "I am called Nefthada. I cause the reins to ache, and I bring about dysury. If any one write on a plate of tin the words: 'Iathôth, Uruêl, Nephthada,' and fasten it round the loins, I at once retreat."
94. The twenty-fourth said: "I am called Akton. I cause ribs and lumbic muscles to ache. If one engrave on copper material, taken from a ship which has missed its anchorage, this: 'Marmaraôth, Sabaôth, pursue Akton,' and fasten it round the loin, I at once retreat."
95. The twenty-fifth said: "I am called Anatreth, and I rend burnings and fevers into the entrails. But if I hear: 'Arara, Charara,' instantly do I retreat."
96. The twenty-sixth said: "I am called Enenuth. I steal away men's minds, and change their hearts, and make a man toothless (?). If one write: 'Allazoôl, pursue Enenuth,' and tie the paper round him, I at once retreat."
97. The twenty-seventh said: "I am called Phêth. I make men consumptive and cause hemorrhagia. ,If one exorcise me in wine, sweet-smelling and unmixed by the eleventh aeon, and say: 'I exorcise thee by the eleventh aeon to stop, I demand, Phêth (Axiôphêth),' then give it to the patient to drink, and I at once retreat."
98. The twenty-eighth said: "I am called Harpax, and I send sleeplessness on men. If one write 'Kokphnêdismos,' and bind it round the temples, I at once retire."
99. The twenty-ninth said: "I am called Anostêr. I engender uterine mania and pains in the bladder. If one powder into pure oil three seeds of laurel and smear it on, saying: 'I exorcise thee, Anostêr. Stop by Marmaraô,' at once I retreat."
100. The thirtieth said: "I am called Alleborith. If in eating [38] fish one has swallowed a bone, then he must take a bone from the fish and cough, and at once I retreat."
101. The thirty-first said: "I am called Hephesimireth, and cause lingering disease. If you throw salt, rubbed in the hand, into oil and smear it on the patient, saying: 'Seraphim, Cherubim, help me!' I at once retire."
102. The thirty-second said: "I am called Ichthion. I paralyze muscles and contuse them. If I hear 'Adonaêth, help!' I at once retire."
103. The thirty-third said: "I am called Agchoniôn. I lie among swaddling-clothes and in the precipice. And if any one write on fig-leaves 'Lycurgos,' taking away one letter at a time, and write it, reversing the letters, I retire at once. 'Lycurgos, ycurgos, kurgos, yrgos, gos, os.'"
104. The thirty-fourth said: "I am called Autothith. I cause grudges and fighting. Therefore I am frustrated by Alpha and Omega, if written down."
105. The thirty-fifth said: "I am called Phthenoth. I cast evil eye on every man. Therefore, the eye much-suffering, if it be drawn. frustrates me."
106. The thirty-sixth said: "I am called Bianakith. I have a grudge against the body. I lay waste houses, I cause flesh to decay, and all else that is similar. If a man write on the front-door of his house: 'Mêltô, Ardu, Anaath,' I flee from that place."
107. And I Solomon, when I heard this, glorified the God of heaven and earth. And I commanded them to fetch water in the Temple of God. And I furthermore prayed to the Lord God to cause the demons without, that hamper humanity, to be bound and made to approach the Temple of God. Some of these demons I condemned to do the heavy work of the construction of the Temple of God. Others I shut up in prisons. Others I ordered to wrestle with fire in (the making of) gold and silver, sitting down by lead and spoon. And to make ready places for the other demons in which they should be confined.
108. And I Solomon had much quiet in all the earth, and spent my life in profound peace, honoured by all men and by all under heaven. And I built the entire Temple of the Lord God. And my kingdom was prosperous, and my army was with me. And for the rest the city of Jerusalem had repose, rejoicing and delighted. And all the kings of the earth came to me from the ends of the earth to behold the Temple which I builded to the Lord God. And having heard of the wisdom given to me, they did homage to me in the Temple, bringing gold and silver and precious stones, many and divers, and bronze, and iron, and lead, and cedar logs. And woods decay not they brought me, for the equipment of the Temple of God.
109. And among them also the queen of the South, being a witch, came in great concern and bowed low before me to the earth. And having heard my wisdom, she glorified the God of Israel, and she made formal trial of all my wisdom, of all love in which I instructed her, according to the wisdom imparted to me. And all the sons of Israel glorified God.
110. And behold, in those days one of the workmen, of ripe old age, threw himself down before me, and said: "King Solomon, pity me, because I am old." So I bade him stand up, and said: "Tell me, old man, all you will." And he answered: "I beseech you king, I have an only-born son, and he insults and beats me openly, and plucks out the hair of my head, and threatens me with a painful death. Therefore I beseech you avenge me.
111. And I Solomon, on hearing this, felt compunction as I looked at his old age; and I bade the child be brought to me. And when he was brought I questioned him whether it were true. And the youth said: "I was not so filled with madness as to strike my father with my hand. Be kind to me, O king. For I have not dared to commit such impiety, poor wretch that I am." But I Solomon on hearing this from the youth, exhorted the old man to reflect on the matter, and accept his son's apology. However, he would not, but said he would rather let him die. And as the old man would not yield, I was about to pronounce sentence on the youth, when I saw Ornias the demon laughing. I was very angry at the demon's laughing in my presence; and I ordered my men to remove the other parties, and bring forward Ornias before my tribunal. And when he was brought before me, I said to him: "Accursed one, why didst thou look at me and laugh?" And the demon answered: "Prithee, king, it was not because of thee I laughed, but because of this ill-starred old man and the wretched youth, his son. For after three days his son will die untimely; and lo, the old man desires to foully make away with him."
112. But I Solomon, having heard this, said to the demon: "Is that true that thou speakest?" And he answered: "It is true; O king." And I, on hearing that, bade them remove the demon, and that they should again bring before me the old man with his son. I bade them 40 make friends with one another again, and I supplied them with food. And then I told the old man after three days to bring his son again to me here; "and," said I, "I will attend to him." And they saluted me, and went their way.
113. And when they were gone I ordered Ornias to be brought forward, and said to him: "Tell me how you know this;" and he answered: "We demons ascend into the firmament of heaven, and fly about among the stars. And we hear the sentences which go forth upon the souls of men, and forthwith we come, and whether by force of influence, or by fire, or by sword, or by some accident, we veil our act of destruction; and if a man does not die by some untimely disaster or by violence, then we demons transform ourselves in such a way as to appear to men and be worshipped in our human nature."
114. I therefore, having heard this, glorified the Lord God, and again I questioned the demon, saying: "Tell me how ye can ascend into heaven, being demons, and amidst the stars and holy angels intermingle." And he answered: "Just as things are fulfilled in heaven, so also on earth (are fulfilled) the types of all of them. For there are principalities, authorities, world-rulers, and we demons fly about in the air; and we hear the voices of the heavenly beings, and survey all the powers. And as having no ground (basis) on which to alight and rest, we lose strength and fall off like leaves from trees. And men seeing us imagine that the stars are falling from heaven. But it is not really so, O king; but we fall because of our weakness, and because we have nowhere anything to lay hold of; and so we fall down like lightnings in the depth of night and suddenly. And we set cities in flames and fire the fields. For the stars have firm foundations in the heavens like the sun and the moon."
115. And I Solomon, having heard this, ordered the demon to be guarded for five days. And after the five days I recalled the old man, and was about to question him. But he came to me in grief and with black face. And I said to him: "Tell me, old man, where is thy son? And what means this garb?" And he answered: "Lo, I am become childless, and sit by my son's grave in despair. For it is already two days that he is dead." But I Solomon, on hearing that, and knowing that the demon Ornias had told me the truth, glorified the God of Israel.
116. And the queen of the South saw all this, and marvelled, glorifying the God of Israel; and she beheld the Temple of the Lord being builded. And she gave a siklos of gold and one hundred myriads of silver and choice bronze, and she went into the Temple. And (she beheld) the altar of incense and the brazen supports of this altar, and the gems of the lamps flashing forth of different colours, and of the lamp-stand of stone, and of emerald, and hyacinth, and sapphire; and she beheld the vessels of gold, and silver, and bronze, and wood, and the folds of skins dyed red with madder. And she saw the bases of the pillars of the Temple of the Lord. All were of one gold ... apart from the demons whom I condemned to labour. And there was peace in the circle of my kingdom and over all the earth.
117. And it came to pass, which I was in my kingdom, the King of the Arabians, Adares, sent me a letter, and the writing of the letter was written as follows: --
"To King Solomon, all hail! Lo, we have heard, and it hath been heard unto all the ends of the earth, concerning the wisdom vouchsafed in thee, and that thou art a man merciful from the Lord. And understanding hath been granted thee over all the spirits of the air, and on earth, and under the earth. Now, forasmuch as there is present in the land of Arabia a spirit of the following kind: at early dawn there begins to blow a certain wind until the third hour. And its blast is harsh and terrible, and it slays man and beast. And no spirit can live upon earth against this demon. I pray thee then, forasmuch as the spirit is a wind, contrive something according to the wisdom given in thee by the Lord thy God, and deign to send a man able to capture it. And behold, King Solomon, I and my people and all my land will serve thee unto death. And all Arabia shall be at peace with thee, if thou wilt perform this act of righteousness for us. Wherefore we pray thee, contemn not our humble prayer, and suffer not to be utterly brought to naught the eparchy subordinated to thy authority. Because we are suppliants, both I and my people and all my land. Farewell to my Lord. All health!"
118. And I Solomon read this epistle; and I folded it up and gave it to my people, and said to them: "After seven days shalt thou remind me of this epistle. And Jerusalem was built, and the Temple was being completed. And there was a stone, the end stone of the corner lying there, great, chosen out, one which I desired lay in the head of the corner of the completion of the Temple. And all the workmen, and all the demons helping them came to the same place to bring up the stone and lay it on the pinnacle of the holy Temple, and were not strong enough to stir it, and lay it upon the corner allotted to it. For that stone was exceedingly great and useful for the corner of the Temple."
119. And after seven days, being reminded of the epistle of Adares, King of Arabia, I called my servant and said to him: "Order thy camel and take for thyself a leather flask, and take also this seal. And go away into Arabia to the place in which the evil spirit blows; and there take the flask, and the signet-ring in front of the mouth of the flask, and (hold them) towards the blast of the spirit. And when the flask is blown out, thou wilt understand that the demon is (in it). Then hastily tie up the mouth of to flask, and seal it securely with the seal-ring, and lay it carefully on the camel and bring it me hither. And if on the way it offer thee gold or silver or treasure in return for letting it go, see that thou be not persuaded. But arrange without using oath to release it. And then if it point out to the places where are gold or silver, mark the places and seal them with this seal. And bring the demon to me. And now depart, and fare thee well."
120. Then the youth did as was bidden him. And he ordered his camel, and laid on it a flask, and set off into Arabia. And the men of that region would not believe that he would be able to catch the evil spirit. And when it was dawn, the servant stood before the spirit's blast, and laid the flask on the ground, and the finger-ring on the mouth of the flask. And the demon blew through the middle of the finger-ring into the mouth of the flask, and going in blew out the flask. But the man promptly stood up to it and drew tight with his hand the mouth of the flask, in the name of the Lord God of Sabaôth. And the demon remained within the flask. And after that the youth remained in that land three days to make trial. And the spirit no longer blew against that city. And all the Arabs knew that he had safely shut in the spirit.
121. Then the youth fastened the flask on the camel, and the Arabs sent him forth on his way with much honour and precious gifts, praising and magnifying the God of Israel. But the youth brought in the bag and laid it in the middle of the Temple. And on the next day, I King Solomon, went into the Temple of God and sat in deep distress about the stone of the end of the corner. And when I entered the Temple, the flask stood up and walked around some seven steps and then fell on its mouth and did homage to me. And I marvelled that even along with the bottle the demon still had power and could walk about; and I commanded it to stand up. And the flask stood up, and stood on its feet all blown out. And I questioned him, saying: "Tell me, who art thou?" And the spirit within said: "I am the demon called Ephippas, that is in Arabia." And I said to him: "Is this thy name?" And he answered: "Yes; wheresoever I will, I alight and set fire and do to death."
122. And I said to him: "By what angel art thou frustrated?" And he answered: "By the only-ruling God, that hath authority over me even to be heard. He that is to be born of a virgin and crucified by the Jews on a cross. Whom the angels and archangels worship. He doth frustrate me, and enfeeble me of my great strength, which has been given me by my father the devil." And I said to him: "What canst thou do?'' And he answered: ''I am able to remove mountains, to overthrow the oaths of kings. I wither trees and make their leaves to fall off." And I said to him: "Canst thou raise this stone, and lay it for the beginning of this corner which exists in the fair plan of the Temple?'' And he said: "Not only raise this, O king; but also, with the help of the demon who presides over the Red Sea, I will bring up the pillar of air, and will stand it where thou wilt in Jerusalem.''
123. Saying this, I laid stress on him, and the flask became as if depleted of air. And I placed it under the stone, and (the spirit) girded himself up, and lifted it up top of the flask. And the flask went up the steps, carrying the stone, and laid it down at the end of the entrance of the Temple. And I Solomon, beholding the stone raised aloft and placed on a foundation, said: "Truly the Scripture is fulfilled, which says: 'The stone which the builders rejected on trial, that same is become the head of the corner.' For this it is not mine to grant, but God's, that the demon should be strong enough to lift up so great a stone and deposit it in the place I wished."
124. And Ephippas led the demon of the Red Sea with the column. And they both took the column and raised it aloft from the earth. And I outwitted these two spirits, so that they could not shake the entire earth in a moment of time. And then I sealed round with my ring on this side and that, and said: "Watch." And the spirits have remained upholding it until this day, for proof of the wisdom vouchsafed to me. And there the pillar was hanging of enormous size, in mid air, supported by the winds. And thus the spirits appeared underneath, like air, supporting it. And if one looks fixedly, the pillar is a little oblique, being supported by the spirits; and it is so to day.
125. And I Solomon questioned the other spirit which came up with the pillar from the depth of the Red Sea. And I said to him: "Who art thou, and what calls thee? And what is thy business? For I hear many things about thee.'' And the demon answered: "I, O King Solomon, am called Abezithibod. I am a descendant of the archangel. Once as I sat in the first heaven, of which the name is Ameleouth -- I then am a fierce spirit and winged, and with a single wing, plotting against every spirit under heaven. I was present when Moses went in before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and I hardened his heart. I am he whom Iannes and Iambres invoked homing with Moses in Egypt. I am he who fought against Moses with wonders with signs."
126. I said therefore to him: "How wast thou found in the Red Sea?" And he answered: "In the exodus of the sons of Israel I hardened the heart of Pharaoh. And I excited his heart and that of his ministers. And I caused them to pursue after the children of Israel. And Pharaoh followed with (me) and all the Egyptians. Then I was present there, and we followed together. And we all came up upon the Red Sea. And it came to pass when the children of Israel had crossed over, the water returned and hid all the host of the Egyptians and all their might. And I remained in the sea, being kept under this pillar. But when Ephippas came, being sent by thee, shut up in the vessel of a flask, he fetched me up to thee."
127. I, therefore, Solomon, having heard this, glorified God and adjured the demons not to disobey me, but to remain supporting the pillar. And they both sware, saying: "The Lord thy God liveth, we will not let go this pillar until the world's end. But on whatever day this stone fall, then shall be the end of the world."
128. And I Solomon glorified God, and adorned the Temple of the Lord with all fair-seeming. And I was glad in spirit in my kingdom, and there was peace in my days. And I took wives of my own from every land, who were numberless. And I marched against the Jebusaeans, and there I saw Jebusaean, daughter of a man: and fell violently in love with her, and desired to take her to wife along with my other wives. And I said to their priests: "Give me the Sonmanites (i.e. Shunammite) to wife." But the priests of Moloch said to me: "If thou lovest this maiden, go in and worship our gods, the great god Raphan and the god called Moloch." I therefore was in fear of the glory of God, and did not follow to worship. And I said to them: "I will not worship a strange god. What is this proposal, that ye compel me to do so much?" But they said: ". . . . . by our fathers."
129. And when I answered that I would on no account worship strange gods, they told the maiden not to sleep with me until I complied and sacrificed to the gods. I then was moved, but crafty Eros brought and laid by her for me five grasshoppers, saying: "Take these grasshoppers, and crush them together in the name of the god Moloch; and then will I sleep with you." And this I actually did. And at once the Spirit of God departed from me, and I became weak as well as foolish in my words. And after that I was obliged by her to build a temple of idols to Baal, and to Rapha, and to Moloch, and to the other idols.
130. I then, wretch that I am, followed her advice, and the glory of God quite departed from me; and my spirit was darkened, and I became the sport of idols and demons. Wherefore I wrote out this Testament, that ye who get possession of it may pity, and attend to the last things1, and not to the first. So that ye may find grace for ever and ever. Amen.